Kin continue desperate search for those missing since 2024 Kedarnath cloudburst

For eight months, Amar Chand Samaria, 56, an insurance agent from Rajasthan, has pasted posters, distributed pamphlets, and written letters as part of his desperate search for his son, Rupin, an Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee graduate who is among 22 people missing since a cloudburst triggered landslides and flooding along the Kedarnath yatra route in July 2024.

“I will search for my son until my last breath,” said Samaria even as his son is suspected to have washed away in the swollen Mandakini river. He added he spent the first week scouring every possible place along the yatra route in the hope of finding Rupin. “Then, someone advised me to put up posters and distribute pamphlets,” said Samaria. He alleged official apathy and added the authorities did not even express sympathy. “My financial situation is not very stable... I am also a heart patient.”

Rupin left for Kedarnath with his friend, Ghanendra Singh, on July 29 last year two days after he graduated from IIT Roorkee. “He wanted to visit the shrine after securing his degree. When they were trekking down from the shrine on July 31, Rupin lost his phone. I last spoke to him from Ghanendra’s phone at around 8.30pm,” he said. Within minutes of the phone call, there was a sudden surge of water and that was the last time Rupin was seen.

Samaria said some priests told them that Rupin was alive. “My inner voice tells me the same. I will return to Uttarakhand on April 10 to resume my search before the yatra begins... If I can find my son, it will be the greatest blessing,” he said.

In September last year, Samaria wrote to Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami saying the police had kept them in the dark. “...debris is still lying at the site. The CCTV footage has not been provided to us despite our requests.”

Like Samaria, Ved Pal from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur has been searching for his son, 27, Arvind, since last year. “We have traveled to Sonprayag four to five times… and trekked to Kedarnath Dham. We searched everywhere, went to the police station, put up posters, and even announced a reward, but there was still no information. Every time we call the authorities they give the same reply that there is no update yet. Nothing has been done for us...” He said Arvind and his friend Suraj were out to get water from Haridwar during the Kanwar Yatra when they decided to visit Kedarnath.

Pal said his heart tells him that his son will return. “… I will never stop searching for him. The yatra is set to begin again and we will return to Sonprayag to look for him again,” said Pal.

Pal, a vegetable seller, said they cannot afford this search. “… Each trip costs us ₹15,000 to ₹20,000. We are drowning in debt, and I do not know how we will repay it. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope that I will find my son.”

Sushil of Haryana’s Yamunanagar has been searching for his brother, Anuj, 23. “He left home on July 29 [2014] with his friend Gautam [whose body was found]… Our last conversation was on July 30. He told us he was heading to the shrine, and since then, we have been unable to find him,” he said.

Sushil said he spent a week in Sonprayag, putting up posters and searching every possible place. “… but the administration never supported us. No one heard our pleas. Every time we call the Sonprayag police station, we never get a direct answer,” he said. “Now, with the yatra about to begin again, we will return to search for him.”

District disaster management officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said 22 people remain missing since the tragedy struck last year. “The search operations ended long ago… yet they remain untraceable.” He said they remain in touch with the families of the missing. “The compensation cannot be granted until they are officially declared dead.”

Seven bodies were recovered and around 13,000 pilgrims rescued from the Kedarnath trek route following the July 31 floods, and landslides that damaged infrastructure at 29 locations and led to the yatra suspension for 19 days.