Nepalese families, students pray for the safety of their kin back home

Hina Rohtaki and Bipin Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Panchkula/Dera Bassi, April 26

Anxiety is writ large on the faces of families and friends whose near and dear ones are stuck in the quake-hit Nepal.

Apprehending the worst, Nepalese families in Sectors 20 and 21 of Panchkula are keeping their fingers crossed as they are unable to contact their family members there.

“We are having sleepless nights. My three-year-old son and my wife had gone home to Nepal. Their cellphones are switched off. The phone numbers of my neighbours are also not reachable,” said Vir Bahadur, a resident of Sector 21.

Ram Singh, who works as a guard in a society in Sector 20, said, “My parents and my brothers are there. I am worried because I have not been able to contact them. I called my neighbours and they said even they did not know of their whereabouts. Since then I have been watching television but there is no clue. There is no proper helpline also issued by the government.”

Even Nepalese students pursuing engineering from Sri Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dera Bassi, are a worried lot after the devastating earthquake hit Kathmandu and other parts of the country leaving thousands killed and lakhs homeless on Saturday.

The aftershocks added to their fear. The institute has 12 students from different parts of Nepal and out of which, five are residing in the hostel.

Fortunately families of all the hostlers are residing almost 400 km from Kathmandu and no casualty has been reported as yet.

The budding engineers — Rajib Yadav, Jatinder Yadav, Jawed Sultan, Muntazir Ansari and Dhananjay Kumar — are thankful to God for the wellbeing of their relatives and are in touch with their parents and relatives.

After finishing their degree courses, these students want to help the Nepal Government in rebuilding the earthquake-hit cities that have faced massive destruction.

Dhananjay Kumar, a resident of Birganj city of Parasa district, 400 Km South East from Kathmandu, said that he spoke to his parents at 7 pm.

“I was trying since long and finally got connected to my parents. They briefed me that there was no loss of life and property as yet,” said Kumar. 

Prof Avtar Singh, chairman of Sri Sukhmani Group, has offered help to the families of the earthquake-affected families of the students. 

Pkl Admn ready to send relief material 

The Panchkula district administration has kept relief material ready and would send it after the directions from the government. Panchkula Deputy Commissioner Vivek Atray said they were in touch with some donor organisations and had kept powder milk on standby. He said he would ask the police to provide help to the Panchklula-based families who are trying to locate their relatives in Nepal. The police control room can be called for any information.