KOLKATA: Barsha Muhuri, the university student from Baruipur who had gone missing in flash flood in Amarnath, was on Sunday found dead under a heap of rubble. The 22-year-old lost her life while trying to save her mother Nibedita and uncle Subrata Chowdhury. Arrangements are being made to bring back the body.
Missing Baruipur student found dead in Amarnath
The university student from Baruipur - Barsha Muhuri - who went missing after the flash flood hit Amarnath - was found dead under the rubble. The 22-year-old woman lost her life while trying to save her mother Nibedita and uncle Subrata Chowdhury from the raging flash flood water.
"The administration has given us a list and my sister's name is there," said Swarup Muhuri, Barsha's brother. "My mother was getting swayed in the flood water and she tried to save her. My mother could be rescued but Barsha could not drag herself out of the flash flood," he said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked the state government officials to make arrangements to bring her body and family members to Baruipur. "I have spoken to the relatives of Barsha and her body has been handed over to her family members in Amarnath after the post-mortem. They will take the next available flight," said Gautam Das vice-chairman, Baruipur Municipality.
According to estimates with Nabanna, more than 150 pilgrims from the state are stranded at Amarnath now. Three members of a family from Sodepur - Narayan Chandra Dey (52), an employee of a nationalized bank, his wife Ruma and his son Sagore - were missing till late Sunday evening.
"There were nearly 10,000 or more pilgrims near the Amarnath cave when the cloudburst happened. The camps near the cave were completely destroyed and the raging water swept away boulders and debris along with. We heard about the missing Baruipur woman on Saturday when we were conducting the rescue and treatment of the victims," said Pradip Bharadwaj, a doctor who is running medical camps at Amarnath. Bharadwaj, who is also a member of the West Bengal Radio Club, said that they were trying to trace the missing people.
Meanwhile, the pilgrims, who managed to escape the flash flood and landslide, have started coming back from the Chandanwari area. The seven-member team from Nagerbazar-Laketown area, which was at the Chandanwari camp on Saturday, left for Banihal, a town in Jammu and Kashmir. "Local administration is clueless about when the alternative route will open. We will now offer prayers to Vaishno Devi and Bhairon Nath before going to Kolkata," said Bipul Ghosh--a resident of Dakshindari area.
Those rescued on Friday also started coming back to Kolkata. "I was outside the camp when someone alerted us to scurry for safety. I dragged five members of our team from the tent and before we could climb on the boulder, everything was washed away," said Sourav Ghosh, a Barasat resident.
