Santosh Lad was one of us: Survivors

[1]

Bengaluru: “He was at the wheel driving us and carrying our luggage. We did not feel that he was a minister, but an ordinary worker sent to help us,” survivors of the Uttarakhand floods from Karnataka, who returned to the city on Tuesday, said of infrastructure and information minister Santosh Lad, who was given charge of bringing survivors from Karnataka from Uttarakhand.
It was the last group of people from Karnataka to return from the flood-ravaged U'khand. They were brought to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s home office Krishna and introduced to the Chief Minister.
When Siddaramaiah was about to address them, one of the survivors Adavi Acharya from Raichur said that he would like to say a few words. Recalling the troubled days soon after the floods, Acharya said, “There was no power connection, the mobile network was not available and the ATM cards were not working.
The locals fleeced us for the first five days. Our tour operator had brought ration for four days and he had to pay Rs 4,000 for a gas cylinder. When things were getting worse, the Pejawar seer and the local Raghavendra Mutt gave us food and shelter.”
He said, “Till Lad arrived, we had lost all hopes of seeing our families again. We immediately got necessary supplies of food and medicine, and the transport too was arranged. He stayed with us, helped the elderly climb the hills and he himself drove the car to the helipad. We are grateful that you sent him to Uttarakhand,'' Acharya told Siddaramaiah. The other survivors too joined Acharya in praising Lad.
Siddaramaiah said that he chose Lad as he had confidence in him. “It was not about spending money. It was about ensuring that the last survivor reached his/her home. I was sure that Lad would not return till the mission was accomplished,” he said.
Siddaramaiah regretted that the state could not get any information on the 14 people, including 13 of a family from Maddur in Mandya district, who remained untraced.