Uttarakhand landslide: Woman crushed with her twin sons in each arm found under debris

Kuntari Lagaphali (Nandanagar), Sep 19 (PTI) When rescue personnel finally reached them on Friday digging their way through tons of rubble, they found Kanta Devi (38) lying crushed under a heavy object clutching her two 10-year-old twins in each arm, in a sign of the mother's desperate battle till the last minute to save herself and the apples of her eye.

A dead mother with her two dead sons in each arm -- the scene was heart-rending for everyone who saw it, as loud wails of relatives and fellow villagers tore through Kuntari Lagaphali, a quiet hill village about 50 km from Chamoli's district headquarters at Gopeshwar.

The three were among the five bodies recovered on Friday.

Kanta Devi's husband Kunwar Singh was rescued alive miraculously on Thursday, 16 hours after his house was razed to the ground by the rain-triggered landslide.

He has survived but he has no home or family to return to.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) had been struggling hard for the past 32 hours, hoping for life in Kunwar Singh's house, buried under the rubble. Cutter machines were used to cut through the sludge, creating a path for entry.

The trio was discovered after 1 pm on Friday. As rescuers pulled the three bodies from the rubble around 1.30 pm, the entire area was plunged into mourning. The people of Kuntari, who were staying in relief and rescue camps since yesterday, also returned to the village in the morning in search of their loved ones.

All of them broke down on seeing the dead bodies.

On Thursday morning, a sudden flood from the hill above Kuntari Laga Phali devastated the village and several neighbouring ones.

Located on the road from Nandanagar to Bajbagad, the floods wreaked havoc at four locations between Nandanagar and Bajbagad.

The devastation caused by the floods is visible in the rivulets emerging from the hills at various locations between Nandanagar and Bajbagad.

Tons of debris littered the road at four locations beyond Nandanagar, disrupting traffic. Eight families from the Scheduled Caste settlement of Sau-Tanola, located just half a kilometre from Nandanagar, were rendered homeless by Thursday morning's disaster.

Half a kilometre away is Kuntari Laga Phali, where five people lost their lives and several others were injured. Most of the village's houses have been destroyed, rendering the village uninhabitable.

Half a kilometre further on is Kuntari Laga Sarpani village, where floodwaters from the mountain top destroyed several houses, burying those living in them, including a couple, under debris in one of them.

The flood from the peak swept through the village, destroying even homes which were considered safe.

Subedar Major Dilbar Singh Rawat, who lost his wife in the incident, said with tears in his eyes that he had never imagined such a thing would happen as his village is in a relatively safe location. Chuflagadh, a stream which was considered a major cause of disaster in this area, flows much below the village, he said.

He had never thought that a flood would come from the peak. "My wife got buried in the debris in front of my eyes and I could not do anything," he said.

Sangeeta Devi, who lost her husband many years ago and lives with her daughter, had built a house in Kuntari Laga Phali. She was earning a living by rearing some animals and farming.

"Everything was shattered in one night. I don't know what will happen next," she said.

Chandrakala Sati, the former head of Nandanagar, who lives just a few metres from Kuntari Laga Sarpani, where two people died, is still in tears. Chandrakala explains that the rain started at 7 pm on Wednesday and gradually intensified.

At 2 am, loud noises and explosions began. The devastation that would befall the neighbourhood was unimaginable.

The entire village woke up and began searching for safe locations. Meanwhile, the rain intensified, and similar explosions were heard in the neighbouring village of Kuntari Laga Phali.

Chandrakala said she learnt at dawn that the house next door had been completely destroyed.

Narendra Singh died after being hit by debris while alerting the people. But his warning saved many people in the village.

Avtar Singh Gusai of Sera village blames unplanned development for the tragedy.

He alleges that the lack of proper disposal of debris from the road cut from Sera to Mokh and the upper villages is a major reason. This debris was washed away during the rains and deposited in the riverbed.

With the heavy rains on Wednesday and Friday nights, this debris also came down with the river, destroying the entire Sera village. PTI COR ALM ALM KSS KSS