Once at Guptkashi, 1,300 metres above sea level, the drone of the helicopters rent the thin mountain air. This year, the number of copters plying here has increased manifold, with people more scared than ever to be caught unawares on the trekking route to the shrine.
Meanwhile, as is evident from these images from the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, while rehabilitation has been carried out at great speed to make a success of the Char Dham Yatra this season, work on the local infrastructure continues at a snail’s pace. There are villages still sinking; buildings still in such disrepair, you would think the floodwaters hit them last week! But the roads are freshly laid, and there are facilities aplenty for the yatris.
While the number of yatris has dwindled — lodges are padlocked and towns are deserted — a few thousand have chosen to return a year after the natural disaster brought the state to its knees. “We are not scared, floods come and go but Kedarji still stands and that is enough for us,” says Harsuk Jain Jha, an advocate from Kapurthala, Punjab.
( Virender Singh Negi is a freelance photographer based in Dehra Dun. Text by Sibi Arasu)