Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 30: The relatives and kith and kin of three pilgrims from Jammu who went missing during last year’s Uttarakhand hail storm are running from pillar to post for seeking the death certificates of their family members.
Three pilgrims of Jammu namely Sham Lal Gupta, his wife Neelam Gupta of Sarwal, Jammu and Ramesh Chander Gupta brother of Neelam Gupta from Akhnoor also in Jammu district who had gone for holy pilgrimage of Kedarnath went missing since June 16 tragedy last year after the heavy floods lashed the area.
The kith and kin of the missing pilgrims since then are running from pillar to post to seek their death certificate but the State Government has failed to issue the same though over six months have elapsed after the tragedy.
According to Anil Gupta, son of Sham Lal and Neelam Gupta who also went missing in the tragedy said that when he and his relatives approached the Uttarakhand Government for issuance of death certificate in favour of his parents and maternal uncle they were informed that their case has been sent to J&K Government for issuance of the death certificates.
“We were asked that the J&K Government officials will approach you for the same soon during our visit to Uttarakhand in November this year by Rudraprayag DM but no one from the State Government approached us in this regard till date’’, said sobbing Anil.
He said instead of coming to our help and support the State Government altogether neglected us despite the fact the families of missing or dead people of other states were given due compensation by their respective State Governments but the J&K is the only State which ignored the families of three missing pilgrims.
Anil said the lone reason for the apathy of the State Government towards the families of three missing pilgrims perhaps is that they belonged to Jammu region.
Mr Gupta said that no Government official visited the families since the tragedy to know about their whereabouts.
He said the Uttarakhand Government has presumed the missing people whose bodies could not be recovered as dead and informed the State governments accordingly but the J&K Government till date has failed to issue the death certificates to the families.
Mr Gupta said the two families are in deep shock and “my sister is in trauma as she has confined herself to a single room in her house waiting for the parents to come. But whom we can narrate out woes as there is no one in the Government to listen us’’?, he added.
He said the families don’t need any monetary assistance from the Government nor are they dependent for its support but it was the duty of the Government at least to know about our welfare, he added.
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