A little over 24 hours after Friday’s cloud burst and flood near the Amarnath cave, the Singh sisters from Howrah were clueless about the whereabouts of their 68-year-old mother Shila.
Shila was to head to the Amarnath shrine on Saturday with two of her daughters. One of them called the third in Howrah on Friday to say they were unable to trace their mother.
“My two sisters reached the base camp with my mother and were preparing to move up when the disaster struck. On Friday around 6pm, I managed to connect with one of my sisters for a few seconds. She said they were struggling to trace my mother,” said Soma Singh of Madhusudan Biswas Lane in Howrah. “I have not heard from them since.”
Soma’s sisters Jhuma, 44, and Preeti, 41, had left for Amarnath with their mother on July 2. The trio had boarded Himgiri Express from Howrah.
“I have informed police and others in the state administration the details of my mother,” Soma. “They said rescue operations are on.”
At least 16 pilgrims are believed to have died since Friday’s flash flood near the Amarnath cave, which was triggered by a cloudburst in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. The flash flood washed away a part of the camp where pilgrims had gathered before their onward journey to the shrine.
Several pilgrims to Amarnath from parts of Calcutta and its adjoining areas, including Howrah, are either untraceable or struggling to return, their family members said on Saturday.
Anxious families have been trying to contact their relatives who were in the base camp to find out their whereabouts. A few managed to establish contact but several others were clueless till late on Saturday.
The parents and wife of Bipul Ghosh, 45, a businessman from Lake Town, managed to connect with him for a minute on Friday. Bipul managed to say he was stranded with others in Pahalgam when the line got disconnected.
Father of one, Bipul and his eight friends from Lake Town had left for Amarnath on July 5. They had been joined by two more from Purulia. On Saturday, Bipul’s family had not received any update.
Family members of Dibyendu Roy of Maniktala spent a sleepless Friday night unable to connect with him. On Saturday, they learnt that the 50-year-old had been rescued and taken to a camp.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: “Shocked and stunned by the Amarnath disaster. Sincere condolences to kins of the victims, solidarity to the trapped and stranded.”
Later in the day, the police opened a control room in Nabanna — 033-22143526 — to coordinate with the families of those stranded in Amarnath.
“We have contacted the Jammu & Kashmir government for rescue of pilgrims from Bengal,” Mamata said.