U'khand glacier burst: Control room members in Jharkhand tremble on getting distress calls from relatives

By Rizwan Arif
Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], February 16 : Members of the control room set up to provide help to people of Jharkhand trapped in Chamoli glacier burst tremble each time they receive a call from distressed families.
Every time they have to deal with a pain-stricken voice on the phone. People are desperate to know whether their loved ones are still alive. A team of five counsellors are continuously providing them mental and emotional support.
"This is a painful situation. Family members and other relatives of missing persons have been continuously calling and asking about them. Our counsellors are handling them in the right manner. Still we can't express their grief. It is really not easy to handle this, but we have to," said Shikha Pankaj, control room incharge.
"Fourteen people are still missing. Labour Superintendents of Ramgharh and Lohardaga have gone to Chamoli with the family members of missing persons. We have received photographs of some bodies which can't be identified. To identify them, DNA test is going on," she further added.
Rosalia Tirkey who is the assigned counsellor for Lohardaga district said, "We are short of words while counselling families. They want some sort of assurance which the control room is unable to give right now."
"Families are going through an unbearable waiting period. They call us to know whether rescue is still going on. Every time they break down and ask whether we can get the body at least? After hearing all this, I am unable to control myself. They just want to hear a hopeful statement from us," said Rosalia Tirkey, the counsellor
Fourteen people of Jharkhand are still missing while 29 persons have returned to the state safely. Among the missing, four are from Ramgarh, nine from Lohardaga and one from Bokaro. Labour Superintendents of Ramgarh and Lohardaga have gone to Chamoli to help in tracing the missing persons.
Meanwhile, all 11 bodies retrieved from Tapovan tunnel till now have been identified, said Deputy Inspector General of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) Ridhim Aggarwal on Tuesday.
"31 of 58 bodies recovered so far have been identified. All 11 bodies retrieved from Tapovan tunnel till now have been identified," Aggarwal told ANI.
"Teams of SDRF and NDRF along with dog squads are conducting searches in Raini village, Tapovan, and nearby areas," she added.
According to the Uttarakhand Police, the death toll in the glacier burst in Chamoli has gone up to 58. A total of 11 bodies have been recovered from the Tapovan tunnel, whereas 146 people are still missing.
Meanwhile, the Chamoli District Magistrate Swati Bhadoria inspected the rescue operations that are underway in Chamoli.