Shishir Giri, who is studying civil engineering at Kathmandu University, left Rasuwa on 28th July. The purpose of going to Rasuwa was for an internship in Upper Trishuli 3B. Sameer Poudel and Srishti Bastola, studying civil engineering, were also present with Giri.
Giri was among the thousands of citizens who lost their lives in the sudden flash floods in Bhotekoshi-Trishuli on August 10.
Shishir's father Ratnaprakash Dang is working in the District Attorney's office. On the day of the incident, he was busy in the office. In the evening, the elder son called and informed that his brother was out of touch.
Ratnaprakash was moved by this news, which was told by the eldest son crying. After receiving the news, he immediately walked home from Dang. The next day he arrived in Kathmandu from Nepalgunj by an 11 am flight.
After landing in Kathmandu, he tried to contact the representative of the university. At that time, Taltu replied that they were going to the Electricity Authority or some other office.
From the airport, he went straight to the scene. He stayed there all day as he was not allowed to go beyond the barracks near the project site. No further information was available that day. Returned to Kathmandu again.
After returning to Kathmandu, he mobilized his personal network and started trying to gather support for the search through his friends.
The family members of Shishir are appealing to the government for help through social media. Shishir's mother, Sushila, has posted a video on Facebook and said, "The foundation of our life has been destroyed. Please, even if we are dead, we want to see our son for the last time." Everyone please help.'
Shishir's status remains unknown even after 7 days of no contact.
After the incident, the family took the help of technology to get information about the condition of the students. Initially, it was seen from the mobile location tracking that Shishir was in the quarter area of the project. He said that when looking at the location records that were later extracted via email, two types of data from different times were seen. According to one source, the location is around 8:30 a.m. and according to another record, the location is a little more than 9:00 a.m.
The latest location was seen next to a structure called the 'audit tunnel'. At present, he has received information that this place has also been completed and is still down. Based on this, the family is not sure where exactly the students ended up. Ratnaprakash also doubts that location tracking is reliable.
He has raised serious questions about not giving the necessary information to the students on time in such a dangerous situation. If the information had been given in time, strong people of this age would have gone out. There was no information, suddenly an incident happened. They didn't seem to be able to escape from there," he says.
The issue that Ratnaprakash emphasized the most is the procedural error adopted by the university when sending them to internships. According to him, no information was given to the families about the decision to send the students to the Upper Trishuli project as interns.
In addition to this, he said that insurance is usually required when sent to work in such a risky location, but no such provision was made for the students. There should also be a formal agreement between the university that will assign the internship and the project party that will do the work. But it is not clear whether that happened or not.
Ratnaprakash says that there should be a contract between the internship provider and the employer, but it was not understood from their informal talk.
Ratnaprakash said that the time chosen by the university to send the internship was also not right. It was the time when the monsoon was active. And, at this time, the risk of floods and landslides is naturally higher. Moreover, small floods had occurred in the area a few days before the incident. He complains that he made a mistake by sending the student in such a situation.
According to him, there were small floods in the area on 22nd and 28th of July. What kind of time did the college choose this time? This is the time for floods and landslides. There was also a small flood on the 22nd,' he says.
He said that there is no identity between the subject of study of the students and the nature of the internship place. He says that hydropower related things are not necessary for his son's studies. Ratnaprakash's greatest dissatisfaction is that civil students were sent for internships in the hydropower sector at the wrong time despite having another option.
What we teach is civil engineering, not hydro. Civil works are also done elsewhere. There is no way that it will work in hydro' says Ratnaprakash sadly.
According to the university, hydro engineering is also included in the course content of civil engineering. The college claims that the internship was sent according to the course content.
Kathmandu University has formed the Search, Rescue and Coordination Committee, 2083 on August 11.
According to the statement issued by the university, the said committee will coordinate with the relevant agencies and mobilize resources for the search, rescue and support of people including students who are without contact in the affected areas.
The aid team of Kathmandu University was mobilized from Dhulikhel Hospital for treatment and humanitarian aid in the flood-affected areas from the 10th.
According to Maheshraj Bhatt, a member of the committee, information has been received that rescue work has been started in the project quarter since yesterday. He also said that the position of supporting the Nepal government in this area from his side is also favorable.
We have received information that the rescue operation has started since yesterday. Also, there is a system where you can help from your own level. You can help by using your own materials like: excavator etc.'' says Bhatt.
Manish Prakash, another member of the committee, said that the internship was conducted at the time specified by the academic calendar of the university. He says that he would not accept being criticized because of the natural disaster that has been going on since 2009.
Prakash says, "We have not been able to say much to the parents because of the children who have lost contact, but we have to work according to the applicable calendar."
Kanchan reports on current affairs in Online News.
