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U’khand flash floods: 9 days on, no trace of four missing Ludhiana men
Patience and hope fast wearing thin, their kin are now camping at Chamoli town, hoping to bring them back—dead or alive.
With rescue operations continuing for the ninth consecutive day at Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, which was devastated by flash floods on February 7, there is still no trace of the four men from Ludhiana’s Purba village who went missing during the calamity.
The men, all labourers, had been working on the Dhauliganga hydel plant, when the disaster struck. They were identified as Sukhwinder Singh (36), Keval Singh (40), Sukhwinder Singh (32), and Kulvir Singh (27). A video clip, that is now doing the rounds of social media, had purportedly shown one of them being washed away from a cliff on the hydel plant.
Patience and hope fast wearing thin, their kin are now camping at Chamoli town, hoping to bring them back—dead or alive.
Ajmer Singh, the sarpanch of Purba village, said that all the missing persons were daily wage labourers, who were working at the plant to eke out a living.
Bahadur Singh, father of Kulvir Singh, who is in Chamoli with the relatives of other missing men of the village, spoke to Hindustan Times over the phone. “We have been told that my son, along with the other three from our village, was among those labourers who fell off the cliff at the hydel plant,” he said. Bahadur Singh’s younger son Harpal was also present at the spot but miraculously survived.
He said that while rescue teams were carrying out search operations in the tunnel, no search has been carried out at the place where the four men are suspected to have been trapped.
“It has been nine days to the incident. Though their chances of survival are thin, we cannot return home without receiving some information,” said Bahadur Singh.
Meanwhile, those back home are inconsolable. Harjeet Kaur, wife of Sukhwinder Singh, said, “It has been nine days but I still have received no information about my husband.” She says life has played a cruel joke on her and her three children.
The condition of Rani Kaur, wife of Keval Singh was no different. She too has three children and said Keval was the only breadwinner of the family.
Kulwinder Kaur, wife of Sukhwinder Singh, says she won’t give up hope and is praying for her husband’s safe return.
Congress MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon, who had visited the families, assured all possible help to them. “It is saddening that there is still no news about the four persons from Purba village. They were the sole breadwinners of their families. I have collected their details and shared it with the chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and sought all possible support for the families,” said Dhillon.
