 "Uttarakhand: What are the challenges that lie ahead?")
The Himalayan tsunami, as the Uttarakhand disaster is being called, has caused an immense amount of damage. Tens of thousands of people have lost homes and livelihood. The state's infrastructure has been devastated. Uttarakhand is no stranger to torrential rains, cloudbursts, and landslides — and the loss of lives. In 2010, the state saw one of the worst disasters of this kind. Yet, the state government confessed it was not equipped to address this event, either in preparedness or in response. The gradual loss of green cover and the increase of construction activity as well as tourism in the Kedarnath-Badrinath area are the chief reasons cited by environmentalists for the endangering of the region. Almost 12 days after the tragedy, it is the toll in human lives that continues pain the country.
The Char Dham Pilgrimage
Badrinath (Chamoli district) is one of India's most important Hindu pilgrimage sites. Located on the banks of Alaknanda river, the town is famous for its temple of Vishnu.
Kedarnath (Rudraprayag district) is known for its temple of Shiva. One of the holiest pilgrimage sites, the shrine is located in the high Himalayas, near the Chorabari Glacier, and is a 14 km trek from the nearest road. The temple is believed to have been built in the 8th century.
Gangotri (Uttarkashi district), is where the Ganges originates. Pilgrims believe that bathing here will help cleanse their sins.
Yamunotri (Uttarkashi) is where the Yamuna originates. Pilgrims visit the temple dedicated to the goddess Yamuna after bathing in the river.
Also Read
A quick look at the worst affected regions and what are the challenges that lie ahead?
Kedarnath Temple: Although the temple withstood the severity of the floods, the temple complex and surrounding areas were destroyed by the flood, resulting in the death of several thousands of pilgrims and local people. All the shops and hotels were destroyed and all roads were broken. Number of people took shelter inside the temple for hours together , until Indian army airlifted them to safer places.
Major Challenge: At present the area is only accessible by air and establishing the narrow roads and the foot bridges will be crucial. Also barring the temple everything around remains in shambles which needs restoration work and as hinted by the Uttarakhand CM will take at least 2 years, during which no yatra is possible at all.
Kedarnath Town: The town which constitutes mainly the shops and lodges near the temple was the worst affected in the floods and the cloud burst. All the shops and hotels were destroyed and all roads were broken. The most no of deaths consequently according to the Uttarakhand govt has taken place in this area many of which has become difficult to track given that no of bodies were washed away or are buried under the silt. The unofficial figures say deaths in Kedarnath alone could amount to 5000 or more.
Major Challenge: To clear the silt and establish foot connectivity and the mammoth task of cremating the dead bodies as each day passes by. Also to rehabilitate the 500 odd population that lived in the temple town. However like the other temple towns some restriction has to be brought in on the limit of tourists.
Rambara: This is the closest point to the Kedarnath Shrine (7kms) with precariously ascending heights as much as a climb up about 1500m in altitude. It is known to be the most difficult stretch while trekking to Kedarnath due to its acute pressure causing breathing problems and the rough terrain to add to the woes. Unlike Kedarnath which is an open area most of Rambara consists of dense forests which made it almost impossible for any choppers to land and army personnel had to manually create landing pads for them. Also like Kedarnath the supply of food and medication was a priority here.
Major Challenge: To comb the forest area particularly of the dead cattle remains and restore pathways for future travel by foot.
Jungle Chatti: Army troops dropped near Gaurikund managed to establish contact with close to 1,000 people who were stranded in Jungle Chatti, which is between the treacherous Gaurikund and Rambara area some of whom were in critical conditions.Establishing satellite contact and similar terrain problems as Rambara was seen here too, and the hardh weather added to the woes of the survivors here.
Major Challenge: Similar to Rambara the forest area needs to be combed and better satellite equipment needs to be established for future connectivity in case of such disasters.
Gaurikund: This is the last of the points till which vehicles are allowed or road journey of any kind is accessible. From here the journey to the Kedarnath temple is a 14km stretch and a majority of the pilgrims headed towards the shrine would have taken rest here. Gaurikund was also made the base point for many of those who were airlifted from Kedarnath, Rambara & Jungle Chatti. An IAF helicopter crashed here yesterday killing about 20 air force personnel most likely due to bad weather. It was also a mammoth task to crowd manage, provide food and medication to all of those pilgrims and locals that had been rescued from the upper regions and rescue those still stuck at the remote areas nearby amidst bad weather.
Major Challenge: Having been able to handle most of the rescue work this point can be better equipped in future to handle such disasters. Being the starting point of trek to the Kedarnath the establishment of better medical and connectivity means are vital.
Rudraprayag: This small town is a crucial stop for pilgrims heading towards the Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines. It is from this juncture the roads separate, one leading to Badrinath and the other to Kedarnath. The town is mostly known to be a famous rest stop and houses a no of lodges, hotel etc and is a pivotal junction for road travel. Given this the flash floods not only inundated the town but also cut off major road links from Rudraprayag to other higher destinations. Many of the locals lost their houses that were washed away and most were buried under the silt.
Major Challenge: Although not many lives were lost in this town the biggest challenge that lies ahead is the restoration of the several bridges and roads which connects to the higher Valleys including areas as Joshimath, Auli, Srinagar, Badrinath and the entire Kedar Valley. Moreover many locals have lost their sole properties. Many nearby instiutes like ITI in Srinagar have been completely damaged and may take years to restore.
Harsil: Far away from the echoes of the Kedar Valley lies Harsil which provides rest stop to pilgrims headed towards the shrine of Gangotri and the shivling of Gomuk. Some 25 odd kilometers from Gangotri the town was not as badly hit as the Kedar Valley and there has been no official confirmation on loss of any lives here but its lost major connectivity even by road. Again not having faced the extreme brunt of the havoc the people here were able to sustain themselves for initial days with the minimum resources. As of yesterday, IAF’s MI 17 helicopter made 16 sorties evacuating 402 people by helicopter from Harsil while 683 reached Uttarkashi by foot. The rescue operations have only managed to reach out to the people now almost 2 weeks into the disaster and thus lot of medically critical cases and starvation cases are expected. Bad weather has hampered the operations here and close to 1400 more people are said to be still stuck here.
Major Challenge: Although compared to Kedar and Badri the no of tourists heading to Gangotri are less in numbers yet the eco sensitive zone has faced great damage. Mostly foot bridges need to be established and better connectivity networks have to be built. Tourists should also be forbidden from entering some of the eco sensitive zones.
Badrinath: Compared to the remoteness of the Kedarnath shrine, Badrinath is a temple town fully accessible by vehicles all the way to the temple compound. As of now 281 people have been moved by land route yesterday after the construction of Burma bridge across Alaknanda at Lam Bagar on Joshimath – Badrinath road. 800 people moved towards Joshimath from Badrinath today with 450 using heli Bridge and the balance using Burma Bridge of Army.Close to about 5000 more are said to be stuck at Badrinath’s temple town and the bad weather has hampered the air operations.
Major Challenge: To control the no of tourists, vehicles entering the district and put a cap to the no of people vitsitng the site. This may look difficult but given the rise in the no of pilgrims thronging the area the only way to take the burden off the land is to put a cap on these numbers. As for restoration work mostly roads and bridges are to be established as properties faced less damage here.
Himachal
Although the nos here were not as adverse as Uttarakhand’s yet districts like Chamoli, Sangla Valley, Kinnaur were badly affected and connectivity was cut off. As of now officially the death toll in Himachal has been declared a little under 50 but rescue operations still continue in the region. More than 250 people are still stranded at the Sangla valley. Many of the disticts in the upper region of the state saw massive destruction of property, roads and bridges.
Major Challenge: To build bridges, roads and rehabilitate the residents as massive property damage was reported in Himachal.
The task of revival of tourism with adequate safety in the Himalayan states is going to be the top priority once restoration work is over.