Bhatwari: Migrant workers who escaped the flooding in Dharali are now waiting for a chance to go back, hoping to reunite with their families. With road access completely cut off, some are waiting at the helipad in Bhatwari for any information on survivors of the flash flood.
“We don’t know if they are alive or dead, that’s why we are worried,” said Vir Singh, a labourer from Nepal who has been working with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for the past eight months. “I came to Bhatwari on 5 August, the day it started raining heavily. But I never thought there would be flooding.”
Singh does road work in Harsil and Dharali, the two settlements worst affected by the flash flood. He had come down to Bhatwari with his wife, Kali Devi, after heavy rainfall forced them away from Dharali. On their journey, they heard about the flood and even tried going back, but by then the roads were damaged.
“I’ve come here to request authorities to take us back there any way they can,” he said, adding that he had received no information about his family members till now. Phone numbers of both his family members and local residents in the region remain unreachable.
Singh has a total of 26 members in his family, including three sons, a daughter-in-law, two nieces and his sister’s family. Towns and villages in Uttarakhand close to the Nepal border are popular with migrant workers.
“Even the places where we are supposed to get information about their whereabouts, we couldn’t find anything,” he said, adding that he is waiting for the next helicopter to land so he can ask for a lift back to Dharali.
Ambulances on standby
At the helipad, ambulances are on standby in case more survivors arrive. A control room in Dehradun is coordinating operations, directing ambulances to different hospitals based on the severity of the injuries.
“We arrived here from Barkot, in Yamuna Valley,” said an emergency responder, adding that ambulances had also come in from Haridwar for the rescue operations. “We had to take a 25 km bypass since the roads were blocked.”
He added that their instructions were to take survivors to the nearby district hospital in Bhatwari for primary care, but any serious injuries would require transportation to the hospitals in Uttarkashi.
Over the past two days, a constant stream of helicopters has been ferrying personnel from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) to flash flood-affected areas.
According to some estimates, more than 150 survivors have been rescued so far.
“We are fully equipped and trained to provide any emergency care,” said one ambulance operator, who did not wish to be named. “And of course, once the roads are cleared to Dharali, we will also send a few ambulances there.”
The ambulances had been waiting at the site since the early hours of Thursday morning, but by 10 am no survivors had arrived. Road work has been ongoing since the flash flood damaged key points on the routes to affected areas. But until a path is cleared to Dharali and Harsil, including a damaged bridge, helicopters are being relied upon for rescue operations.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: In flash floods-struck Uttarkashi, rescue ops continue under constant threat of ‘more landslides’