Support for young couples

Supporting young couples in need by Frankey Fernandes in the last Indian Link is easily one of the best artides I have read in recent times It vividly highlights the plight of recently-arrived skilled migrants. They arrive here with great hopes of making a decent living, banking on their education and experience, but get disillusioned by a lack ofjob opportunities in their field of expertise. Just to put food on the table many of them take up any job, often menial, that come their way For fear of shame and ridicule from friends and relatives back home they keep their predicament a secret from them. Disappointment and delusion can lead to depression.

Being in a position to meet a number of newly-arrived skilled migrants from India, I am aware of their hardships including one case very close to what Frankey has described - an unexpected pregnancy that sadly did not go the full term. Of course one would say these migrants have chosen to come here with their eyes wide open. True. But that is only one side of the equation.

The Australian Government also plays some role in attracting them with its long -term interest of populating the country with young and employable people to keep the economy going and fund the care of the aged, invalid and unemployed It has some moral responsibility to bear particularly when it spends billions on medical care and the general well-being of unauthorised arrivals Do those MPs and Senators who bombard the airwaves with the perceived plight of the unauthorised arrivals ever bother to know what the skilled mig rants go through? l highly doubt this. Because no one te ll s them.

There are dozens of community organisations representing every region of India and they can play a role in bringing the problems of their kindred to the public arena. They should look beyond bajans, bangras and Bol lywood 'tamasha ' if they want to prove their worth to their community and be taken seriously by the powers that be.

LP. A. Viramani

The state of Uttarakhand reels beneath nature's flood fury

That's only to describe the current simation in Uttarakband, over a fortnight since the devastating floods that overwhelmed th.is picturesque state, leaving behind unimaginable wreckage and destruction.

Uttarakhand, formecly known as U ttaranchal, is situated in the northern part of India, and is a renowned place of pilgrimage for Hindus with an abundance of temples and ho ly sites. It is also a popular courisr destination, thanks to its breathtaking natural beauty and i ts location at the foot of the Bhabhar and the Terai in the mighty Himalayas. It was created in November 2000 as the 27' " state of the Republic of India, from the Himalayan and adjoining northwestern distr iccs of Utrar Pradesh. Sharing borders wid1 T ibet, Nepal, Uttar Pradesh and J-limachal Pradesh, Uttarakband consists of che Garhwal and Kumaon divis ions widi 13 districts. Dehradun is its provisional capital.

According to the 2011 census of India, Urtarakhand has a population of 10,116,752, w ith more than 88% following Hinduism, and Muslims making up the largest minority. Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, and Jains are the other major religions

Two of the most importam rivers in Hinduism originate in the region, tbe Ganga at Gangorri and che Yamuna at Yamunotri. These t\VO, alongwirh Badrinath and Kedarnath form the Chota Char Dharn, a holy pilgrimage for the Hindus. The state hosts me Bengal tiger in Jim Corbett National Park, d1e oldest national park of die Indian subcontinent. The Valley of Flowers, a UNESCO World Heritage Sire located here, is known for the variety and rarity of me flowers and plants found there. Besides diis, Govindghac in Uttarakhand is me commencement poim of me trek to Hemhmd Sahib, the holy shrine of die Sikhs. Kedarnath is a revered pilgrimage sire for millions of Hi ndus, simated at an altirude of 3,586 metres in die lap of the majestic mountain peaks and near me head of die l'vfandakini river. It can be reacbed after a steep 14- km-long trek.

Natural disaster l'vfeena al so said many people took shelter in d1e jungles when the flood water inundated the areas. "There were wailing women and children in hysterical condition. They were there without food and water. They were totally in panic. They were crying for help. \Xie faced a lot of problems, as we had no way to reach them. \Vle then made ropeways and then many of our men carried them on their backs. Our firsr priority was to reach d1e women, children and the o ld," Meena added.

Licessanc and intense rai11s hit me hlll state over diree days from June 14, triggering Aash Aoods and landslides, leading to hundreds of deaths and resulting in mousands more tTi.issing. Though over 100,000 peop le have been evacuated so far, at the time of going ro press, hundreds were still stranded at various poims across the state. At last count, approximately 800 peop le were dead and over 3,000 missing, but diese were just estimated based on what evacuated people recounted to the rescue teams and to government officials.

Major pilgrimage centres have also suffered ter r ible damage.

Pilgrimages to places like Kedamath and Badrinath, home to among me most revered Hindu shrines, have been all but washed away. Entire villages and small towns have simply disappeared in me Aood waters, with bridges and roads swept away, cutting off large areas, as weU as homes, hotels and businesses. Power lines have been damaged and die loss of life is tragically high. To make things worse, continuous rain and fogg y conditions seriously hampered rescue operations in the first week of the tragedy.

Many people had fallen ill because of starvation and staying out in the open in d1e freezing cold for long hours, so docrors were air- dropped in strategic locations.

It is reported that in one day, 700 peopl e were given medicines for various ailments Personnel of the A r med Forces Medical Services are working in the state wid1 29 teams deployed around Kedarnath while an emergency centre bas been set up at Joshi.math, an official release said.

The National Disaster Management Aud1ority (NDMA) declared die Uttarakhand devastation a "severe namral disaster" and requested leaders not to politicise the issue. Inspector Gopal Singh Meena from the NDMA has worked in some cough environments whenever namral calamity has struck, bur he said he has never seen such utter devastation. The NDJ\l[J\ team that was air-cL:opped at Guptkashi, which is located between Kedarnath and Rudraprayag, saw a ghost town with structures smashed to me ground like match boxes by the fur y of me flood waters, and twisted bodies of the o ld and young, men and women simpl y strewn around, revealed Meena.

"Here (Gaurikund) , people had taken shelter in jungles. Many just couldn't walk. Thei r feet were swollen. They were corally famished and in urgent need of food and warer:' said Meena, whose team members were the ones who rescued and evacuated hundreds of people stuck in the entire stretd1 of Kedamath valley.

One of the casualties of the rescue operatious diat shocked the nation was the crashing of an lndian Air Force rescue plane 011 June 25. The crash claimed the lives of nine personnel of DRF, six of tbe Lido -T ibetan Border Police and five of me Indian Air Force. J\mong the dead \Vas Wing Commander Darryl Castelino, who was piloting the iUfated helicopter when ir crashed. He was laid co rest on June 30 in Mumbai, wim full military honours.

Stories have also been filrering out of looting and rape. Says i\nupam Sharma who grew up in most of the areas in which the floods unleashed d1e ir fury, "i\1Iy broken heart skips a beat every time o ne hears abom the victims being looted, helpless female pilgrims awaiting rescue being raped , swami con men conni n g ac die worst time, kids who are orphaned being saved for the child labour market - the li st goes on. All in the most holiest of areas where even the worst evil goes for penance!" He adds, "Then there is the pl ight of the survjvors having to take c lothes off dead borues ro save themselves, the chopper crash , the nob le a nd honest defense personnel, and some of the local administratio n. For me, it is a big churning of emotions as each time I hear the name of a p lace in Uttarakhand, I am taken back to the wonderful memories of childhood." A poignant and tragic feeling ind eed!

Forewarned and ignored

What has come to light in recent days is that an alert was sent to the Uttarakhand government about the rainfall activity for 48 hours before the d isastrous rains starred around June 14, India Meteorological Department official N Doraiswamy said recen tl y An WO official based at Dehradun reiterated that waro.i11gs of heavy rains and landslide were sent ro the state govern m ent. However, rl1e Congress gave a clean chit ro U ttarakhand Cluef Mjnisrer Vijay Bahuguna, who has been facing flak for "ignoring" rl1e advance warnings of very heavy rains by t he meteorological department, saying it was satisfied wirl1 the state government's rescue and relief work. The Met Office claimed d1at the Char Dham Yatra could have been halted in time, saving hundreds of lives. "The reasons (berund the tragedy) will

INDIAN LINK be examined. The focus eight now shou ld be on evacuating stranded people, ensuring relief and rehabilitation and rnecking rl1e sp read of epidemic," said Maken, sp o kesman from the Con gress. Maken said tho u sand s o f people have been left homeles s and their houses uprooted. "\Y/e should rise above partisan pol itics and serve the peop le," he add ed.

The hand of God?

Bur for rl1e locals, the damage and devastation is the only rluog they are talking about. The Haridwar ghats, as well a.s the temples are empty. The rains and landslides are God's way of teaching mankind a lesson, they say.

" Rampant illegal construction on the banks of the river, corruption a nd looting rl1e pilgrims have led to this God was angry. It is his way. Omerwise, why would rl1ousands of people who had come to pray at these shrines perish like rlus?" said Man Singh

Up reti of DehradLrn. " This is god's way to teach people a lesson," added tbe 70 -year- o ld.

Others cite rufferent reasons for the djsaster Neighbouring

Madhya Pradesh C h ief l\iinister

Shivraj Singh Chauhan said the central government should de clare a na tional environment policy ro stop illegal construction and prevent a disaster like the o n e that wrecked U ttarakhand. Chauhan also asked for me Utt·irakhaod

Aash Aoods to be declared a national calamity. " \'v'hen you camper w it!, nacure, then namre will unleash its fury o n yo u," Chauhan said. Talking o f the mushrooming of several buildings near rivers in UtL'lrakhand, he s aid , "Illegal construction and corruption go hand in hand".

Over 5,000 peopl e from Madhya Pradesh were rescued and have remrned home by helicopters, buses and u·aios. Chauhan declared a compensation package of Rs.2 lakh for the next of kin of those who died in rl1e Aoods, and Rs.5 lakh for tl10se who have lost meir entire fam ily.

Saviours of survivors

On hearing of che rusaster, help poured into Uttarakhand from all over the countr )7 Many religious and soc ial o rganisation rose co the occasion, with one of them distributing d10usands of food packers and even offeri ng to conduct the last cites of rl1ose who rued at Kedarnath. As the news of the devastation and deluge started pouring in, many religious and social organisations came om to extend a helping hand to chose anguished people looking for their loved o nes.

From Yoga Guru Rarndev co All World Gayatri Pariwar (AWGP) to Nirmal As hram - all extended help of meir vo lunteers and thei r reso urces.

The All World Gayatri Pariwar (AWGP), whose sprawling comp lex, Shamikunj, is housi n g many o f the rescued people, i s being used as a relief camp by many states. Ac Rishikesh , many of rl1ese institutions are offe ring free food, water, merucines. And some are not charging money for t hose getting photostat copies of photographs of their dear ones.

The Gayatri Pariwar also rusrribured food packets. "Of the total 10,000 food packets rlut were air-dropped , most were sent by Shanti Kunj," an official of Shantik unj said And internation al aid agenc ies have also come to th e aid of rl1e flood-devastated state. Among rl1ese a re the '\Vaste Warriors,' headed by Briton Jome Underhill and a band o f vo lunteers. [(nown as tl1e 'ga rbage gi rl' of me m ountain s, she has embarked o n the mammod1 task of cleaning up after the ilisaster. "Whe n I lea.mt abour the disaster, I decided co adopt d1ese hills as part of our next clean-up campaign," Underhill said. " I was saddened to see hmv dirty it was everywhere. There is huge human waste. For the local civic aumorities, rescLting t he peo ple is me first priority. But we will ta ke care of it (removing garbage)," she added. Underhill has also come ro t he rescue of mules and horses that have been trapped by th e Aood waters in Uttarakhand's Kedarnaili-Badcinath axis.

Bue it's rime to wake up India, said U nderhill.

Search continues

For hundreds, rl1e searcl1 for missing famil y members continues unabated. Phocographs of loved ones taken on happie r, merrier occasio n s, showing a family gettogether o r celebrations now adorn the walls at relief camp s, railway stations and bus stands.

For the many hundreds of kjn, photographs are the one way to trace rl1eir kin still missing even a.frer a fortnig h t-long rescue a n d evacuation work carried om in nood- ravaged Uttarak hand.

Ac the Haridwar railway $Cation, relief camps have been set up by many state governments whose people had come to Uttarakhand for the Char Dham yatra when t h e rain- nood tragedy struck At the Shanti Kunj comple.,, headquarters of the sp iritu al and

Inadequate training or the lack of it may turn out to be the big gaping hole that let slip a preventive response. It was widely believed that such warnings of heavy rain were routine and nothing really happened most of the time to cause panic

It is time to ask whether it is better to develop well planned urban settlements than to try and support scattered habitations in the fragile mountains of Uttarakhand social organisation of All World Gaya u·i Pariwar (AWGP), diree stares - Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Odi sba - have set up relief camps and many of their rescued peop le are staying in its sprawling complex.

The photo of an elderly woman, sitting \Vith a shy smile alongside her husband, or a family of four, who were photographed at a family functio n , or a mug s ize photo of a 40-year-ol d man

One of the casualties of the rescue operations that shocked the nation was the crashing of an Indian Air Force rescue plane on June25

La..""mikant Sharma, a minister in Madhya Pradesh Chief 1Vliuister Shivraj Singh Chauhan's cabinet, sa id they have heard man y a horror story of people being trapped and being swept away in the waters ''A famil y s aw cwo of ics members swept away by tbe water. They watched in horro r. They were mu te spectarors," Sharma said. Bue there were some stories of hope too. "We met three boys,

Pankaj Pokhir.iyal said so far they have registered 794 missing cases "We are g iving people a simple fo rm and asking chem to attach p h otos mo," Pokhriyal said. Ten ye ars in se rvice, che police officer from Tehri Garhwal said he has never ever seen such d evastacion.

"I have been born here and s pent my entire life. But have never see n such a massive descruccion where hundreds have died and hundreds are miss ing I th ink ic's God's way nurnbers live on murism.

According to one business stud)', the loss to the tour.ism industry on accoum of the Aoods is estimated at Rs.12,000 crores.

Urcarakhand ranks eighth among aU sta res on the tourism map. Major pi lgrim age centres have also s uffered terrible damage and pilgrimages to places like Kedamatb and Badrinath, home to among the most re vered Hindu sh rines, are unlikely for months, if simacion in the state. He has spelled o ut enhanced rates of compensacion, w hich m ake sense in the case of lives los t , chose injured, a nd property damaged, but are merel y symbolic in the case of circumstances such as farm land being washed away.

Rs 10 lakh, each , will be paid co the families of those killed in the IAF chopper crash, and special pensions and oche r benefits co the deceased members of the Urcarakhancl police.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) declared the Uttarakhand devastation a "severe natural disaster" and requested leaders not to politicise the issue who were pa.rt of a large g ro up of 18 people, coming back alive.

- they all tell the story of families corn apar t b y a force greater than mankind. All of them are m issing. For the angui shed families, ic has been a he llish 15 days.

Facigued and looking fragile was Rajkwnar Singh from Rajasthan, searching for his SO- year-o ld b rother, siste r- in-law and their three children. Sneha Sharma, 21, desperatel y searc hed in hospitals, police stations and re lief camps for her parents, two brothers and two siste rs who had gone ro Keclarnach s hrine Carrying photographs of her famil y, Sharma met a n army official, who after seeing her 17-year o ld siste r J yoci's photograph, told her tbaL they have cremated her. "He co ld me that they found her body and cremated h er. I don't know about Lhe rest of the family members. No one is able to help me our. Where should l go, what should I do," she wailed. She said if she had been the only smvivor in her family she woul d have killed herself. Bur she has to think of a younger sister who is in college.

Similarly, Subhash Chandra Sha rma from Ghaziabad was desperate ly searchi n g for his nephew, his wife and their three children. When he failed to get an y news, he registered a missin g persons' report.

They told us that when the first Aoor of the lodge where they were Sta)~ ng was filled up with water, they went to the second floor. But when the secon d floor too filled up, chey he ld on to the \vi.ndow grills and saved their lives. "They were inconsol able. le was difficult for us to make them understand. Their entire families h ave died," said Sharma, who leads the team of ove r SO state officia ls tracking and rescuing people. He said they bad also come across people wbo walked for 2 -3 days, r eaching a relief camp in Rish.i.kesh or were picked up on their way from the main road. "Many people have lost their clothes, their footwear and their vehi cl es. Apart from offering chem food , water and medicines, we offer them chappals, soap, tootbpaste and moth brush," Shar m a stated.

The scene is the same at the R.ishi kesh too. Large posters of loved ones can be seen from far off. The R.ishikesh bus stop does not look like a normal inte r sta te bus sta nd; as one side o f the bus stop waU has been taken over by photographs and posters, the other side has been taken over by the police a nd by voluntary and religious groups offering people free food, water and medicines.

Station Officer of R.ishikesh o f punishing us humans. \Vhat else can we call it,' he said.

Blowto tourism

The devastating Aoods h ave strangled the booming tourist indu stry too, and experts say recover y will take a l ong time. Mass cancellacions by tourists and pilgrim groups have taken p lace in Urcara khand, affeccing even places that did not experience what has turned out to be one of the worst ever natural di sas ters in the state.The cancellacions extend ro the months of July, August and September

'

'Th e impact of the floods is being felc b y hill sracions like Mussoorie, ainital, Jim Corbett, Dehradun, Lansdowne and Kasauni," said Richa Goyal Sikri , director of STIC Travel Group "Travellers are recons idering their p lans due to exaggerated reports of rhe bad weather an d road cond.icions," s he said.

The cancellacion rares are touching an alarming 50 percent, a huge b low ro a region where large not a few years. lndustry in siders say the state will be able to bounce back by the next murisrn season only if all governrnenc departments and bodies in the stare work in coordinacion.

"The government says it w ill tal,e tl1ree years for the state to get back to normalcy but tl1e duration will be longer seeing tl1e loss of infrastrucmre," warn ed George Kurt)' of che Travel Agents Assoc iaci on of India.

Rnancial aid

Chief J\lli.niscer Vi jay Bahuguna has announced the fuse ro u nd of measures, m ostly financial, to deal with the post-disaster

Help has been offered by otl1er stares as well, witl1 the i\ndhra Pradesh government announci ng Rs.SO crore for relief works a nd for constructio n of four pilgrim amenicies cencres.

Chief 1\finiscer N Kiran Kumar Reddy aimounced that Rs.1 0 crore would be given to Utt.'u-akhand government fo r rescue and relief works Another Rs.40 crore will be spent through Tirumala Tirupaci Dev asrhanarn (TI'D) for construccion of pilgrim amenicies complexes, said a statement from the chief mini ster's office.

Ch ief Minister Bahuguna said tl1at children in areas hit by the floods would be given Rs.500 and college smdenrs Rs.1,000 each as intermediate relief.

Rescue and rehabilitation

The Uctarakha nd government has now set up a reconstruction and rehabilitation authority co oversee relief wor k in the state, while Chief l\1inister Bahugu n a ann0tmced setting up of the Uttarakhand Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority. ln a fa r-reaching decision, the chief ministe r said no permission would be given henceforth for cons truction along ri verbanks

Thousands of dwellings and buildings along riverbanks have been ,vashed away or destroye d in the Aoods. The chief m ini ster announced chat \Vater a nd power bills for flood -affected peop le would be waived. He also said chat kin of all missing people should report co the authorities, so that compensation can be given co them on the bas is of an affidavit.

As the rescue operations continue, the au thorities are now confronted with the manunoth task of clearing up the debris, searching for bodies and disposi ng them of properly. The chief ministe r announced that a team of 200 people, including officials from the police, health, animal husbandry expert.~ a nd sanitation, are being rushed to Kedaroath to collect D r A sanipl es of bodies Various state governments have been asked to verify the list o f missing people and if thei7 are not traced in a momh, they will be declared dead.

The l ational Disa ster Response Poree ( DRF) bas sent a rerun to the state for lo cating bodies tmder the debris and co deal with

INDIAN LINK decomposing corpses of httmans and animals, which could pose a severe health hazard and could possibly cause ai1 epidemic. T o hasten the process, the state government has sought earthexcavating machines from the central govern m ent. It bas also sought 100 ronnes of b leaching powd er to hel p dispose of the carcasses of anin1al s killed.

Commentary

Gurinder Kaur is on the board o f Voltmtary Action Network India and, having worked for Oxfam, she has first hand experience in d isaster preparedness and relief and rehabilitation. Ms Kaur comments, " The Uttarakband tragedy needs to be understood in its entire[)', Natural river courses and othe r drains seldom respect human-made concre te, scone or tar structures. On the contra ry, it must be the other way about. We must keep habitation out of the expected and known ways of t he occurrence of natural phenomena.

In the case of the Uttarakhand disaster, we now have all the analysis and narratives about what happened , what really could have been done before, during and afte r the melange of rain, flood and mud overtook tbe collective lives o f thousands of peop le.

We know that scores of hotels and othe r bui ldings had been built in violation right on the flood courses of rivers rapidl y Aowing across steep gradients. We know that di e tim ber mafia, d1e stone mafia and the construction mafia made the regi o n far more vulnerable by taking away httmungous quantities of wood, stone, sand and other materials. \X'e also know n ow that greedy tour operators colluded ,vi d1 equally g reedy hotel ow ner s to dis regard di e actual carrying capacity of the sta re's roads, transportation and dwelling units.

Mose astonishing ly, we know that advance weather forecasts and Aood and landslide warnings were issued by the meteorology department. Offic ials, l eaders and other responsible people were informed about di e prediction of widespread heavy rain. Alerts were issued for halting the yatll'Js to the Chaar Dhams for four days and for moving die pilgrims already in the Chaar Dhams to safer locations Did d1ese warnings fall on deaf ears?

Although ir would seem that s uch was the case, we know now that the warnings were received and read. What then was the matter? The officials and die others responsible for responding co disasters and in charge o f protecting and saving lives knew diere was a drill to be followed. But it i s evident diey did not know when or how co kick it in.

Inadequate training or the lack of it may turn out to be the big gaping hole that let slip a preventive response. ] r was widely believed that such warnings of heavy rain were routine and nothing really happened most of the time to cause panic

Oddly and simply enough it. is all about training. Each and every resident of Utrarakhand, permanent or transient, official o r ordinary citizen, muse be exposed ro app ropriate and adequate disaster preparednes s and response training. Training must be so good that even if woken from sleep, a response shoul d begin at once.

1n a disaster prone and ecologically fragile habita t, expect the tmexpected to happen. Commmiity level preparedness and response training need to b ecome th e backbone of a statewide disaster management strategy. For the governing appararus, repeated tra inings - at least three a year - must be mandatory. Disaster preparedness and response must permeate om very consciousness".

Also commenting on die situation, a powerful editorial published in die Garlnval Post on June 18 states " The problem lies with the lack of a comprehensive development policy diar focuses on what is sustainab le as against mere tokenism It is time to ask whether it is better to develo p well p lanned urban settlements than co cry and support scattered habitations in die fragile motmtains of Uttarakhand. The people are already voting with their feet, taking die first opportunit)• to get o u t of the harsh and increasingly d jfficult life in the hill s lt is for t he government to meet this challenge in e idier a posi tive manner, or waste funds a nd energy in d1e futile effort to shore up a collapsing way of life.

The hills cru1 nurture only a limited mtmber of people in die context of modern day lifestyle deman ds. Funds would be better utilised in developing the urban infrastrucrure for the people corning in anyway, rather di an spending it on building that which will be destroyed in the next landslide, flood, cl oudburst, etc."

The Garh1val Post edjtorial of June 27 comments on the state's post-disaster policy saying, " The shape that Uttarakhand's development has taken is d1e c umulative result of historical forces, p olitical and economic asp irations, centcal and state policjes, and the raw energy of the peop le trying to make a living All of t h is needs to be reviewed to establish what die state waots co c hange and what it will stand by'' It further comments, "Tbe tragedy was certainl y ' man-made' in !.hat the forces of namre were ignored in the rush for development. However, di ere is an extent to which the people o f Uttaral<hand need to be apologetic for the speedy and unplanned growth. After all, what j g better? Youth i nvolved in chaotic entrepreneurship; or jobless and Maoist fodder?"

To donate

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INDUS Fair: Sun 11 Aug 11 am-6pm

Rosehill Gardens, Roseh1II Race Course, Rosehill

All proceeds go to the Uttarakhand disaster relief fund www.indausfair.com.au

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