Bangaloreans safe, may return in a day or two, say kin

The 10 people from Bangalore, who were stranded in flood-hit Kash­m­­ir, have been evacuated to a safer place, one of their re­l­­­a­tives said here on Tuesday.

H S Krishnamurthy (64) and his family members were evacuated to a safer place by rescue workers, his brother Sujay said. Krishnamurthy’s daughter-in-law Poornima (27) had called Sujay from Kashmir. “She was calling from a rescue worker’s phone and was probably in the helicopter at that time. She said they have been given food; her child was given milk,” Sujay said.

Krishnamurthy, his wife Vatsala (62), son Sri Harsha (Poornima’s husband), his son Shashank, Poornima’s parents Manjunath (62) and Seethalakshmi (58), brother Kiran (24), Krishnamurthy’s relative Gangadhar (70) and his wife Bharathi (60)—all of them from south Bangalore—were stranded in a hotel in Jawahar Nagar of Srinagar.

Another family of eight members, who were stranded in Srinagar, have managed to send a WhatsApp message to a friend in Bangalore, saying they are safe. Nirmala, whose niece was among them, said that although she was not able to speak to them directly, getting the news about their safety was a big relief. Nirmala said her niece and others could arrive tomorrow or the day after depending on the availability of flight.

A total of 76 people from Karnataka are reported to have been moved to a safer location, according to Gaurav Gupta, Secretary, Revenue. Fifty-five of them are in Srinagar while 21 have been moved out of Jammu and Kashmir. Among the 21, many have reached Karnataka while others have travelled to Amritsar and Delhi, he added.

The State control room in Bangalore has received information about over 550 people who were stranded in Kashmir. It has been receiving fresh calls and updates round the clock. There are no causalities.

“IAS officer from Karnataka, Ramandeep Chowdhary, has reached Srinagar and is stationed at a BSF camp. He will act as a help desk for people from Karnataka to facilitate their return home.

Chowdhary has obtained details of those who are stranded and he is constantly being updated. He will also co-ordinate with those who need financial or any other help to travel home,” Gupta said.
According to Gupta, no special arrangements have been made to bring back people from the State, as they are boarding flights at the Srinagar airport as and when they arrive.

Nitesh Patil, an IAS officer who is co-ordinating the rescue efforts from Bangalore, said he had not been able to contact Chowdhary though the latter had carried battery packs and five sim cards. “As the landlines have completely collapsed, we are not able to even make any calls to the Srinagar airport. I am told that over 10,000 people are waiting at the airport to return home,”  he added.