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Patna, June 20: Over 200 people from Bihar are feared trapped at different shrines in deluge-hit Uttarakhand.
The state disaster management department has put its emergency operation centre here on alert. People can enquire about the whereabouts of missing persons dialling the centre’s 24x7 helpline number (0612-2217305). In case someone knows the location of friends or relatives in Uttarakhand, he/she can share it with the emergency operation centre, which is in touch with the administration of the northern state.
BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey is among the several people who had a close shave at the shrines. Airlifted from the Kedarnath temple (at an altitude of 3,584m) to Guptkashi in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand on Tuesday, he reached New Delhi this evening.
“I have never seen such a catastrophe in my entire life. Bodies piled up to 11ft inside the temple. My family members and myself literally slept on them for two nights. Around 800 people were trapped inside the Kedarnath temple from June 14 to 18 following the landslide. I identified the bodies of my brother-in-law and his wife at the temple gate yesterday. Even I had almost drowned,” said Choubey, while addressing the media at Guptkashi.
The former health minister of Bihar also slammed the Uttarakhand government for poor administration and rescue measures.
Three police personnel, including Phoolan Ojha, a sub-inspector deployed as the security guard of Choubey, were also reported to be missing.
Dr Utpal Kant Singh, a leading child specialist of the city, was lucky to escape the disaster. “We saw deaths all around us. Vehicles with people inside submerged in river water. I have never seen so many deaths in my life and I would not forget this disaster in my entire life,” said Singh, who had gone to Kedarnath with his family. They reached here last evening.
Goplaganj resident Rameshwar Tiwari is anxious about his wife Sharda Devi, who went to Yamunotri in Uttarkashi district. “I have no information about her for the past five days,” said Tiwari.
