Gangotri/New Delhi: For more than 24 hours, Manoj Goel, a senior advocate in the Supreme Court, has been stranded in Uttarakhand with 3000 others. They are stuck in the pilgrim town of Gangotri, where Mr Goel had attended a local festival.
This is his story:
No food, no water, no gas, no electricity, no fuel - and absolutely no help. I and 500 others are stranded in Gangotri and have no idea how we are going to get out.
We have been assured help and that's where the story ends. Assurance.
We are staying at an ashram here, which has been feeding nearly 3000 people - almost the entire town - every day. But now, the ashram too has run out of supplies. The wood is wet, and we cannot even light up a stove.
There is only one doctor attending to thousands of people in the area. Worse, we have run out of medicines. More and more people are falling sick.
The administration had asked us to reach Harsil, a cantonment area, to avail the air-lifting facility. But that is 30 kms away. How do you expect the elderly and the children to walk 30 kms in this harsh weather. And not to mention, the road to Harsil has been washed away by the rain and the floods from at least seven places.
There is a helipad in the town. I do not understand why the authorities cannot use that to rescue us. And with the situation getting worse, rescue operations will only get tougher.
With no food or water, and no signs of help, the situation is reaching a tipping point. People are getting impatient. Children are crying all the time. Arguments and fights are breaking out. Locals are now saying they have the right to be rescued first when the help comes. Everybody is claiming they should be the first to get out of here. Frustration, anger and fear is taking over. It is getting ugly.
We are sitting on a ticking time bomb.
We appeal to all of you who read this, please help us.
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