As the rescue operation undertaken by the Army and the ITBP are being carried out in full swing in Uttarakhand,more and more people are reaching Chandigarh,which has been made a base for Punjab survivors. Buses carrying people rescued from Kedarnath kept arriving at the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) in Sector 43 on Monday as well. Amarpal Singh who went to visit Hemkunt Sahib,suffered injuries in his leg while saving a child. I was moving towards the ghat and was carrying a child. Due to the slippery terrain,I lost the balance and slipped. In an attempt to save the child my leg got badly injured. But I am thankful to god that we all reached here alive, he said. A tree that was uprooted by the force of water came flowing with the waves and hit some people at Gobind Ghat. That scene is something which will be etched in my memory and will haunt me for the rest of my life, added Amarpal Navneet Kaur who started her journey from Anandpur Sahib to Kedarnath was stranded at Gobind Dham and had to suffer at the hands of antisocial elements. Somebody tore my bag with a blade and stole all my belongings. I was left with nothing,not even the clothes to change. It was really distressing to see that instead of helping the victims,some people were taking benefit of our problems and exploiting us, said Kaur Rajinder Kaur who belongs to Jalandhar and was stuck at Kedarnath said,At one point of time,we abandoned all hope of return. A woman in her late sixties died of heart attack as she heard all the talks about the disaster. There was no one from the government to dispel the fear that was creeping into people. It was shocking to see that where as most of us were worried about our lives,a few people were more concerned about their cars and other belongings. A man whose new SUV was washed off in the waves suffered a heart attack, said Kaur S D Chandel,a retired lecturer from Jammu who along with his wife was stuck at Pilot Baba Ashram which is 29 km from Uttarkashi said,A hotel near Pilot Babas ashram with 13 people in it was completely washed off. We had to take three treks before reaching to Naloan which is around five kilometers from Uttarkashi from where we were airlifted by ITBP and dropped at Mitali. From there we reached Rishikesh and then were brought by Punjab Police to Chandigarh. Parmindar Kaur and Jasveer Kaur who were part of a group of 100 pilgrims got separated from their group in Gobind Ghat and are having to manage on their own. We have no information about other people of the group but we wish and pray that they are safe and reach home safely like us, said Parminder. Ramesh Singh who was on a visit to Hemkunt Sahib and got stuck there said,We saw an army helicopter and four cars washed off in the floods. Langar too was washed away and water did a lot of damage to the Gurdwara. There are people who are relentlessly waiting for their loved ones to return. Ram Vriksha,whose brother and sister-in-law were on their Chaar Dhaam Yatra,have been out of contact since June 14. Shiv Ram,whose mother and father are also missing,last spoke with them on June 14,when they were in Gaurikund. They were seen holding the photographs of their family members and appealing to authorities for help. Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu Deputy Commissioner of Mohali said,I am closely monitoring the relief work. Since morning around 129 people have come in five buses. However,he said that as of now,they have not received any information regarding people missing from Mohali.
