Senior citizens stuck in Paing village as floods wash away bridge to Joshimath in U'khand

By Ankur Sharma
Joshimath (Uttarakhand) [India], February 9 : Several senior citizens in Paing village in Chamoli lost connection with other members of their families who had gone to the city when the bridge connecting the city with the village was washed away due to the flash floods after the glacier burst.
Most women from Paing village go for the Polio vaccination drive every day to Joshimath and senior citizens are left at home.
The floods have separated almost all families. The last communication between them was around 2 days back. Due to the absence of electricity, the locals are facing difficulty in charging their phones which has added to their troubles.
According to the locals, there are almost 70-80 senior citizens stuck in the village which is situated on the other side of the bridge and road that has been swept off, leaving women at the side of the Tapovan tunnel where rescue operations are on.
Women left around 9 am on February 7 as a part of their routine and were informed later that the flood has swept away the bridge.
"We left home on our daily routine. Our kids live in Joshimath since there is no school in the village. After almost one hour we got a call that a massive flood has come. When we saw the water rising, it felt like everything would be washed off in it. Then we immediately contacted our home," said Manju, a resident of Paing village.
After reaching the Raini village, a bunch of women saw that nothing was left, the flood has washed off all the roads and bridges resulting in loss of communication.
"I had my last communication with them on Sunday. Since there is no electricity, they are unable to charge their phones. They are alone and many of them are bed-ridden with no one to take care of them. We are stuck in the Raini village. My in-laws are very scared, having nightmares that something will happen," said Heera Rana, another resident of Paing village.
A glacier broke in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand on Sunday, which led to massive flooding in Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers and damaged houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project.
The death toll in the Uttarakhand glacier burst incident has reached 29 after three more bodies were recovered from the debris, said the Chamoli District Magistrate (DM) Swati S Bhadoria. "Three more bodies recovered and the death toll in the glacier disaster has mounted to 29," she said.
The rescue operation is underway at Tapovan tunnel in Joshimath, Chamoli where 35 people are trapped.