By Alok Singh,
New Delhi : A German woman whose husband has gone missing in flood-swamped Srinagar, where he had come to attend a wedding, has appealed to the Indian government for help.
Sullz Berger-Ashai, who is here with her 21-year-old son and a teenaged daughter, approached the officials at the Jammu and Kashmir House in New Delhi where authorities have set up a control room for those who want to contact their dear ones stranded in the state.
“We last talked on Friday evening, when he told me that his locality is full of water but he will manage to reach a safer place. From the next morning his phone was off and no communication could be made. I am very worried. I have come to know the situation is bad,” Berger-Ashai, 56, told IANS.
Srinagar is battling the worst floods in 60 years, which have left 200 people dead. While hundreds have been rendered homeless, the main city of Srinagar has been partially submerged under water.
Berger-Ashai’s husband Ashai Mohd. Saeed is a native of Jammu and Kashmir. The couple got married in 1993 in Germany.
Saeed came to Srinagar to attend the marriage of his nephew two months ago.
The marriage was slated for Sep 16 and Berger-Ashai and her children were to attend it too.
She told IANS that she reached Delhi Saturday with her children after several failed attempts to contact her husband over the phone. Currently, she is putting up in a hotel in Paharganj area in central Delhi.
“Although four days have passed since my husband and his 84-year-old mother have gone missing, I am hopeful that both are safe. Officials at Jammu and Kashmir House assured me that they will provide me every help,” she said.
According to officials of Jammu and Kashmir House, Berger-Ashai is the first foreigner who has contacted them for help.
“I also contacted the German embassy, from where I got to know that eight other German nationals have gone missing too,” Berger-Ashai told IANS.
“They (Jammu and Kashmir control room officials) have noted the details of my husband and forwarded it to officials in Kashmir. With the help of satellite phones, they are trying to make a contact,” she added.
Like Berger-Ashai, there were scores of anxious people outside the Jammu and Kashmir House in Prithviraj Road in New Delhi, waiting to know the whereabouts of their relatives.
While many are Kashmiri whose families are living in Srinagar, there also are many others whose families had gone to visit the state.
“We are able to contact the people in Jammu but the valley is out of reach. With the help of satellite phone, we are contacting people in Kashmir but it is just for a few minutes in a day,” an official told IANS.
A satellite phone operator is continuously trying to communicate, the official added.
“The control room started Monday morning and over 200 people have approached us so far,” another official told IANS.
(Alok Singh can be contacted at [email protected])