‘Didn’t even know about flood’: 3 Bihar youths missing in Dharali flash flood return home; kin conduct their ‘last rites’ | Dehradun News
Rahul Mukhiya (L), Munna Mukhiya (middle) and Ravi Kumar left for Gangotri for a construction job
DEHRADUN: The firewood had already been stacked, and three effigies — built for Rahul Mukhiya, Munna Mukhiya and Ravi Kumar, each just 19 and working as labourers in flash flood-hit Dharali — had been arranged for the pyres when the youths, presumed dead in the Aug 5 deluge that tore through Dharali, returned home. Their return caused an uproar of joy in Magalhiya, their village in Bihar’s West Champaran.In a place where phones seldom rang and lists never came, silence was enough to decide what had happened. The wall of water had collapsed bridges, cut off roads, and snapped communication lines in Dharali and adjoining areas. More than 40 people remained unaccounted for, and Magalhiya had no reason to believe its sons weren’t among them. With no one to ask and nothing to go on, their absence became the only evidence anyone had.But the trio hadn’t died in Dharali. They hadn’t even been there when the disaster struck. They had left Harsil, about 6km from the epicentre, three days earlier and travelled to Gangotri for a construction job. When the wall of water came, they were stranded — safe, but unreachable.
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“There was no mobile signal in Gangotri. We didn’t know anyone was looking for us. We didn’t even know about the flood,” Rahul said.The Army, carrying out evacuations across the flood-hit region, located the group and airlifted them by helicopter to Dehradun. From there, they were brought by road through Haridwar, eventually making their way back to Bihar. The rescue took days. By the time they reached home, their silence had already been interpreted as death. “The Army gave us food, looked after us the whole way,” said Munna. “But we didn’t know what we were going back to.”Two others from the same village — Rakesh Thakur and Guddu Das — were believed to have died in the floods. Rakesh’s brother, Mahesh Thakur, said he went to Uttarkashi after hearing from two survivors. “They told me Rakesh had been hit by a boulder and buried in the mud. I searched, but found nothing. So we performed a symbolic cremation. That’s all we could do.”At home, Ramji Mukhiya, Munna’s father, recalled watching two such funerals in the village before deciding to hold one for his son. “The survivors told us the flood was so fierce, no one could have lived through it. I waited for news. But nothing came. We prepared an effigy and lit the fire,” he said. “And then he came back. Just before it was over.”Rahul’s father, Nandlal Mukhiya, and Ravi’s father, Surendra Mukhiya, remembered those 10 days simply. Nandlal and Ramji live across a narrow lane from one another; both drive for a living. Surendra’s house is a short walk away. For ten days, the routine continued — water drawn, meals cooked, condolences murmured at the door. Then, the teenagers walked in — tired, silent, and unmistakably alive.
