Rage of the River: The Untold Story of Kedarnath Disaster  BY  Hridayesh Joshi ; Published by  Penguin Books; Pages  248; Price  Rs 259/-

                                 ***************************

On 17 June 2013, a normally calm Mandakini came crashing down from the hills in Uttarakhand and destroyed everything in its path: houses, bridges, dams and the town of Kedarnath. Thousands of people perished and lakhs lost their livelihood.
Three years after the disaster, stories from the valley-of pain and sorrow, the state government's indifference and the corporate goof-ups, and the courage and heroism shown by the locals in the face of an absolute catastrophe-still remain largely unheard of.

While the government continues to remain in denial and chooses to ignore the environmental issues in Uttarakhand, the ravaged Kedarnath valley continues to haunt us-though the temple has been restored, given its religious importance and centrality to the local economy.

NDTV journalist Hridayesh Joshi covered the floods in 2013, exposing the government's apathy and inefficiency. He was the first journalist to reach Kedarnath after the disaster and brought to light the stories from the most remote parts of the state: areas cut off from the rest of the world.
Woven into this haunting narrative is also the remarkable history of the ordinary people's struggle to save the state's ecology. We have  a riveting commentary on the socio-environmental landscape of Uttarakhand  which is filled with vivid imagery of the calamity.

The flash floods triggered by very heavy rainfall and cloudburst in Uttarakhand on 16-17 June 2013, affected 12 out of the 13 districts in Uttarakhand. The 4 districts that were worst affected were Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh.The deluge

  washed away roads, bridges and other infrastructure. So far about 1000 deaths were reported and many are still reported missing. In Kedarnath alone about 75,000 pilgrims had been stranded due to landslides and flash floods.

  The author of the book under  review is Hridayesh Joshi ,who is  the Senior Editor  with NDTV India. He has consistently covered the armed conflict between the Maoists and the Indian state. In 2012, Hridayesh was given the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Award for reporting from war zones of central India. His first book, Tum Chup Kyun Rahe Kedar, is his reportage on the Uttarakhand tragedy. This is an English translation of the original book.

It can be asserted that the Uttralkand was a Tragedy Foretold  and is certainly one  of its own making. The creation of the State in 2002 created unusual euphoria and the government embarked on a scheme of heavy physical infrastructure.  

It was declared and decided that the fledgling State will be transformed into a “ Tourist Paradise”. The number of tourists galloped from only one crore to three crore within a decade.  Quite obviously this led to a spate of measures encouraging visitors such as introducing in  distant spots hotels and parking lots—all in an unplanned fashion.

 Uttarakhand’s Vision 2020 statement prepared on the theme of Pahad Ka Pani, Pahad Ki Jawani — was aimed at generating  40,000 MW of hydel power  and this resulted in construction of over  300 proposed dams on the  rivers in the State.

The State had  only two-lane roads, with a sole exception--  the road widened to the Tehri dam site in the 1990s. In ten years time  there was a tripling of the length of the roads, most of them in a position to allow  heavy vehicles and the envisaged crowds. A thoughtless construction spree led to unsettling of the Himalayas which was coupled with deforestation which  ensured the debacle-- that the soil could no longer hold. As night follows days  landslides became very common. 

 Come the  monsoon of 2013--  sediment-charged rivers breached their banks. Tourism infrastructure was hanging over the rivers perched precariously on the banks.  The State was pushed down the slippery slope of utter greed and complete thoughtlessness—the price to be paid for shortsighted political leadership. Both the citizens of the State and the large number of visitors paid a very heavy price

The  book tells the sorry tale in a graphic and moving manner. Joshi makes it clear in his Introduction, that the book “is not just a riveting account of the biggest ever aerial rescue operation, but it also underlines how we have failed to recognise and avert such chronic problems”. 

Actually six out of the ten chapters are an account of the disaster as presented by him for a News Channel. The magnitude of the calamity and the resultant suffering , the remarkable stories of courage it inspired, and above all the heartless  callousness it exposed leave a profound impression on the reader. The personal stories of the interviewed victims cover a whole gamut of raw emotions and make for a moving narrative.

Joshi critically analyses the causes for this man-made disaster. He also gives a succinct account of the resistance put up by the hill community. One chapter is dedicated to solution and suggestion for averting future tragedies-- No big dams, responsible road construction, organic farming, women empowerment, diversifying tourism, waste management, ban on plastic and a green tax for visitors.

Joshi rightly questions political indifference and administrative incompetence, laments the policymakers’ disregard for both scientific insight and public interest, and underlines the intrinsic generosity and wisdom of the hill people. 

Rage of the River records how human misadventure can exacerbate natural calamities. This is compulsory reading for everyone interested in ecology and preserving nature.

P.P.Ramachandran.

4/12/ 2016

************************************************************