Skip to main content

The natural disaster in Uttarakhand

The natural disaster in Uttarakhand
The natural disaster in Uttarakhand

"Disaster" had been merely a word for me in the pages of dictionary. On 15th June 2013, I was stunned and horrified with the news of the natural calamity that struck the ill fated state of Uttarakhand in North India. The recent natural calamity has shown us what actually a "Disaster" is.

On that day there were cloud bursts in various areas of Uttarakhand. The torrential downpour in various parts of the hilly region washed down soil along with silt, sand, stone and boulders. The cloud burst caused enormous quantity of water to flow down the hilly slope and hilly springs joining the main river of the area, the Alakananda.

As it is, even during normal time, hilly rivers flow at a high speed. Due to cloud bursts there are flash floods when enormous quantity of water tries to flow out in a short span of time. The speed of water flow increases to much more than the normal. The water level in the river gorge rises, carrying away silt, sand, stone and boulders, which collide with the upper part of the gorges and cause landslides.

The most affected area was the Kedarnath Shrine valley and its market area. The area was razed to The ground and got covered with 9 to 10 ft of debris. The big buildings, roads and bridges were washed away.

There are no remains of any habitat or hilly feature. It reminded me of the after efects of Tsunami which wiped off the Indira Gandhi point along with vast areas of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The only difference between the two is that one occurred on the sea coast while the other in the hills.

Pilgrims and tourists were stranded without any food, water and shelter. Many of them passed nights of horror and agony in incessant rain. The ground floor of the Kedarnath Shrine was completely filled up with debris. Vehicle and cars got carried away by the speeding water and ultimately got stuck in debris. By watching the pictures and videos I could only imagine the plight of the people, caught in the catastrophe with others trying to save their lives. Apart from this, innumerable pilgrims and tourists died. The area has been rendered barren. The market area got completely destroyed. Though Lord Shiva could save his temple and his idol but could not save many of his devotees' lives who took shelter inside the temple. There were around five thousand deaths.

Though the Army and the BSF have conducted rescue missions and evacuated a lot of people by helicopters but due to heavy rain the evacuation got delayed. A lot of relief material has been flown to the distressed people. In this mission, one helicopter crashed, killing many.

Kedarnath Shrine has alway been a great attraction for tourists, pilgrims and adventurous trekkers. The massive destruction is a great set-back to all of them as well as a great financial loss to the state. It will require a lot of money and time to rebuild the same.

The scientists and environment specialists have to find out the cause triggering such a fury of nature.

The natural disaster in Uttarakhand
The natural disaster in Uttarakhand

The natural disaster in Uttarakhand
The natural disaster in Uttarakhand
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Sunil and the Valuable Coins

Once upon a time there was a king named Akbar He had 1,50,000 solidiers and 5 generals, each general having 30,000 soldiers each. But he liked one general the most, whose name was Sunil. He was not only very strong and handsome like the other ones but also very intelligent. He was very obedient and listened to every word of Akbar. One night when the guards were asleep a thief crept into Akbar's palace and stole his valuable gold coins. The next morning when Akbar went to wear rings and present himself as a rich emperor in front of some noble guests, he saw that all his valuable coins were missing. He immediately informed Sunil and all the other generals about the robbery. He also asked them to keep this incident a secret and whoever would be the first to solve this problem and bring the thief in front of his eyes get would a reward of Rupees 25 lakhs. It took the whole afternoon for Sunil to figure out a plan. He immediately went to Akbar's palace and told his plans to the empe...
Read more

A True Friend

A True Friend A true friend is the one who stays beside us in both good and bad times. Ram and Sam are an example of such friends. They love each other, believe each other, and trust each other. They share food, joys and sorrows with each other. They are the perfect example of true friendship. They live in the same complex. Ram is very good in studies but not so good in sports and other activities.Whereas, Sam is not at all a good student but he is extraordinary in sports and other activities especially in social activities. But studies and games never became a barrier between them. Their families have a strong bond between them.Gradually Ram's father and Sam's father also became friends and similarly Ram's mother and Sam's mother became friends too. They go together to watch movies, go for outings together and even for long tours. Once, an incident happened. Sam's father suddenly died due to a heart attack. That time Sam and his mother were going through a very tou...
Read more

How can you make the world you live in - your home, your city, your nation - a cleaner and greener place?

How can you make the world you live in -your home, your city, your nation - a cleaner and greener place ? Mother India is a and of vast cultural heritage with nonviolence and universal brotherhood. Nature provided all the magnificent gifts imaginable to our country. It has vast expanses of green plains, snow capped Himlayas in the north and blue oceans in deteriorated a lot with loads of pollutants. Once considered to be the heaven, now deteriorated a lot with loads of pollutants. We must take an immediate vow - to "make it a better place, for you and for me" by keeping it a cleaner and greener thus healthier place to live in. Any 'mission' should start with 'me'. Cleanliness should begin at home with good hygienic practice by an individual. Adopting sanitary method for disposal of house-hold wastes is the cornerstone of healthier living. Scarcity of safe potable water has been observed, hence judicious use of water with minimizing wastage should be stressed...
Read more