Worried relatives keep fingers crossed

For the past two days, Nigdi-Pradhikaran resident Suket Shah has been desperately trying to get help for his parents who are stranded at Badrinath.

The death of a 64-year-old woman who was too in the same group as that of his parents has left Shah shocked.

“We are clueless about their health and living conditions as there is no contact with them. After strenuous efforts, I was able to contact one of the group members who told me that they are safe but the local conditions are getting worse day by day. They are suffering from low blood pressure and had little to eat in the past two days. I have kept my fingers crossed for their safe return,” said a worried Shah.

He also complained that despite making several calls to the helpline and visiting the helpdesk at Pune collectorate, he wasn’t able to get much information. “They have very less information and thus it is adding to our worries,” he added.

Anand Vedpathak, whose parents are stranded in Gauri Kund, said that he has not spoken to them since five days. “None of the helplines of the district administration or the state have given us satisfactory answers. After contacting the administration in Uttarkhand, we came to know that a group of Maharashtrian tourists have reached Dehradun. Now, we are waiting to get the list of the names of these tourists,” he said.

Advocate Shashikant Patole, whose parents and other close relatives are stranded at Gauri Kund, the worst-affected area, said, “We are getting no help from the helplines either of Maharashtra or Uttarakhand. The government is not ready to send one of us there for rescuing our relatives citing various reasons. Most of them are senior citizens.”

He said that the trip was arranged by Pune’s Shiv Gauri Travels and they could not be contacted since Wednesday morning.

64-yr-old woman succumbs to cold

Little did Thane-based chartered accountant Laxmichand Kashidas Doshi know that his first Char Dham Yatra trip with his wife of four decades would take a tragic turn.

A resident of Nav Chintamani Society, he had left Mumbai last week with a group of 108 people from several cities, many of them his own relatives, for a trip to Uttarakhand. But as the floods swept away homes and stranded tourists, his wife Gulab Doshi (64) couldn’t bear the brunt of the rising cold weather and died between Sunday night and Monday morning.

Doshi, who had stayed up with her the entire night, is in a state of shock while his son Kamlesh Doshi is finding it difficult to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t able to be part of his mother’s last journey. 

“Her last rites were performed in Badrinath on Monday. I was informed only on Tuesday late night as till then there we no means of communication with them,” said Doshi.

His cousin Manohar Seth, whose family lives in Dombivli, said that his wife Lata is also accompanying the group. “According to what we heard, Doshi couldn’t bear the cold weather. Our family doctor is travelling in the same group and tried to help but she needed advanced medical care. They were at a village called Srinagar and they tried going back to Badrinath but couldn’t undertake the journey during the night. By morning, she had passed away and she was cremated,” said Seth.

The group then left for Badrinath and is now currently in an ashram in Haridwar.

Asked if his mother was facing any pre-existing health problem, Doshi denied stating a complete health check-up had been conducted post her cataract operation in April.

“She was perfectly alright. My wife, kids, my sister and her family are all in shock. We are praying for our father to come back safely as he is also facing problems in getting food and safe transport,” said Doshi.

PCMC helpline receives 50 anxious calls in 3 hours

Within minutes after Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) started a helpline for relatives of tourists stranded in Uttarakhand, it was flooded with anxious calls from all over the state. The helpline that became functional at 2 pm on Wednesday received nearly 50 calls by 5 pm.

Relatives of stranded tourists can contact PCMC disaster management Om Prakash Bahiwal on 9850728366 or PCMC’s public relation officer Kiran Gaikwad on 9922501442.

PCMC disaster management chief Omprakash Bahiwal said, “The decision was taken as relatives of several tourists were seeking information over the past two days. Considering their plight, additional commissioner suggested to start the helplines.”

Bahiwal said, “We have compiled the list of tourists stranded in Uttarakhand and sent it to the state tourism department to provide immediate help to them.”

He added, “The relatives burst into tears when they called on the helpline.”