Manikaran tragedy: A long wait for victims’ kin
Teams from the NDRF, called for rescue operations, conducted a recce at the mountain and informed the local administration of possible rock-slips at the same site because the hill is unstable.
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Maghar Ram, who lost his son Soni Ram in the Manikaran tragedy on Tuesday, outside his house at Rogla village in Sangrur. (Source: Express photo by Gurmeet Singh)
Sitting outside his house in Rogla village in Sangrur, Maghar Ram was barely able to fight back tears. His son Soni Ram (24), a small farmer, was among the seven killed in the Manikaran tragedy on Tuesday. Seven pilgrims died and nine others were injured, two of them seriously, after a giant boulder rolled down a mountain and hit a multi-storey building of a popular Sikh shrine at Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district Tuesday. Soni had got married just six months ago.
Also read: NDRF warns of more rock slips
The women of Maghar’s house were not yet aware of the loss. Maghar’s daughter-in-law Ritu Rani was still frantically trying husband’s mobile number while Maghar’s wife Dyawanti Devi was hopeful that some good news would come soon. Ritu said, “I last spoke to him on Tuesday at 11.05 am. He said they will start for the village after taking some rest. After that, his phone is being picked by someone else. Please let me speak to my husband,” said a teary-eyed Ritu.
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Maghar’s elder brother’s son Gopal was also killed in the tragedy. Both were in their early twenties. A group of 18 youths from the village had gone on a motorcycle trip to Naina Devi and Manikaran Sahib. Seven of them were killed. Two are in a critical condition in PGI, Chandigarh, while nine have been admitted to Kullu hospital.
Singlo Devi, mother of Gopal, said, “No one is telling me what is happening. My son called me up Tuesday morning and told me that I must take my medicines regularly.” Gopal’s wife Nishu Rani was in a state of shock. She along with her two-and-a-half year-old daughter and two-month-old son are being taken care of by relatives.
Gogi Chaudhary, a local leader, said, “The bodies will reach by Thursday morning. So we don’t want the women to go in a state of shock. Because most of the persons who died were recently married or were teenagers.”
SDM Rajpal Singh Brar had arranged a team of doctors to take care of the health of the families.
The family of Gurdeep Singh, 28, is shattered. Gurdeep’s six-year-old son Pushpinder Singh was being taken care by the neighbours. Malkiat Singh said, “We are trying to keep him busy with toys and eatables. He keeps asking about his father.”
There was a pall of gloom at the house of 17-year-old Yadwinder’s house. Yadwinder, a Class X student, was the only child of his parents and had gone on the trip along with his cousin Bhupinder Jit Singh. While Bhupinder was safe, Yadwinder was killed in the tragedy. Bhupinder himself called home to inform the family members.
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