U'Khand glacier burst: 'Missing' workers found stranded at a village cut off after floods

By Ankur Sharma
Chamoli (Uttarakhand) [India], February 10 : A group of workers, who were declared as 'missing' as their families could not contact them for 3 days after the flash flood washed away parts of Tapovan here following the glacier burst, were found stranded at a temporary helipad in Raini village which is disconnected now with the city.
The workers, majority of whom came from different parts of Uttar Pradesh like Meerut and Amroha to work in border areas, were waiting to return to their homes after the disaster.
Several persons, who are stranded on the other side, which is now cut off from Joshimath, were declared "missing" after they could not be reached due to broken bridges, roads and mobile connectivity.
According to these workers, their families thought they washed away in a flood since they couldn't talk to anyone and were not reachable in absence of a mobile network on another side of the Raini village.
They contacted ITBP and local administration officials after reaching Raini village and told them that they have been marked as missing after talking to their families.
Our families had filed missing complaints with local police since they couldn't contact us, workers said.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and local administration are working day and night to connect this part with another side of the bridge, which washed away in flood.
Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) officer of Joshimath Kumkum Joshi has been given the charge to arrange food and transportation for them.
"I along with other persons was working to establish the mobile network of a company in a remote village when we got to know about the flood. It took us almost three days to reach downtown. After reaching the area which has mobile services, we contacted our families," Sunny Dutt, a stranded worker said.
Another worker Kaminder who was working with Dutt said that he along with 5 persons were declared missing since there was no network and they couldn't talk to their families for three days.
"When we contacted our families, they told us that local police was informed that we have been reported as missing. But after my call, my whole family was happy. They want me to come back as soon as possible. I am hopeful that today I will leave for Amroha," Kaminder said.
A glacial 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.
As many as 32 bodies have been recovered so far from different areas hit by the glacier burst in Chamoli district, while 206 people including 25-35 persons stuck inside the Tapovan tunnel are missing, according to the state government.