Patran/Samana, August 2
Naresh Kumar, 32, has been regularly visiting the nearby Bhakra canal since January last year, waiting to get information on his paternal uncle suspected to have fallen into the canal at Samana.
There are hundreds of others like him hoping against hope to get information on their missing kin. They regularly visit the channel siphons in anticipation of finding a body entangled in the nets.
As their patience wears off, they leave after pasting posters with their contact numbers at the site.
“I have visited Khanauri, the last siphon in the Punjab territory, to search for my boy’s body,” said a dejected Harjeet Singh. His son is among the passengers of the bus that plunged into the Bhakra canal on Wednesday morning.
With little support coming from the government, desperate kin paste posters and engage the services of private divers. The government has no trained divers on its rolls and no arrangements to locate bodies from the water channel. Private divers at these siphons charge between Rs 4,000 and Rs 25,000 for finding a body.
“The task is risky. Many times the condition of the body is extremely poor. We have no insurance cover. Hence, the charges are justified,” explained Raminder Singh, a diver from Patran.
Official apathy
The government has no trained divers on its rolls
There are no arrangements to locate bodies from the water channel
Private divers charge between Rs 4,000 and Rs 25,000 for their services
Naresh Kumar, 32, has been regularly visiting the nearby Bhakra canal since January last year, waiting to get information on his paternal uncle suspected to have fallen into the canal at Samana.
There are hundreds of others like him hoping against hope to get information on their missing kin. They regularly visit the channel siphons in anticipation of finding a body entangled in the nets.
As their patience wears off, they leave after pasting posters with their contact numbers at the site.
“I have visited Khanauri, the last siphon in the Punjab territory, to search for my boy’s body,” said a dejected Harjeet Singh. His son is among the passengers of the bus that plunged into the Bhakra canal on Wednesday morning.
With little support coming from the government, desperate kin paste posters and engage the services of private divers. The government has no trained divers on its rolls and no arrangements to locate bodies from the water channel. Private divers at these siphons charge between Rs 4,000 and Rs 25,000 for finding a body.
“The task is risky. Many times the condition of the body is extremely poor. We have no insurance cover. Hence, the charges are justified,” explained Raminder Singh, a diver from Patran.
Official apathy
The government has no trained divers on its rolls
There are no arrangements to locate bodies from the water channel
Private divers charge between Rs 4,000 and Rs 25,000 for their services
