Google person finder comes to the rescue of govt, kin

Those looking for their near and dear ones gone missing during the Uttarakhand disaster can now turn to a new saviour — Google.

Those looking for their near and dear ones gone missing during the Uttarakhand disaster can now turn to a new saviour — Google.

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While the exact number of people missing is still unclear, and hundreds reach Dehradun, Rishikesh and Hardwar every day to search for them, the state government is taking help from an online Google application – Google Person Finder – to build an efficient database.

The project is being carried out by UP Hill Electronics Corporation Limited (Hiltron Calc). One of its offices has been set up at the Rishikesh Bus Terminus, where rescued survivors from the upper reaches are brought every day.

The project assimilates data of those rescued from different district centres. This apart, details and pictures of the missing brought by their relatives are also scanned and updated. This helps in corroborating the data and makes it easier to reunite people.

The office at Rishikesh gets between 500 and 1,000 requests for finding missing pilgrims every day. “If a person is traced, the data is shown on the website. We also inform people through SMS and email as we record their information,” said BK Yadav, the officer in charge of Hiltron at Rishikesh. Yadav, however, said it is difficult to say how many have managed to trace their relatives.