A view of the Kedarnath temple after the devastation caused by the flash floods of 2013. (Express photo/File) A view of the Kedarnath temple after the devastation caused by the flash floods of 2013. (Express photo/File)

Five years after she went missing in the 2013 Kedarnath deluge, a 17-year-old girl was reunited with her grandparents in Aligarh on Monday due to efforts of the police and child welfare committees (CWCs) of Jammu and Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh.

The teenager’s uncle is now trying to trace her mother and sisters, who live in Ghaziabad.

Chanchal, who police said is mentally ill, had been staying at a shelter home in Jammu since June 2013, when she, her two younger sisters and parents Rajesh Chandra and Seema had gone to Kedarnath on a pilgrimage. Rajesh and Chanchal were swept away in the floods, and had been missing since then. However, Seema and her two daughters escaped, and returned to their home in Aligarh after failing to locate them.

NGO Childline’s Aligarh director Gyanendra Mishra said that Chanchal, then 12, was rescued and taken to a shelter home in Jammu by Uttarakhand police.

“During her stay there, Chanchal used to speak about Aligarh city with her limited verbal skills. On the basis of this information, the shelter home authorities started looking for her family. They finally zeroed down on Aligarh’s Bannadevi area.”

He further said, “On coming to know about the girl, the Jammu CWC initiated the process to trace the girl’s family and contacted Aligarh police around a month ago. Committee members provided the details to police and the girl’s house was traced to Bannadevi’s Lohia Nagar locality.”

On Monday, a three-member team of Jammu police brought Chanchal to Aligarh, where Childline took custody, and ultimately reunited her with her grandparents.

“Childline brought the girl to us. Her grandparents Harish Chandra and Shakuntala Devi and uncle Mohan Chandra were also present. She identified her grandparents as well. Hence, we gave consent for her to be handed over to them,” said Aligarh’s CWC member Matroo Mal Singh.

CWC sources said Chanchal’s grandparents had initially refused to take custody. However, the CWC kept trying and contacted Childline Aligarh seeking help in uniting the family, said Mishra.

“We went to Chanchal’s grandparents and convinced them to accept the girl’s custody. After they agreed, we asked Jammu authorities to send the girl to Aligarh. While staying at a shelter home in Jammu, Chanchal had got a new name, Tulsi,” Mishra said.

When contacted, Chanchal’s uncle Mohan Chandra, said, “Before 2013, my brother Rajesh and his family left Aligarh and settled in Ghaziabad. I will try to locate my sister-in-law and hand over Chanchal to her. Till her mother is found, Chanchal will stay with us. But my brother Rajesh is still untraceable.”

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