Kathmandu. Mother, I came alive. Why are you crying? Look here, mother, I have returned. After returning home, Niraj Bhandari reminded the emotional mother like this. Even after seeing her son in front of her eyes, mother Prem Kumari Dhakal’s tears could not stop. She kept crying for a while. There was silence in the house. The fear in the heart increased more than the joy of her son’s return.
“Mom, I’m back, I got up from the ashes…”
Inspector General of Police Dan Bahadur Karki has written this song and the story of Niraj of Siranchok Rural Municipality of Gorkha matches the sentiment of this song. Niraj used to work as a bus driver.
On August 26, at around 4:30 am, he left for Gosaikunda of Rasuwa in a bus (Ga 2 Kha 1152) of Prithvi Yatayat carrying 36 passengers from Palungtar Municipality-5.TAG_OPEN_div_88
The car was moving forward, sometimes playing folk songs, sometimes modern and sometimes Teej songs. Who knew that the passengers were being taken to the brink of death by the car without taking them to Gosaikunda. With the journey, the distance between the life and death of the passengers was getting closer. In the morning, the news came that the vehicle driven by the son had been swept away by the flood. After that, there was mourning in the house, the family could not get the news of Neeraj.
Days passed. Mother Prem Kumari, who had been looking at the phone repeatedly, wondering if her son would call, started feeling cold in her heart. It seemed that her son had also been swept away by the same wave. The mother’s heart began to writhe mixed with hope and fear of her son’s arrival. Neeraj’s mobile was also swept away by the whale along with the car.
Suddenly TAG_OPEN_div_82, the news started coming: Six people, including the co-driver, jumped out of the vehicle that left Palungtar for Gosaikunda this morning and saved their lives. Even after hearing the news, Prem Kumari was not sure that her son was alive until she heard her son’s voice. It was only in the evening that Neeraj asked for someone’s phone and called his father. “After my son called, I finally took a deep breath. When will my son come and see? It happened. When my son returned home, I couldn’t stop crying with happiness,” he says in a tearful voice. The floods of Bhotekoshi swept away the dreams of many families. Some were left without relatives, some lost their homes. But for some like Neeraj, returning home from the midst of that devastation was like a rebirth.
Floods are considered normal
After having breakfast in Galchi, the vehicle proceeded towards Nuwakot. While in Galchi, there was a rumor that there was a flood from Rasuwa, but no one knew that such a catastrophe would happen. The passengers were in their conversations. The sun was shining outside. The Trishuli River also seemed to be flowing slowly at its own pace as usual.
When we reached a place called Buffalo in Nuwakot, someone suddenly said, “Flood is coming, let’s run away.” But no one took that sound seriously. “It’s sunny, how can it flood?” There was a conversation between the passengers inside the car. The atmosphere, which had been normal for a few moments, suddenly changed. The sound of thunder was heard. That sound was not normal. It was as if it was the last signal given by nature before a big catastrophe came.TAG_OPEN_div_76
‘Stop the car, stop the car!’ suddenly came a loud noise
Co-driver Neeraj, who was sitting near the door, saw a big flood wave mixed with mud, stones and mud coming from above. He asked the driver, Sagar Devkota, to stop the vehicle. But Neeraj says that the driver refused to stop the vehicle thinking that he would pass it.TAG_OPEN_div_72
After that, everything changed in a few seconds. “I saw a big flood wave with dust. The scene was different,” Neeraj recalls, “I told the driver, ‘Let’s run, the flood has come, brother’. The driver’s brother refused to stop the car thinking that he would be cut. I jumped out of the door and ran upstairs. ”
Looking down from there, the scene he saw is still not out of his sight. There was no car. The passengers who were with him swept away the vehicle. Neeraj looked at the driver who used to walk with him in the car almost every day. He did not see it. A few moments ago, the road and the surrounding area had turned into a barrage. Neeraj was not in a position to do anything about the vehicle that had swept away the vehicle, nor was anyone else there to help him. “It is very sad to remember that more than 30 passengers who had come with him, including Sagar Dai, who loved him, were swept away by the flood,” says Neeraj.
Still Mental Panic
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Now Neeraj is safe at home with his parents. And yet, he is still mentally disturbed. “After that incident, his father has not even spoken properly. He has not even laughed. He looks disappointed. He says that he does not like food,” says Sanima Ganga Dhakal, “The driver loved his father the most. He must have been very worried about losing him. Even now, he sits in solitude and wanders.” “That scene is still shocking. Everything has made Neeraj like a dream.TAG_OPEN_div_64
The flood left a day in Neeraj’s memory, the memory of which still makes his heart tremble. The few moments spent with the passengers, the conversations on the way and the normal atmosphere before the flood are now repeated in Neeraj’s memory. Even now, he hopes that many others who traveled with him will return, but as the days go by, the lamp of hope is also getting dimmer.
Like Neeraj, he is now haunted by the memories of his relatives who have lost their relatives and are missing. Badri Devkota, who was riding in the vehicle, also managed to survive by jumping. Rabindra Devkota also saved his life by jumping out of the vehicle after seeing the horrific scene of the flood. For the other survivors Rabindra Devkota, Tulram Devkota, Baburam Devkota and Parbati Neupane, the memory of this incident is still scary. They also jumped out of the vehicle and saved their lives.TAG_OPEN_div_60
Palungtar Municipality Mayor Bibash Chintan said that Palungtar Municipality is continuously coordinating and collaborating with the concerned authorities for the safe rescue of the stranded pilgrims. “Palungtar Municipality is committed to all efforts for the safe rescue of all the pilgrims,” he said.TAG_OPEN_div_58
The village is in mourning
Palungtar-5 is in mourning after a person who had traveled from the same village went missing at once. The courtyards of everyone’s houses are deserted. Hope and pain are seen together in the eyes of the families who are searching for their relatives. In some houses, there is a silence in the house of a loved one waiting for the return of their loved ones, while in others, there is silence due to the news of identification.
The place of laughter, conversation and hustle and bustle that was heard in the village till yesterday is different now. How many are waiting for the missing relatives? Many are busy in searching. They have not been able to breathe yet. Even if they are stuck somewhere due to injuries, some are worried that they have died as they could not be rescued for weeks. Relatives are waiting for the body to be found after not getting breath.
Deepak Pandey, ward chairman of Palungtar Municipality-5, said that the entire village has been in mourning since the floods swept away the pilgrims of his own place. “There were 36 passengers in the vehicle. Six of them have come in contact safely while 30 are still missing,” Pandey said, adding that the identities of Kamala Devkota, Kedar Pandit, Sujata Kaudal, Tara Ranabhat and Sumi Kumal have been identified. “The flood has not only washed away the river banks, but has also swept away the happiness of this village.TAG_OPEN_div_50
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्