Nepal floods: DNA samples of kin of Vidisha engineer, two workers from MP to be collected

VIDISHA/RAISEN: DNA samples of family members of Vidisha engineer Swati Bagrecha and two workers from Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen, who have been missing since the Nepal floods, will be collected as Nepal has begun using DNA tests to identify victims, officials said on Friday.

Amid their agonising wait for updates, a letter from the Canadian government has reached the family of Swati, who moved there after marriage and was based in Toronto, in connection with the DNA testing, her relatives said.

The family will soon meet Vidisha Superintendent of Police (SP) Rohit Kashwani to seek permission for the testing, following which the health department will collect DNA samples and complete the formalities, officials said.

Civil Surgeon Dr Anup Verma told PTI that he had spoken to Swati’s brother, Dr Prashant Bagrecha, about the process.

SP Kashwani said the authorities would collect the samples from Swati’s family members and complete the testing process as per rules after discussions with them.

Swati, 50, had left on August 8 for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra with a 77-member group. She was at the Nepal-Tibet border for immigration formalities on August 26 when the disaster struck, and there has been no communication from her since.

Her 14-year-old daughter Anushka had stayed behind with her elder sister in Mumbai, according to the family.

“Her mobile is still ringing, but she is not answering our calls. We are extremely worried about her safety,” Prashant had told PTI earlier.

The family had contacted the Canadian and Indian embassies in Nepal, seeking help in tracing Swati. Her phone’s location logs had indicated activity somewhere near the Chinese border, but tracing the device had proved difficult as the number was registered in Toronto, Prashant had said.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had also spoken to the family and initiated diplomatic and administrative efforts to expedite the search for Swati.

The flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, caused widespread devastation, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.

The death toll in Nepal due to the flash floods rose to 1,282 on Friday.

Meanwhile, the families of Vishesh Rajput and Himanshu Shakya from Raisen district, who had gone to Nepal for work, will also provide DNA samples to help establish their identities, an official said.

Civil Surgeon Dr Anil Od said that Rajput’s family had approached the district collector for DNA testing and, following his approval, instructions had been issued to collect samples and initiate the process as per the rules.

Samples of the parents of Rajput and Shakya would be collected, Raisen Collector Arun Kumar Vishwakarma told PTI.

Rajput, a resident of Manjus Kala village in Sultanpur tehsil, and Shakya of Mandideep had travelled to Nepal through Andritz Hydro Pvt Ltd, a company based in Mandideep near Raisen, to work on the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydroelectric Project, according to officials.

Six workers from the Mandideep-based company had travelled to Nepal for the hydropower project. Contact was established with four of them after nearly 48 hours, but there has been no information about Rajput and Shakya, according to the district administration.

Rajput’s family had earlier said that he spoke to his grandmother by phone around 8.30 am on the day of the disaster, after which contact with him was lost.

The families of the two workers are hoping for their safe return, while the district administration remains in contact with the company for updates, officials said.