Uttarkhand flood

[Padmanabhan.J]

Lord Shiva stands in the flooded River Ganges in Rishikesh, in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India, on June 18, 2013

[Brahmanyan]

Re: Uttarkhand flood

Dear Sri P.J.,

Indeed it is painful reminder of mother nature warning us not to go against her.

The damages due to the deluge is much more than that is being reported by the Media and Government agencies. Eye witnesses who are rescued give an alarming figure of death of thousands of people. They say that the dead bodies of hundreds of mules are floating the river. Mules are the only reliable transport in many places in the hills. In fact June is the month when pilgrims from all over the country travel to holy places in the Himalayan region. I have been to Pilgrim centers in western Himalayas many times (including Gohmukh) and stayed in Ashrams. Every time I went I saw more ugly concrete structures in the name of tourist facilities replacing the old tiled houses in many places on the banks of rivers.

Tehri Dam, a multi purpose endevour was built across Bhagirathi river over severe controversies. It is built on a major geological fault zone known as "Central Himalayan Seismic Gap". But it is claimed the Dam is planned to withstand seismic disturbance to the magnitude of 8.4 on Richter scale. No one knows the real magnitude of damage if the dam is disturbed due to natural causes.

People in the region have been complaining that their hill ranges are denuded by cutting age old trees by coupe contractors from the plains. Trees are nature's barriers in the mountain ranges to retain water. It is an ecological balancing system created by Nature. Weather in Himalayan region is unpredictable. If it rains it rains fierce hail storms and clears with bright sun light afterwards. Once Rawalji of Badrinath told me that "here the behavior of the people and weather are unpredictable, it changes fast". When people meddle with the Nature beyond a certain limit, Mother nature punish them with vengeance. That is what has happened now in Uttarakhand. If we understand the warning of Nature, this is an opportunity for rebuilding the vanished portions of Uttrakhand in an eco-friendly manner.

It is heartening to see that members of Defense services, ITBP, BSF, other voluntary agencies from many Ashrams and religious missions including RSS are doing great service in the affected areas.

Let us pray for safety of the people and pilgrims.

Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

[Padmanabhan.J]

Re: Uttarkhand flood

DEAR Sri. Brahmanyan

Thanks for your additional informations

Regards

Padmanabhan.J