In less than one minute, Yash Pal's life took a drastic turn as a mountain came crashing down devouring this hamlet following torrential rains and buried his family of six.
There is no trace of nine members of Sunku Ram's family too as their house is buried under a big boulder, which the rescuers are finding difficult to remove. The landslide on September 7 killed at least 41 villagers, including children, women and the aged, in Panchari Hills in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rescuers have so far recovered 10 bodies. As the operation advanced on Saturday, a child's slate with illegible scrawls was peeking from the rubble. Clothes, shoes and severed body parts were retrieved as the personnel continued with the heartbreaking relief work.
Another villager Panch Kartar Singh was lucky. He escaped along with his family from the massive landslide that has changed the topography of the area where Punjar-Saddal village once thrived.
The stunned survivors say they will never forget the horrifying moments when the tragedy struck. Traumatised, Kartar said, "In just less than a minute all was finished. The mountain crumbled before my eyes. There was no sign that Punjar-Saddal ever existed.”
"I cannot forget that I am still alive. There were heavy rains and we were about to leave. Few stones were rolling intermittently. Suddenly there was this loud sound and the mountain came crumbling down.”
Kartar and his five family members narrowly escaped as big boulders and mud slides struck a few meters from his house.
"There was not a minute left for us to get out. My entire family was buried in this tomb," said an inconsolable Yash.
Ganesh Singh recalls the last phone call to his brother. "I got a call at 11.45 am from my brother. He said the house had developed cracks and was sinking," Ganesh said.
"Three to four minutes later when I called him back to ask him to leave immediately and take everyone with him, the phone wasn't ringing."
Ganesh, who was in Jammu, trekked 30 km the next day to reach the village but was shocked to see that it was wiped out and there was just a mountain of boulders and a lot of mud.
Pointing towards a big rocky patch, Singh said, "That is where my house was. Out of eight family members, two are alive today," he said. Ganesh was away in Jammu and his father was in the field -- only the two survivors from the family.
As the information poured in, DIG Gareeb Dass led by a team of the National Disaster Response Force, the police, the army besides a medical team flew to the site. "It is very difficult to trace bodies and dig them. We have launched a massive rescue operation for the past five days," Dass told PTI.
"The rescuers are battling to reach under boulders, rocks and sludge. Now we have decided to ask for some metal detectors and some equipment to trace bodies," he said.
In order to facilitate travel to the rescue site, Roads and Buildings Department chief engineer Abdul Hamid was asked to set up a track for carrying bulldozers. "We have been able to almost connect the area by a track to facilitate a speedy operation," Hamid said.
Over 100 more families, who were rescued from the area, have been given refugee in hospitals and shops. Relief material including food, water, biscuits, blankets and medicines were flown by Indian Air Force choppers.
Kapoor Singh, who lost six members of his family to the landslide, said, "For past five days, I keeping coming with a hope that today I will get the bodies of my family,”
Gidari Lal was too mourning the loss of five family members and pleading to officials to find their bodies.
Colonel Nitin Tiwari, the commanding officer, said it was a difficult operation but they were undaunted as his personnel, wearing masks because of the rising stench, tried to remove a boulder as high as a three-storey building
The tragedy also has led to a heated debate over why the village was not evacuated in time. Local MLA and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party President Balwant Mankotia blamed the district administration for the incident.
"Villagers requested the district magistrate of Udhampur to evacuate them. But she did little as she was away", Mankotia alleged.
