Mandakini threatens villages on banks
It has been raining off and on since July 15 leaving Mandakini and Ganga rivers swollen; there is also a threat of landslides in the hilly regions
After the incessant rains since July 15, the Mandakini River is swollen and is flowing dangerously close to the houses of people in the Kedar valley, giving them sleepless nights.
People who had seen massive devastation last year wrought by the Mandakini have grown wary of her moods. Many of them vacate their houses at night despite the inconvenience.
Dee pak Benjwal, a resident of Jawahar Nagar near Agastyamuni told HT that the Mandakini was far away from his house but with every rainfall it tended to move towards inhabited areas. People have become so vulnerable that every thundershower sends ripples of fear up their spine, said Beniwal.
He added, “Since the four houses and two fields below my house were washed away in the flash floods last year, my mother has lost her sleep and keeps watching the level of the river at night with a torch in her hand. As it is not convenient to leave the house every day, so we have shifted just our valuables to a safe place.”
All the villages situated near the banks of the Mandakni such as Vijay Nagar, Silli, Agastyamuni, Chandrapuri, Sumari, Tilwara, Syalsaur, Gabni Gaon and Saemi face the same problem and people live in awe of the Mandakini.
The ground floor of the triple storey house of Devi Prasad Goswami in village Silli often gets inundated after heavy rains. Vishveshwari Devi, 75, a widow, who lives alone in her house in the same village, is panic stricken as the ground floor of her house gets swamped.
The government has taken security measures at a cost of
200 crore to save villages and hamlets from the Mandakini River. But Mahavir Singh Ramola, Prem Singh Rawat, Lalit Mohan Bhatt and many other residents of Agastyamuni live in fear because the safety measures were started late by the irrigation department and could not be completed before the monsoons.
Most of the people in the area alleged that the re-channelisation of the river back to its original course was done in an unscientific manner and big boulders, sand and gravel lying at the bank of the river were removed recklessly by the contractors for their vested interest, making the banks more vulnerable.
However, the check dams constructed at Chandrapuri were a help in providing security from the swollen Mandakini, said Rajender Singh Ramola, a resident of village Gabni. He added that had there been more such check dams on the river, people would not have lived in fear.
The truth is that hundreds of families living near the banks of Mandakini have lost their peace of mind with the first knock of monsoons and are wary of the times ahead, said Ramesh Benjwal who lost his house in the flash floods last year.