Ganesh Singh walked 30 km to reach his village only to find it missing, as a mountain had crumbled after heavy rain devouring the entire hamlet and with it 41 people, including his family of six.
Recalling the sequence of events, Ganesh said on September 7, he got a call from his brother whose last words were that they were in danger due to cracks in their house.
"I got a call around 11.45 AM from my brother. He said the house had developed cracks and was sinking," Ganesh said.
"Three to four minutes later, I called him back to ask him to leave immediately with everyone, but the phone wasn't ringing," he said.
Ganesh, who was in Jammu, trekked 30 kms from the last road point to reach the spot. He was shocked to see that the village was nowhere.
Instead, a mountain of boulders and mud stood at its place. Only his father survived the landslide.
Same was the plight of several others.
Labourer Yash Pal's family of six was buried alive beneath the rubble.
Nine-member family of Sunku Ram was also wiped out and rescuers are finding it difficult to remove the rubble manually.
"My entire family came under this tomb," Yash Pal, shattered by the tragic death of his family members, said.
The landslide on September 7, triggered by torrential rain, wiped out the entire Punjar Saddal village. At least 41 villagers were buried alive.
Rescuers have so far recovered ten bodies while 31 bodies are to be traced. They are presumed dead.
Unlike Ganesh, Sunku Ram, Yash Pal and several other villagers Panch Kartar was lucky. He escaped the natural calamity by a whisker.
Kartar said, "In less than a minute, all was finished. Mountain came cracking down before my eyes. There was no sign that Punjar-Saddal ever existed."
"There was heavy rain and we were about to leave. Few stones were rolling intermittently. Suddenly there was a bursting and mountain came crumbling in less than a minute," Kartar said. He and his five member family narrowly escaped the landslide.
As the information poured in, DIG, Gareeb Dass led by a team of NDRF, Police, Army besides a medical team, reached the spot.
But after the initial successes of recovery of seven bodies on September 8, there was no breakthrough till this morning, when three bodies were recovered along with a limb.
As the operation advances, all that have come out are rubble, parts of a child's slate with illegible scrawls, piece of a door frame, clothes discoloured by mud, shoes and a few body parts-- portion of a hand or toes.
"It is a very difficult operation to trace the bodies and dug them out despite a massive rescue operation being launched for the last five days," Udhampur-Reasi Range DIG Gareeb Dass said.
"The rescuers are battling a several metres high mountain of boulders, rocks and mud. Now we have decided to urge the Centre to send some equipment to trace the bodies so that drilling can take place in that area to dug out the bodies," he said.
Roads and Buildings Department Chief Engineer Abdul Hamid, who was tasked to set up a track so that bulldozers and cranes reach the spot, has been able to partially connect the area.
"We have been able to almost connect the area by a track to facilitate speedy operation," Hamid said.
Over 100 more families, which were rescued from the area, have been accommodated in several government buildings.
IAF is flowing relief materials including food, water, biscuits, blankets and medicines.
Kapoor Singh, who lost six members of his family in the landslide, is waiting helplessly.
"As the rescue operation begins each day for the past five days, I keep coming with a hope that today I will get bodies of my family members. But I return disappointed to camp in the evening," he said.
Like him, Girdhari Lal too weeps over the loss of five family members.
Local MLA and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) president Balwant Mankotia blames the district administration for the incident.
"Villagers requested District Magistrate Udhampur for their evacuation in view of heavy rains and cracks in their houses. But she did little as she was away from her district," Mankotia said.
Colonel Nitin Tiwari, the Commanding Officer, whose unit and his men were trying to remove a boulder as high as three stories, said it was a difficult operation.
Armymen were wearing masks because the stench made it difficult to work.
Saturday 13 September 2014
http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/Landslide-Devours-Hamlet-in-Udhampur-31-Still-Missing/859659
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