'Rishikesh' inside out
Recalling the last week's visit to Rishikesh, and apart from the usually discussed natural beauty & the beautiful sight of the Ganga river what struck me hard is the people’s memory of the Uttarakhand floods in 2013. It had caused enormous loss of lives & properties. More than 6,000 people lost their lives and thousands of them lost their livelihood. October 2021 – my visit It has so happened that there were heavy rains in the upper parts of the Himalayas during my visit last week and in just three days of downpour, there was already a tumultuous flood in the Ganga. The crystal clear water of the silently flowing river marred with the fresh alluvial soil and it must be flowing by at least 2 meters above its usual October level. We could see many uprooted trees were flowing with the river. All the Ghats were flooded. There were reports of several landslides and this caused the Chardham yatra to be stopped. It was at this pretext that I have encountered several people bel...