Tag: Flood Relief
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Blossoming from the Quagmire
An ill-fated lightening struck in the otherwise peaceful lives of the relatively educated and employed residents of Kedarnath. Huge landslides and floods ravaged everything they had ever possessed. Having experienced such a dreadful nightmare, a question arose in the minds of these hapless victims: “Will life ever be the same again?” However, in the presence of a mother’s care, need a child ever be worried? To the shocked villagers of Kedarnath came a ray of hope from our beloved Amma. She took up the flood relief campaign, which includes building houses, scholarships to poor children etc – a well-structured relief…
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Medical Camp at Lombgaon and Tvara
Medical Camp at Lombgaon and Tvara – 11th July, 2013 As soon as we heard that the people of Twara are falling prey to dysentery in the village of Twara – we rushed over immediately – as this trend usually indicates an impending epidemic. 300 patients were treated at two medical camps on the 11th of July – by the team of two doctors – Dr Gopi and Dr Anuj Rana. The team has been requested to try and move towards Ukhimath area – where medical aid has not reached till today. – Mukesh
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Survey of nearby villages
Uttarakhand Flood Relief 10th July, 2013 Kalimath is the most heavily affected area around. Even today, one house slided down into the river across us before our eyes. We are going into the villages soon. A village Devli – comprising of 57 families – out of which 54 lost at least one member – invariably the bread earning young member – during the floods. There is no male survivor in the age group of 15 to 30 in this village One of the persons described how he stood on the Nandis statue at Kedarnath the entire night, with water reaching…
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Camp at SiddhaSaur
Uttarakhand Flood Relief 9th July, 2013 It was raining heavily on the night of the 7th of July – the water level of the Mandakin river was rising alarmingly. We were stationed just a few feet from the raging river – even though a flood and cloud burst alert had been sounded. We tried to move towards Guptakashi but due to heavy rain the road had been washed out for a couple of hundred metres , and there was no way our Ambulance and telemedicine unit could cross that stretch. We carried all the medicine boxes on foot to the…
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Moving on to Guptakashi
Uttarakhand Flood Relief 9th July, 2013 The road to Guptakashi was in complete disarray after the rains. The main highway along the Mandakini river has been washed away, and vehicles have to take this only available alternatine route – the rains left the road full of slush – the vehicle was literally swimming in the slush all the way to Guptkashi. Truly a time to chant our mantras. At one place the mountains side broke off and huge boulders came crashing on to the road just as we were approaching it. We decided to try and move the rocks so…
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Camp at Rudraprayag
Uttarakhand Relief Work Camp at Rudraprayag – 6th and 7th July, 2013 The telemedicine unit finally arrived at Rudraprayag – overcoming extremely challenging obstacles all along the way. It was stationed at the Rudraprayag bus stand – and people came from all the neighbouring villages to avail of its facilities. The response was so overwhelming on the first day that we had to extend the camp for another day so that all the patients could be catered to. Around 800 patients were examined, given medicines, and given expert opinions from senior doctors at Amrita Institute of Medica, Sciences through the…
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The rains are coming
Uttarakhand Relief We finally reached Gupt Kashi, another affected zone, after sliding down mountain screes and clambering up steep mountain paths on all fours, which were made all the more slippery due to yesterday’s rains. Here the problem was more of getting cut off from the rest of the world. Roads had been swallowed up, electric cables downed… but the resilient hill people still carry on. Our medical team is doing wonderful service and the administration is very appreciative of our efforts. People are coming from far off villages to get medical aid. There is forecast of heavy rains…
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Rudraprayag update July 01
Uttarakhand Relief Work Moved up to Rudraprayag from Srinagar. The road to Rudraprayag is full of slush for many kilometers on end – the whole mountainside just slided down into the river carrying everything along with it. It’s the interiors of the mountains that need real help – the places where the spotlights of the news cameras haven’t reached yet.After reaching Rudraprayag, we decided to take a risk and move on to Agastaya Muni – a further 45 km upstream towards Kedarnath. The direct route had been washed out – and only a treacherous alternate village road led up to…
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…and now not able to go further
Uttarakhand Relief Work We decided to walk to nearby villages and see the situation firsthand as we felt we should receive before setting up a camp. We made the mistake of taking the locals literally about how far the next spot was…. Close by meant hours, and a couple of kilometres meant 10 or more on steep mountains. We have been walking all day long and seen scenes of devastation… Long swathes of non-existent roads, houses and hotels that were… but are no longer there. We are in Ghivani village… Stuck between here and there… sitting in the verandah of…