Old couple recall nightmarish experience after surviving

Phagwara, June 22: An old couple, who survived the massive Uttarakhand flash floods triggered by incessant rains, said it was a "second life granted to them".

Girish Sharma, 60, and his wife Sushma Sharma, 59, reached here yesterday after surviving nature's fury. The couple were among 35 pilgrims who had left on June 8 from here and paid obeisance at Yamnotri, Gangotri and Kedarnath but the couple were later stuck at Gobindghat and Badrinath due to cloudburst and landslides.

"We had not thought of reuniting with our family," they told reporters here today. While recalling their horrific experiences from the Char Dham yatra, they said that they along with other pilgrims, fought for survival and had providential escape when a bridge collapsed immediately after they had crossed it on Chamoli on way to Rishikesh on June 17. They reached Karan Paryag after huge travails.

"Death stalked and stared us in the face. We proceeded towards Ranital on June 18 and stayed there, shelling huge sums of money for a room. We started for Khokhran on June 19. After spending a night there, we began our journey for Phagwara via Dehradun, Paonta Sahib-Chandigarh. It took us 25 hours for covering over 400 kms from there as the roads were broken," they said.

"All this while, our two daughters and a son underwent hell, worrying helplessly for us. They all have heaved a sigh of relief now", they said.

PTI