Uttarakhand floods: A year on, victims see little hope in govt

by Subhajit Sengupta Uttarakhand: Seventy-three-year-old Tiwari ji folded his hands to say this to me when I visited Deoli-Bhanigram, a village sabha which had lost 59 bread earners to the Himalayan Tsunami that struck Kedarnath on this day a year ago. These words struck me. I don’t know why but I never felt so small ever in my career. ‘Aap to media se ho… woh aapki baat sunenge… Zara kehdo ki hamare bacche to chaale gayen hain ab…hamara izzat to rakhle…koi hamare baare main puch to le’ ( You are from media , they (administration) will listen to you …please tell them we have lost our children, can they please visit us once). I reached Deoli 10 days after the disaster hit the region, to my utter shock I realized that I was the first contact to the external world that this village had after the disaster. Situated at 7 Km from Guptkashi, the Kedarnath base camp, we had to trek 4 kilometers to reach there. But that didn’t prepare us to see what I saw . Every house had a widow. The wails broke the eerie silence that engulfed the village. Till date, apart from getting the customary Rs 5 lakh in the name of the dead, the villagers have got nothing from the government, No alternate source of earning, no counseling and no one to nurse their wound. [caption id=“attachment_1571315” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A damaged building in Uttarakhand. Image courtesy: Subhojit Sengupta[/caption] On 16 June, 2013 Uttarakhand witnessed its greatest tragedy till date which left over 6000 people dead and thousands homeless and without a penny. The state government under Vijay Bahuguna made things even worse for the people there and had to be finally removed this January. Worst hit was the Kedar valley where everything but the temple was almost washed away. According to a survivor, there was a strike in Kedarnath called by the Mule and Doli Owners (they wouldcarry people and luggage for the last 14 kilometers) against the chopper companies, who according to them were spoiling their business . The strike was called on 13th and 14th June , SDM was in Kedarnath to sort out the issue. Finally on 15th the strike was cleared. But there had been nonstop rainfall for 24 hours before that. Pilgrims, who were stranded for the last three days couldn’t leave even as no chopper could land and Dolis were reluctant to move due to the weather. The pilgrims and the locals were caught off guard, for it never rained this heavily so early in the year. As the night of 15 June progressed, the noise from the river became louder. And then suddenly the lake behind Kedarnath lost its leash, the water level rose to unprecedented heights and took everything away with it - markets, temples, lodges and people. Everything swept away. Since there was no system of registering the tourists, the world would never know how many lost the battle of life to the wrath of river Mandakini. The very fact that the temple survived is in itself a miracle according to the main priest of Kedarnath Temle, Pandit Brajesh Ling. In his words, “The water began to rise and by the middle of the night it reached till our chest height. Everyone was in panic, but suddenly early in the morning the Western Gate which is always shut opened against the flow of the river. The water gushing in from the lake could meet the river and we were saved from total annihilation." The people of Kedar valley and those below ( Rudraprayag onwards) are entirely dependent on the Chardham yatra for their livelihood. After the washout last year, the pilgrims are down to 10-15% of what they used to be earlier. As you move from Agastmuni, Chandrapuri, Guptkashi towards Kedarnath, the number of shot-down hotels are much more than those operational. Even those which are open are struggling with resources. Most of them don’t have money to pay the work force or repay old loans. Reconstruction of the state seems to be stuck in a limbo even a year on. When I revisited the state in January, hardly any work was done in any of the worst hit areas. Let alone the difficult Kedar terrain, even in Srinagar which just about two and a half hours away from the state capital no progress has been made. An entire town continues to be under the muck brought in from the river on fatal night of 15th-16Th June ’13. The river here flows dangerously close to the town after the floods. Rs 60 crore was sanctioned to change the course of the river and build a stone wall on the bank. But only thing that happened in ex-CM Vijay Bahuguna’s reign was announcements. No work was done for the first 8 months and by the time Harish Rawat assumed charge and showed some energy, it was already too late . The water in these rivers begin to rise from March onwards, so dredging was out of question.The wall too is just under construction, locals say if a flood half as strong as the last one hits the town the impact could be far more tragic. Most of the bridges remain damaged and the new ones are far from being complete. The temporary bridges which are rather close to the water level of the river, might not see it through the monsoon season. Even these temporary bridges were mainly built either by the army, NDRF or the NGOs and trusts who were working in the area. The role of the civil administration was hardly visible anywhere in the state. The anger that was palpable on the streets about 8 months back have now given way to quiet resignation. Those who spoke about their problems to the media now feel it is a futile exercise. A year on, Uttarakhand is yet to get its smile back. Author is a journalist with CNN-IBN and was one of the first reporters to reach Uttarakhand after the floods