When asked to comment on the tragedy, a state government official said, ‘It was difficult to arrive at a number but the figures can be shockingly huge.’
Chaubey lost his sister-in-law Ruby and her husband Subodh Mishra in the floods which engulfed the shrine. Mishra was a mediaperson who had worked as Patna correspondent for leading media houses. ‘There was complete absence of state machinery even before the catastrophe hit,’ Chaubey said in Dehradun. Chaubey, along with his close relatives, a family priest and security personnel, was on a trip to Kedarnath.
His security personnel and family priest are still missing. ‘There was information given to the district administration about my visit. Before embarking on the climb to the shrine, I had personally asked the district magistrate if the weather was safe for travel. He gave us a go ahead and we walked right into a catastrophe,’ Chaubey told mediapersons.
The weather in the valley had started to deteriorate on Saturday and got worse after the water level in the Mandakini began to rise due to incessant rains. ‘There was an 11-feet high pile of bodies outside the temple. We slept for two days on the dead and walked several kilometres with my family to reach Guptakashi,’ said Chaubey.
When asked why the state government did not pay heed to the warnings issued by the weather office, chief minister Vijay Bahuguna said, ‘They did not give any specific warning. They didn’t specify in which particular area it was going to rain. There was nothing to suggest the gravity of disaster that was coming.’ Bahuguna was heckled by people in Joshimath on Thursday, where he had gone to oversee rescue and relief operations.
Meanwhile, rescue efforts are going on in full swing and most of the stranded pilgrims at Kedarnath dham are expected to be evacuated by Friday after which evacuation of pilgrims from Badrinath will be taken up. Earlier, principal secretary to chief minister Rakesh Sharma said 11,000 people stranded in Gangotri and Yamunotri routes in Uttarkashi district were evacuated through air and road routes to their respective destinations.