Dead officer’s family rescued,now parents want son’s body

“Army people found us five days after the flood washed away our guest house on the hills of Rambara. My father had died after two days of flood as there was no food and his blood pressure medication was not there. We requested rescuers to take along his body but they told us that they would rather take alive people first. We were forced to leave him there,” narrated Anmol,the 14-year-old son of the officer who studies in Class IX of Delhi Public School in Lucknow.

A 1987-batch officer,Atul Kumar Agrawal,with his wife Navni,20-year-old daughter Anuva and son Anmol had reached Kedarnath on June 15 and were staying at the Forest Guest House in Rambara. “The guard knocked on our door and asked us to immediately leave the guest house as there was a flood. We did not get the chance to pick anything and rushed for the neighbouring Rambara hills. The guest house was washed away in front of our eyes,” said Anmol,adding that he cannot forget the scene for the rest of his life.

He said that other families had also taken shelter on the hills,where there was no food or water. “We were helpless and could not do anything but wait. He died there in front of our eyes,” said Anmol.

Apart from Anmol,neither his mother nor his sister are in a condition to talk. Alok Agarwal,Anmol’s uncle and Atul’s brother,said,“We have not asked them anything so far. None of them,except Anmol,is in a condition to speak anything. There is nothing left to say.”

A senior forest officer in Lucknow said that family members of Atul were located after help from forest officials in Uttarakhand and army,and were brought to Lucknow after intervention of the Home Department,which arranged for the state plane.

He informed that Atul was posted as Forest Conservator in Moradabad but was attached to Principal Chief Conservator of Forests office Lucknow for past one-and-a-half months.