Himachal floods: 20 days on, this man from Mandi searches for family under rubble

Nitesh Kumar, his voice filled with grief, shared, “I have lost everything in this horrifying accident. The bodies of my wife, toddler, and sister lie buried beneath these stones, and I wait helplessly for their recovery. Meanwhile, my mother also sustained injuries in the incident, leading to the amputation of her right leg. She has undergone two surgeries and is scheduled for a third,” Nitesh, who shuttles daily between the accident site and the hospital, added.

He recounted the fateful morning, when poor visibility due to rain made matters worse. “I first noticed the flood and tried to evacuate our home. We all managed to get outside, but as my wife Monika went to retrieve our sleeping daughter from the room, a powerful surge of water demolished our house and carried it away. My mother and sister were swept downstream towards the National Highway, while my wife, daughter, and sister became trapped beneath these enormous boulders.”

Nitesh Kumar’s wife and sister. (Express photo)

Nitesh’s mother, Rachna Devi, aged 45, is currently hospitalised at Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College, located 50 km from their devastated home. Nitesh embarks on a 100 km journey each day on a borrowed scooter to visit his mother in the hospital and oversee the search operation, clinging to the unwavering hope of locating his loved ones. So far, the SDRF team has recovered their Aadhaar cards and a few utensils during the excavation.

“I urge the authorities to deploy more machinery for the operation,” pleaded Nitesh, a daily wage labourer who has received only Rs 40,000 in assistance from the administration so far. His plea is driven by the desperate desire to retrieve his family members’ bodies before they succumb to decomposition.

“This marks the first cloudburst and flash flood incident in Mandi, claiming the lives of five individuals. It stands as one of the most tragic incidents, with three bodies still trapped beneath the rubble. The SDRF teams are working tirelessly to recover these remains, and the local administration is overseeing the operation. We are hopeful of their recovery,” said Mandi Superintendent of Police (SP) Saumya Sambasivan.

While the affected family claims they did not receive a concrete house despite applying for it under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Panchayat members assert that they did their best to assist the family by providing a tarpaulin sheet and a few essential household items. Sambal Gram Panchayat Pradhan Bhushan Singh remarked, “We are making every effort to support the affected and grieving family with all the resources at our disposal. Additionally, we are urging the government and local administration to extend financial assistance to them through disaster relief schemes.”

Nitesh said local MLA Anil Sharma, former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, Mandi Deputy Commissioner Arindam Chaudhary, and several other individuals visited him and assured him of assistance, including a concrete house. However, he has received no assistance beyond Rs. 40,000 so far.

The district of Mandi has been among the hardest-hit areas in Himachal Pradesh following three episodes of excessive rainfall in July and August, resulting in a loss of Rs. 1500 crore to Mandi alone. A total of 43 fatalities have been reported in the district to date. According to the government’s assessment, Himachal Pradesh has incurred a loss of Rs. 12000 crore due to the disaster and has called on the Centre to declare it a national calamity.