Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Sept 30: Even as two more human corpses have been recovered today from Saddal in Pancheri block of Udhampur district after heavy machines were pressed into service for retrieval of dead, the villagers whose family members are buried under the massive trash of boulders, are still uncertain whether they would be able to perform last rites of their loved ones who got perished in heavy landslide there on September 7.
“We have lost all hopes of finding our kith and kin alive but retrieval of their bodies will at least ensure their cremation,” said Tirth Ram, brother of deceased Shounku Ram who along with his entire family of nine members was buried alive on the fateful day.
In the devastation, Shounku Ram (55), his wife Jatti Devi, son Mohan Lal, daughter in law Makhi Devi (wife of Mohan), 11-month old grand daughter Roshani, three month old grand son Darshan, son Pritam (26), daughter-in law Chanchla Devi (wife of Pritam) and six-month old grand son Raghunath were buried alive.
“Only three dead bodies (Pritam, his wife Chanchla and their six-month old son Raghunath) have so far been recovered while remaining six family members are still buried there,” Tirth Ram further said while pointing towards the heap of debris where the big family was living earlier in a house.
Sixty year old Kapoor Singh, whose seven family members, including his wife, two sons, a daughter, daughter-in law, a grand daughter and brother-in law of his son got perished in the massive landslide, is also waiting for the last rites of his missing family members as bodies of only four could be recovered.
It may be recalled that 40 persons of seven families, including females and children were buried alive in the massive landslide which completely wiped out the Saddal hamlet in Panjar village of tehsil Pancheri in Udhampur district on September 7.
Only 13 bodies could be recovered from the debris as the operation to retrieve other 27 missing persons was suspended since removing heavy boulders was not possible manually while the machinery could not be taken to the site due to no road connectivity.
The operation was resumed only yesterday after a 2.5 kilometer long road link was developed and heavy excavators were pressed into service.
Today, two more corpses were recovered from the village site. The deceased were identified as Mukhtair Singh (32), son of Suram Singh and Ashu Devi (15), daughter of Baryam Singh. Both the bodies were handed over to the next of kin of the deceased for the last rites.
Kapoor Singh, who along with his one of three sons, is the only alive member of his family of nine members, feels horrified while narrating the devastation that snatched everything from him.
“In the morning around 8.30 a.m, some fissures were notices on the ground following which I left for work at our fields in Panjar. Around 11 a.m, I received a phone call from my son who asked me to immediately return home as the cracks had started widening. However, before I reached near the village, there was a deafening sound of landslide shaking earth like a massive tremor and everything got perished”, he recounts the events of that fateful day.
According to the village Naib Sarpanch Mulk Raj, Saddal was a very scenic hamlet having 60 households with around 400 souls who were living happily.
The extent of devastation can be gauged from the fact that there are no remains of my 20 kanal farmhouse with more than 150 trees of apple and walnut as well as shops of grocery and tailor, said Surinder Singh.
According to Vikas Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, retrieval of all the dead bodies may take some time as the landslide trash has spread in an area of approximate 3 by 2 kilometers and there were very little remains of the buried structures.
The missing persons, include three members of Kapoor Singh’s family, six of Shounku Ram, six of Baryam Singh, four of Jamitu and seven of Girdhari Lal.
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