Lost in the flash floods of Uttarakhand that killed thousands and considered as dead by the state government, 46-year-old Pushkar Singh of Chamoli district was found roaming in the streets of Rudraprayag district by his cousin.
Singh, who went missing after the tragedy on June 16-17 in 2013, was found in a mentally unstable condition by his cousin Santosh Kunwar on March 21, Kedarghati Visthapan Evam Punarwas Sangharsh Samiti president Ajendra Ajay said on Tuesday.
Singh hails from Simtoli village of Chamoli district
"Pushkar has a fractured leg and can't speak.It seems he is too traumatised to speak of what he underwent after the disaster," he said.
"His cousin took him to his village immediately after tracing him and informed me about it. We took him yesterday to Shrinagar Medical College Hospital where psychiatrists said his condition will take time to improve," the Kedarghati Visthapan Evam Punarwas Sangharsh Samiti president said.
Pushkar also needs to undergo a surgery for his fractured leg, he said. Though Pushkar has returned home along with his kin, doctors have asked the family to bring him to the hospital for medical check-ups every fortnight, he said.
Pushkar, who worked in Mumbai, had left for Gaurikund on way to Kedarnath on a motorcycle from Tilwada on June 15, 2013. After the tragedy struck on June 16-17, he went missing. When he did not surface for months he was declared dead by the state government and compensation was paid to his family.
{{/usCountry}}Pushkar, who worked in Mumbai, had left for Gaurikund on way to Kedarnath on a motorcycle from Tilwada on June 15, 2013. After the tragedy struck on June 16-17, he went missing. When he did not surface for months he was declared dead by the state government and compensation was paid to his family.
{{/usCountry}}Pushkar has a wife and two sons who live in Simtoli village. The Kedarghati Visthapan Evam Punarwas Sangharsh Samiti has demanded that the state government bear the expenses on Pushkar's treatment and launch a fresh search for those declared dead after the calamity as they are still being found.
A few months ago, a woman from Alwar district in Rajasthan, who had gone missing after the disaster and declared dead, had resurfaced in Uttarkashi district and taken back home by her husband.
She was also too shocked to recognise her husband and recount her ordeal to him. The June 2013 disaster had claimed 4021 lives in Uttarakhand including those found dead and those who went missing and are now declared dead, Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre Executive Director Piyush Rautela said.