Not only lives, we lost faith too: Uttarakhand victims

LUDHIANA: For many who went for the Hemkund Sahib pilgrimage, faith was tested in the harshest manner possible. The ordeal climaxed with the breaking of the bridge connecting Gobind Ghat to Gobind Dham. Many families were separated and many children died as the bridge collapsed, leaving many in a state of shock.
Inderpreet Singh, 21, a resident of Model Town, said, "The way lives were taken away so easily, our faith was brought to a standstill.Belief or the lack of it, is a difficult subject. For days we did not have anything to eat, there was death everywhere", he recalls. Inderpreet who was to come back in six days spent 11 nightmarish days in Uttarakhand.
Jevandeep Singh, a resident of Civil Lines said, "Only women, children and old people were taken in the helicopter. We had to walk continuously for three days. We slept in a stable one day and another day we slept under a big rock as it was raining heavily. We were stuck for 10 days without food and water."
Jeevan Deep Singh, 27, a resident of Upkar Nagar, said he had little hope of surviving the cold nights and hunger. "We were 13 family members. Four of us were women who were rescued. But we had little idea whether their rescue had been successful. There were no registrations of the number of people who came to the shrine or left. Next time, if I go for Char Dham, it will certainly not be to a place where there is no proper management, service and records", he said.
On the question of faith, he has a pragmatic answer, "Where faith is concerned, what has been done cannot be undone. These things have little impact on someone"s faith but they do scare a person to death. These experiences might not allow my family to let me visit any such shrine again".
Manvinder Singh and his wife Amardeep Kaur, newly weds from Civil Lines, came back without luggage and money. But the images that seared into their hearts were those of the deaths of four people. Three who were inside their cars when they were swept away in the raging waters. One died of heart attack.
"There were 13 of us, including nine women who were sent by the helicopter. We had to walk and we were stuck at Gobind Ghat for three days. We also had to sleep on the roads. While the helicopter did provide food, it was not enough for everyone. We did not get food for two days," Manvinder said.
Three city based women, Balvinder Kaur, Sukhdarshan Kaur and Jasbeer Kaur were stranded in Gobind Ghat for 15 days, where they faced illness and scarcity of food and water. "All my medicines were washed away in the flood. It was getting difficult to walk but the Army was of great help. They made sure we were safe and also gave us medicines and food," Jasbeer Kaur said.