A few nagging queries.

The battering rains followed by landslides and further compounded by earth tremors have made life a continuous nightmare for the people of Uttarakhand as well as for the numerous pilgrims on their way to the places of worship. For the last few days, the Army, the Air Force and the ITBP personnel have acquitted themselves well by going beyond the call of duty in providing relief and succour to the people at large and as I punch in these thoughts, they've reached the finale of their gruelling exercise.

The loss of lives of the 20 service personnel during the course of the rescue operations was a dampener but true to service traditions and work ethics, they continued to carry out their impossible missions while grieving for their fallen compatriots silently.

An estimated 3,000 persons are reported missing despite the coordinated rescue operations. Mass cremations are currently on at vantage points amid fears of an outbreak of a slew of diseases. The national disaster management team seems to have got its act together, finally after a false start!

Having said all these, I've a number of queries related to the disaster, the subsequent relief operations and the highly detestable sideshows that had taken place and I list them down at random:-

      (a) This is a season known for the visit of a multitude of pilgrims to the sacred shrines of Kedarnath,
           Badrinath etc. Don't we have any plans in place to tackle tricky contingencies? I mean, aren't there
           organisations entrusted to tackle unforeseen calamities?

      (b) The communications have been apalling - be it the roads and their alternate ones, in case of a block,
           or telephonic connections or even telegraphic communication. Hasn't the necessity of a robust
           communication network ever been felt in those inaccessible areas where people live in the normal
           course of their lives? Huddling the survivors at various rescue points seemed to be a difficult task
           as surmised from the TV grabs, covering events reported from the spot.

      (c) Does documentation of the ingress and egress of pilgrims exist? If the answer is a 'nyet', how's
           this number of 3,000 being bandied about? Or is it an approximation?

These need to be taken into consideration and it's hoped that a fool proof system would be put in place to tackle future emergencies. It would also ensure a hassle free pilgrimage to the believers!

My humble salute and prayers for the valiant men who lost their lives while trying to rescue their countrymen. May their families have the strength to tide over these difficult times.


Tailpiece.

And finally, I come to my question that I've been asking myself many a time. Why didn't the prayers offered by the thousands of pilgrims to their God come to any help to them in their moments of helplessness? Or had they all sinned beyond redemption?