Giving relief to the voiceless

The other day, I had a long conversation with J P Maithani, chairperson of the Chamoli-based Aagaas Foundation, about the relief work they are doing with five villages in the Badrinath valley - Bhyundar, Pinoli, Govindghat, Lambagarh and Pandukeshwar. He spoke to me waiting on the edge of a blocked road for a truck of supplies from Delhi. Behind him was a continuous klaxon of horns as frustrated motorists inched through the narrow passage cleared through the landslide. "The situation here is as bad as you imagine," he said. "The rains continue, electricity supply and phone networks are intermittent while the roads are in a bad shape!" With support from Delhi-based Help Uttarakhand, a collective initiative by non-governmental organisations (NGO) Karm Marg, Kadam and Samoolam, Maithani's organisation has conducted a door-to-door survey of these five villages to assess the extent of damage. Their findings, as expected, are depressing.
 

"Their homes have been washed away, the animals on which many of them depend for livelihood, are stranded across the river as the bridges have been destroyed. Most have shifted to relief camps in Joshimath," he said. With the funds and relief materials collected by Help Uttarakhand, the NGO has provided victims with dry rations, drinking water and medicines. "We found that in the Joshimath relief camp, people didn't have water storage facilities. So we have also installed tanks and a pump to fill them up with," he said. However, the reality of the trauma they've suffered is only now beginning to sink in.

"Our survey showed that many of these people are very worried about their mules, horses and cattle still stranded on the other side of the flooded Alaknanda. Early this week, they conducted a peaceful demonstration in Joshimath to plead for their rescue," said Maithani. "After all, without their livestock, many of these villagers will have absolutely no livelihood once they are able to return!" Unless the government rebuilds the bridge soon, these mute animals will soon start starving to death. Currently, however, so many people are dead or still listed as missing, that rescuing them isn't high on the government's priorities.

Maithani said that the other voiceless victims of these floods are the children in the relief camps. Not only have they been mute witnesses to the devastation of their villages, homes and schools - they are now stuck in camps with few resources and little to do. "We urgently need to establish some routine in their lives as a first step towards restoring normalcy," said Maithani. His band of volunteers has been making small recreation centres in the camps, where children can, for a while, forget the trauma they have been through. "Further, we are going to appoint teachers to conduct classes within these camps since these kids don't currently have a school to go to," he said.

Maithani reckons that relief work would probably last well past the rainy season, or whenever the bridge across Alaknanda to Govindghat is rebuilt. "Most likely by then it will start snowing in the upper reaches and we'll have more issues to address," he said wryly. "That is why our most urgent requirement is for temporary shelters to house those who've lost their homes."

My head kept buzzing after our conversation ended, and not just because it had been loudly and continuously punctuated by honking horns. It buzzed because Maithani had made me realise for the first time that in order to help the people of Uttarakhand rebuild their lives and find new livelihoods for themselves - the need of the hour was as much for funds, as it was for someone to rescue their mules and donkeys, and spend a little time playing carrom with their children.