‘I will never go to the hills again’

Not everyone was airlifted in flood-hit Uttarakhand. Some had to walk all the way out of the clutches of death and devastation. While the army continues with its heroic rescue and relief operations in full swing in the hill State, the number of affected people may be just too high.

Haridwar resident Ravi Shankar, who was on an annual pilgrimage to Gangotri, was not lucky enough to be airlifted.

Shankar and four of his friends — Nitin, Pramod, Sumit and Tarkeshwar — were stuck at Gangotri for three days amid heavy rains and snowfall.

“One person used to stay awake all night at the hotel. People on the other side of the river would whistle if they saw gadhera (boulders) coming down and we would immediately rush out of the hotel. This happened to us thrice,” said Nitin.

Amidst the panic and chaos, the five friends saw a glimmer of hope. “We heard there was a temporary helipad being arranged near Gangotri and we thought a chopper would come to rescue us, but when we went there, they told us it was for some minister who was coming for an aerial survey and it would be a small chopper. ‘No one is coming to rescue you’, they told us,” recalls Sumit. Shankar added: “Even the locals at Gangotri said they had never witnessed so much rain and suggested we leave. Hearing about the casualties at Kedarnath really scared us.” They decided to walk to Harsil, about 25 km away.

Camp, ahoy!

After a six-hour trek, they reached Harsil valley, where the army had set up a camp and was distributing food and water. There were thousands of people and the army was tending to them all.

“However, there were a lot of people who needed help and relatively few choppers to airlift them. The army said we were young and the priority was to help women and children,” Shankar said. However, the men did get their welcome share of noodles and boiled sprouts.

From Harsil, the next stop, Sukhitop, was about 15 km away. “We had to trek a mountain there. People advised us not to go ahead as five people had died in the attempt,” Tarkeshwar said. So they decided to go back.

Hungry and tired, they had lost all hope. Pramod said: “I thought I would never see my family again. My friends were in tears. But when we reached Bhagori village, we saw the locals had arranged a langar . A woman asked us if we had a place to stay. She gave us blankets and a room in her house for us to spend the night. I will never forget her kindness.”

The next morning, they proceeded to Sukhitop, where the army personnel had constructed a rope bridge and were helping people cross the mountain. “There a jawan gave us his phone and we contacted our family,” Shankar recalled.

On air at last

“By the time we reached Maneri, where the army had set up a camp at a Government school, Pramod and I had blisters on our feet. The medical staff said it was not advisable for us to walk and we were airlifted,” Nitin said.

But Shankar, Tarkeshwar and Sumit had to continue with their arduous journey. “We had to cross a waterfall on the way. We were drenched, cold, shivering, but kept walking. Sumit held a torch in his mouth as it was getting dark. We held each other’s hands, thought of our families and did not stop till we reached Uttarkashi,” Tarkeshwar added.

On whether he received any help from the administration, Shankar said: “While most were not very forthcoming, there was a man from Red Cross — Jugal Kishore Bhatt — who gave me ORS (oral rehydration salts) to drink, took my bags and helped me find a taxi back home.”

According to media reports, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister has been maintaining that the death toll is about 1,000, and that the exact figures will be known only after the debris is cleared in Kedarnath and nearby areas. However, Uttarakhand Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal said last week the numbers could well be above 10,000.

Shankar said: “I believe the death toll should be anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000. This is undoubtedly the saddest time for Uttarakhand. While I am lucky that I am alive, my heart goes out to those who have lost their loved ones. Had the Government issued an alert in time, many lives could have been saved.” “I have not been able to sleep ever since I came back. I get nightmares that I am driving a car with water all around, drowning me,” said Shankar. “I will never go to the hills again.”

>navadha.p@thehindu.co.in