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Friday 28 June 2013

Oof!! too much rain!!

After the sultry , oppressive and sweltering Summer we always welcome the rains. Rainy season brings relief and energises  our spirits. The monotony of hot summer  dust storms is broken which is very comforting. This year the rains came much ahead of the normal Meteorological  Department  prediction .  Even though for the ordinary humans, it was a deliverance from the scorching heat, it was was dooms day for several thousands  and thousands  of people!! The fury unleashed by  the rains in Uttarakhand was  so severe that  thousands of people became the victims of  this violent turbulation unleashed by  floods triggered by unprecedented and calamitous  rains of such a vast scale never witnessed before.(After all how much rain is good enough? Is there no limit?)According to estimates given by various Newspapers more than  two thousand villages have been partially or completely wiped out in Rudraprayag, Chomili and Uttarkashi . The Government and  other agencies have formed disaster management committees  for rescuing the people and for providing food, medicines and other basic necessities for the people trapped in various pockets. They are dropping  items of basic requirements for the the stranded ones.
    The people who have managed to come back are relating heart rending  stories through which they have managed to reach back. with fear and trauma writ large on their faces. Their tales of woe  will even melt a stone. I would like to share a real incident experienced by a family known to us. They had reached Kedarnath before the havoc struck. They were staying in a hotel. A night before the sordid  event , they were  chatting and enjoying  after dinner. Suddenly one of them felt as if there was a tremor. At first they all laughed it away but when he insisted that he actually felt the room  shaking, they  went out of the room. They were seven of them. (Husband, wife, their three children ,their father and his sister) All seven of them went and sat on the  top of a hill just near the hotel. All of them were in a merry making mood.  Suddenly  there was a deafening thunder and lightning. Very heavy rain started lashing the mountains .The Man who was narrating this  incident suddenly felt choked  when he was describing  what they saw the next moment . The whole hotel building  from where they had come out only a few minutes before collapsed like a   pack of cards. Within seconds they saw that the car parking area  turned into a  vast open sea of  gushing flood.None of the  persons who were in the hotel  survived, including their cars and drivers! The whole night they remained there . Flabbergasted, shocked ,despaired , nonplussed and confused  they spent the night on that hill top. Next morning they found vast areas  wiped out by  avalanches and deluges. Horror struck they wondered what was happening. What was it, a delusion or an illusion!!No pavement or road was visible. They could not even make out from which direction they had come from.  They sighted a dog and started moving behind  it. At least two to three days they walked to no where.  They saw a a lonely horse eating leaves from a tree. They  presumed that the leaves were not poisonous and ate those leaves.  The old man fainted . He was a diabetic and due to hunger  he collapsed.  The muddy water  mixed with the leaves rubbed on the stony mountain was given to him three or four times, before he regained consciousness. After moving ahead some distance they saw a helicopter. It was a God send. They  screamed and waved towards the helicopter., which dropped packets of biscuits with a map showing the directions  of the escape route!! After walking for another long hours they reached a road.From the road they were picked up by an army jeep , which left them at the station. This man, is a millionaire, a timber merchant, owner of timber estates in India and abroad. They are all in a hospital recovering from the traumatic conditions  which they experienced in the last few days. After hearing  the mishaps of this family, I could not sleep last night. This true incident seems to be a fictional story. Imagine how many more people would have  suffered such shocks or even worse !!
 We must contribute  our might to  the  relief, rehabilitation and  reconstruction  of  millions  of those who are the victims of this disastrous natural calamity.










17 comments:

  1. Now will begin the story of cover ups...Who changed the rules?Who allowed power plants?Who succumbed to land mafia?To builders lobby?,.....Never will we an answer to these Qs which are the reasons for disaster in Uttarakhand

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    1. Thanks for the comments.All these questions are valid.

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  2. Horrifying experience indeed. The adults would somehow manage to find their way. I am losing peace thinking of the small kids who have been stranded after losing their families. Even saw a couple of photos on Facebook. May God bless and save all affected.

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    1. It is really very sad.There is no future for such kids.

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  3. We have Rambos in plenty.The NDTV reported that the convoy of hundred plus trucks carrying relief supply ostensibly flagged off by the Lady Rambo and The yuvraj of the Congress reached no where and was stranded in Haridwar for want of mobey to buy fuel.

    Will we learn from the disaster? no.
    In fact we may build highways and star hotels now in these places.There is money to be made.

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    1. Thanks for the comments. Every thing is possible in this country.

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  4. Usha, we can understand the severity of the situation, but somehow we cannot sympathise with what had happened, for in our country nobody is there to put some strict rules and, nobody is interested in following any rules also by themselves. We have people visiting these places so many times in their life time. It is like a picnic for them, going with little children, defiling the place all in the name of worshiping God. The Government has no strict rules, and just lets people visit such fragile places in great numbers, and as many times as they can make it. They have allowed illegal buildings, resorts, no body cares for sanitation and other important issues. It is disgusting to see piles of rubbles lying uncleared in many of our so called hill stations, everywhere you would see plastics lying, we don't seem to have any civic sense, we have this very narrow attitude:sub kuch chaltha hai, as long as we are not affected.
    The residents knew about destruction of the region, but didn't bother to raise their voice against any of it, the pilgrims knew that they should not be abusing this holy land, yet they were doing just that, and the government was busy milking money out of this holy and beautiful land. Nobody cared, and even after such a tragedy nobody will ever look back and learn anything from all this.
    Our land which is supposed to be a leader in spirituality,has fast become a leader in filth, and corruption at every level.
    Even nature must have become tired of waiting for us to see light , that is why we have been thrown into darkness and despair. Even now the anger of the holy mountains have not subsided, what does it signify?
    Same thing is happening everywhere, be it Thirupathi, and many other religious places, we have no rules and regulations, and one fine day we may have no temples to visit. We don't need any external factors to destroy our nation, we are capable of doing it ourselves.

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  5. It is a rude wake-up call for all of us, while the tragedy is heart wrenching, it opens a whole can of worms. I second Rama's thoughts. Thanks for sharing this life-changing experience Ushaji

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    1. Yes Reshma it is very sad that a tragedy of such a large scale has not woken up the powers that ,who matter.

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  6. It's such a sad thing to happen if they have to fend for themselves at such an early age! But it's happening even now in areas of undeclared war! Great thoughts Usha!

    Hank

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    1. You are right Kaykuala..Actually the no. of pilgrims visiting these places must be restricted. Every year we hear of such tragedies. Even then no action is taken

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  7. We all have contributed to this disaster by abusing nature. Can you imagin even gym were constructed there, people want to go there and want to have all their luxuries too..

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    1. It is really unfortunate that inspite of so much devastation the authorities are not taking any concrete action.

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  8. This is one the worst tragedies to hit us in recent times. The horror and the trauma the survivors are going through may take a long time to get over the pain and feel safe and normal again!

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    1. Very true Shilpa. I have met some people who have returned from there with great difficulty. It will take a long time to come out of this shock.

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  9. Nicely explained,ma'am. .All the mafias and ruffians will put knife across the peace of the land on earth.

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    1. Yes Sarala it is true that some stern steps will have to be taken to rebuild the property destroyed in this calamity.

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