Days after tragedy, three still buried in God's abode in Shimla after nature's fury

It was supposed to be a pious occasion for the Sharma family who had organised a ‘havan’ (a fire ritual to invoke the God) at the Shiv Temple in Summer Hill, Shimla on 14 August. Though, the previous day the rains had been incessant, in the morning the drizzle had stopped.

- CHANDNI S CHANDEL

The seven members of the family had barely walked into the temple accompanied by a few neighbours invited for the ‘havan’ when a massive landslide resulted in the uprooting of trees and the temple got buried.

Pawan Sharma, 65, the family patriarch, and six other members lost their lives in it. In all, 20 people died then and there. His relative Mohit Sharma says, “The bodies of Pawan, one of his grand-daughter and another relative Neeraj’s body are yet to be recovered.”