Horror in the

The state of Uttarakhand reels beneath nature’s flood fury

BY sHERYL diXiT

Mayhem! That’s the only way to describe the current situation in Uttarakhand, over a fortnight since the devastating floods that overwhelmed this picturesque state, leaving behind unimaginable wreckage and destruction.

Uttarakhand, formerly known as Uttaranchal, is situated in the northern part of India, and is a renowned place of pilgrimage for Hindus with an abundance of temples and holy sites. It is also a popular tourist destination, thanks to its breathtaking natural beauty and its location at the foot of the Bhabhar and the Terai in the mighty Himalayas. It was created in November 2000 as the 27th state of the Republic of India, from the Himalayan and adjoining northwestern districts of Uttar Pradesh. Sharing borders with Tibet, Nepal, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand consists of the Garhwal and Kumaon divisions with 13 districts. Dehradun is its provisional capital.

According to the 2011 census of India, Uttarakhand has a population of 10,116,752, with 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 important rivers in Hinduism originate in the region, the Ganga at Gangotri and the Yamuna at Yamunotri. These two, along with Badrinath and Kedarnath form the Chota Char Dham, a holy pilgrimage for the Hindus. The state hosts the Bengal tiger in Jim Corbett National Park, the oldest national park of the Indian subcontinent. The Valley of Flowers, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located here, is known for the variety and rarity of the flowers and plants found there. Besides this, Govindghat in Uttarakhand is the commencement point of the trek to Hemkund Sahib, the holy shrine of the Sikhs. Kedarnath is a revered pilgrimage site for millions of Hindus, situated at an altitude of 3,586 metres in the lap of the majestic mountain peaks and near the head of the Mandakini river. It can be reached after a steep 14-km-long trek.

Natural disaster

Incessant and intense rains hit the hill state over three days from June 14, triggering flash floods and landslides, leading to hundreds of deaths and resulting in thousands more missing. Though over 100,000 people have been evacuated so far, at the time of going to press, hundreds were still stranded at various points across the state. At last count, approximately 800 people were dead and over 3,000 missing, but these were just estimated based on what evacuated people recounted to the rescue teams and to government officials.

Major pilgrimage centres have also suffered terrible damage. Pilgrimages to places like Kedarnath and Badrinath, home to among the most revered Hindu shrines, have been all but washed away. Entire villages and small towns have simply disappeared in the flood waters, with bridges and roads swept away, cutting off large areas, as well as homes, hotels and businesses. Power lines have been damaged and the loss of life is tragically high. To make things worse, continuous rain and foggy 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 the freezing cold for long hours, so doctors were air-dropped in strategic locations.

It is reported that in one day, 700 people were given medicines for various ailments. Personnel of the Armed Forces Medical Services are working in the state with 29 teams deployed around Kedarnath while an emergency centre has been set up at Joshimath, an official release said.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) declared the Uttarakhand devastation a “severe natural disaster” and requested leaders not to politicise the issue. Inspector Gopal Singh Meena from the NDMA has worked in some tough environments whenever natural calamity has struck, but he said he has never seen such utter devastation. The NDMA team that was air-dropped at Guptkashi, which is located between Kedarnath and Rudraprayag, saw a ghost town with structures smashed to the ground like match boxes by the fury of the flood waters, and twisted bodies of the old and young, men and women simply strewn around, revealed Meena.

Meena also said many people took shelter in the 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. We faced a lot of problems, as we had no way to reach them. We then made ropeways and then many of our men carried them on their backs. Our first priority was to reach the women, children and the old,” Meena added.

“Here (Gaurikund), people had taken shelter in jungles. Many just couldn’t walk. Their feet were swollen. They were totally famished and in urgent need of food and water,” said Meena, whose team members were the ones who rescued and evacuated hundreds of people stuck in the entire stretch of Kedarnath valley.

One of the casualties of the rescue operations that shocked the nation was the crashing of an Indian Air Force rescue plane on June 25. The crash claimed the lives of nine personnel of NDRF, six of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and five of the Indian Air Force. Among the dead was Wing Commander Darryl Castelino, who was piloting the illfated helicopter when it crashed. He was laid to rest on June 30 in Mumbai, with full military honours.

Stories have also been filtering out of looting and rape. Says Anupam Sharma who grew up in most of the areas in which the floods unleashed their fury, “My broken heart skips a beat every time one hears about the victims being looted, helpless female pilgrims awaiting rescue being raped, swami con men conning at the worst time, kids who are orphaned being saved for the child labour market - the list goes on. All in the most holiest