"Off purifiers,I am the Wind,of the Wielders of weapons I am Rama,
Of Fishes I am the Shark,And of Rivers flowing,I am Ganga."
- The God Krishna in Bhagvad Gita 3:14
Of Fishes I am the Shark,And of Rivers flowing,I am Ganga."
- The God Krishna in Bhagvad Gita 3:14
The Wrath of the Ganges might be a more apt heading considering the death and destruction wrought to the Northern Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal.Having trekked,travelled and visited almost every place that is headline news today causes me to shudder in despair.
In a way this was almost expected.The same Bhagirathi river had almost dried up in 4-5 places for a stretch of almost 12 kms due to the various hydel projects and dams on it at different places in Uttaranchal around two years back.Swollen with water,silt and chunks of mountain it is a frightening sight,even,to people who were born on its bank and have never seen it rage thus.
I remember one memorable,bitterly frozen night at sub zero temperatures at Rambada.Midpoint to the holy Kedarnath shrine.The Mandakini flew in a tiny stream beside my cottage,gurgling on its way to the confluence with the Bhagirathi at Rudraprayag.Today Rambada has been wiped clean of the map.Gaurikund has been swept into the river.Joshimath is cut off.No one knows what happened at Gangotri or yamunotri or Dharcula?
Years of rampant corruption,concretization of almost all small towns in an ecologically fragile and earthquake prone zone.Building six lane highways to the Badrinath shrine by dynamiting the mountains,damming the river,creating silt.Add population pressure,resultant waste-biological and environmental pollution and we have the perfect recipe for disaster.
Can we lose the Himalayas?create an environment so hostile that travelling or living amidst them becomes a risk?
Over the past decade all this noise over the Tehri Dam was neutralized by the powers that be by saying it was 'for the people'.Catchy slogan but deadly.These hills fall in Zone 5 or MSK IX level earthquakes in the highest risk zone!!
Although I am no geologist,I was told that if Tehri Dam is breached,it will take 7 minutes for Rishikesh and 9 minutes for haridwar to be washed away(as in wiped off the face of the earth kind).All it needs is that One Big One of the century.nature waits.
Nature waits.And nature has its revenge.My thoughts go out to those shivering in the rain,huddled in the mud.Cityfied tourists more used to seeing the world outside through tinted glasses.To see car sized boulders rain down on their heads,swirling waters try to drown them and in many cases succeeding.
Nature lies submerged under a rampant Ganges river today.On the day that its descent to Earth is venerated by a million Hindus as Ganga dussehra.Is the Mother River of India sending a grim message?
The destroyer is not Shiva but -
Population
Pollution
Parviscient Government
Projects located on the Rivers in Uttarakhand:-
Loharinag Pala hydel project
Pala Maneri Hydroelectric Dam Project
381 MW Bhaironghati hydel power project
Phata Byung Dam
Singoli Bhatwari Dam
If completed these projects are expected to leave the rivers dry for a minimum 50-70Kms running the water through tunnels.
The Mountains I have loved all my life have finally shrugged.How much further rapine and plunder can their stoic facades endure?
