Chamoli disaster: Quicken rescue operations, missing man's kin urge government
What's the story
The family of a Jammu & Kashmir man, working with a private firm executing a power project on Alaknanda river in the Chamoli district and gone missing since the glacier burst, has appealed to the government to speed up the rescue operation and locate his body. Jatinder worked as a labor supervisor for Hyderabad-based Rithwik Projects Private Ltd., executing NTPC's Tapovan hydel power project.
Information
Jatinder called his wife and mother before he went missing
Jatinder, a native of Bhara village of Bhaderwah district in Jammu and Kashmir, had made calls to his wife and mother minutes before he went missing in the flood triggered by the glacier burst near the Tapovan area of Uttarkhand on Sunday.
Rescue operation
Jatinder left for the dam site along with 20 laborers
"The only thing we want from the administration is that they should speed up the rescue operation to clear the debris so that I may get my younger brother's body," said Sunil Kumar, Jatinder's elder brother. His brother Surendra Kumar said Jatinder had left Reni village, where he lived, for the dam site along with 20 laborers and had promised to get back soon.
Eyewitness
'We will never be able to see him alive now'
"My six brothers including cousins are at Tapovan dam site for the last five days, searching for Jatinder but they told us that there is tons of debris at the site of the incident where, according to eyewitnesses, he got drowned and buried along with 20 laborers," said Kumar. "We will never be able to see him alive now," he added.
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Jatinder told his mother that he was missing his daughter
Jatinder's mother Bhagwan Devi (70) said he had made a video call to her and had told her that he was missing his three-year-old daughter a lot and would get back home soon. "That was the last when I saw her," she said.
Jatinder's wife
Jatinder's wife failed to pick up his second call
Jatinder's wife Meena (27) has been left lamenting that she failed to pick up his second call after speaking to him briefly during the first call. "My husband called me on Sunday at 10:32 am and talked for two minutes. He again called me up at 10:35 am but I could not pick it up as I got busy with household chores," she said.
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I will regret for the rest of my life: Meena
"I will regret for the rest of my life that I didn't pick up that call and at 11:30 am, we came to know about the disaster at Tapovan dam site," said Meena. "Thereafter I made thousands of calls but to no avail," she rued.