'Don't send money. Send engineers'

At the entry point of the village Kamlakote, Sabena stands alone. She doesn't have a ration card. Her father is injured and immobile, while her mother has died under the debris. "I don't know how to get a ration card," she says. "How does one loot things?"

To test the flow of help to villagers, rediff.com spoke to Manoj Gupta, CRPF Deputy Commandant, who was standing nearby supervising relief operations. Without introducing ourselves, we told him Sabena was a poor woman shy of asking for help. She needed a tent because she had five siblings. Without wasting a second, Gupta sanctioned a tent.

"We did a small survey on the third day," he says. "For the first two days, we were clearing the roads. CRPF has now adopted Kamlakote village. We will erect a huge shamiana and open an office. The army has given us modern tents that cost Rs 1.20 lakh each. We have already distributed 300 tents in and around this area over the last 24 hours."

He says the snow will have to be removed every hour. After his announcement that help will be given to rebuild homes in Kamalkote, more and more people want to be counted as residents. "We have everything with us," he says. "We have engineers and carpenters too. We will live here, help people build their homes and make their lives normal again."

People holding ration cards. Inset: Sabena

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