Rudraprayag, June 25, 2013: As the State government is tardy in taking relief to villages in Rudraprayag even a week after the disaster struck the district, some locals have acted on their own to help out the residents who have lost their livelihood.

Manmohan Jhinkwan of Kotdwar in Pauri district came up with a jeep full of essential items for the residents of Bhiri, Chandrapuri and other villages. Jhinkwan and seven others collected Rs. 3 lakh and bought rice, cereals, sugar, water, and biscuits, which were delivered to the people of the villages in a radius of 15 km around Chandranagar.

“After this, we will send utensils to the villagers,” Jhinkwan said.

Surendra Pant, a taxi driver from Pauri, also chipped in with essential items for these villagers. “The villagers lost everything — their homes, shops, hotels, money; some lost their life as well,” he said. Together with six other drivers, Pant collected Rs. 30,000.

Aid came to the villagers for the first time on Monday morning. On June 16, heavy rains pushed up the level of the Mandakini river, which flows along National Highway-107. On June 17, around 2 a.m., the river flooded Rudraprayag, swept the highway aside and tossed aside hotels that stood along it. The only road connecting these villages to Chandranagar, the nearest source of essential items, was also blocked with debris that fell from the mountains.

With almost no help from the government, the villagers came together to rebuild the road, albeit temporarily. Till Monday, the road was vulnerable, but withstood one vehicle passing at a time.

Some individuals reached the villages on a raft on June 23 to help the residents cross the Mandakini, as most of the bridges were destroyed. But the rain on Sunday made it tough for the raft to work.

Chandrapuri, a village along the highway, was swept away. Vishwamitra Bhatt, who owned a shop there, said: “My house, my shop, everything got washed away…”

Only three of a total of 150 houses stand now. The floodwaters have smeared the entire village with silt.

Satish Kumar, a resident of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, who works as an electrician in the Singoli-Bhatwari Hydroelectric Project, said: “The river swept away two units of the projects, dragging away the material kept in the dump yard to boot.” This debris has now been deposited on the Mandakini bed.

The debris from the dump yard of a barrage being built by Lanco Industries was also swept away.

As all bridges linking the villages on either side of the Mandakini having been broken, the villagers have to walk almost 30 km to buy things from the nearest market. Even to receive the essentials being offered by the locals, these villagers will have to tread this distance — until the national highway and the bridges are rebuilt.

Source: The Hindu, DT. June 25, 2013.