![]() ![]() As we inched across on the makeshift bridge, we knew even one mistake or slip would kill us, as there was no safety harness in place, but only a rope to cling onto for support. ![]() All 70 people crossed the roaring Pindar on two logs, merely 3 feet above the gushing water. By 9 AM, the bridge was in place and a rope and pulley system had been constructed by the S&R Team for the bags as well. This time, they managed to bridge the river, and Moni Baba scampered across to lash the bridge into place. The next morning, the 21 st, already hungry from the previous day, the rescue team along with help from the locals again constructed a log bridge. So while the administration had swung into action to ensure our rescue, we were unaware of any efforts and hinging on our own attempts to survive. By now Kheem Singh had conveyed our messages to our father, and the Bageshwar DM was aware of our plight, position and the number of people stranded. By the night, we had made up our minds we would bridge the Pindar and cross tomorrow, or die trying. Rations had finished in Phurkiya, and an empty stomach can only increase a man’s desperation. Unfortunately, the helicopter was solely on a recee mission, and no further help arrived during the day. Waving frantically with shirts in hand at the incoming heli, we smiled and beamed and danced on the rocks, already thinking of home and the phone calls we had to make. When an air force helicopter flew up to Dwali later in the day, we all thought help was finally at hand. The rescue team cut logs from the forest, and tried to bridge the Pindar side of the river on the morning of the 20 th, but the massive current swept away the logs and splintered them. Some locals spoke of an alternate treacherous way through the Kafni glacier, and they including one of our guides “Kheem Singh”, an ex-army villageman from Jhuni left with phone numbers and messages.īy now the water in the rivers had reduced, but crossing was still considered as asking for death. The total number of people stuck in Dwali stood at around 70 now. This forced the team to return to Dwali on 19 th morning, with other travellers and locals stuck in Phurkiya. Along with this sad news, ration supplies and space was even lesser at Phurkiya, and there was still no method of communication with the outside world. However, our elation at having escaped Dwali was short-lived, as we learned of the destruction and landslides in all of Uttarakhand and the magnitude of the disaster on radio sets belonging to the locals in Phurkiya. Making footholds with their ice-axes and helping people across landslide areas and huge nallas rushing down the hills, the S&R Team ensured everyone reached Phurkiya safely. It was hoped that we might find someone with more news in Phurkiya. Moreover, these settlements did not have any mobile signal, or satellite phone connectivity, thus contact with the outside world was impossible. Ration supplies were dwindling and Dwali was perpetually shaking, its safety and stability always a question. With the road back to Khati destroyed, on the morning of the 18 th, the travellers moved to Phurkiya, a settlement 5 kms above Dwali in the Pindar valley (The last stop before the Pindari glacier). The Search and Rescue Team from Champawat It was, as they call it, “living on the edge”. By the morning of 18 th, when the rains finally ceased and the sun came out, it could be seen that only one more day of rain could have washed away Dwali, leaving the 50 stranded people with no shelter, no rations and no means of a safe return. Three days of torrential rainfall turned the pristine settlement into an island in a sea of destruction, with three sides of the hill falling sharply into the river bed. As the debris from the hill reached the river, it changed course and eroded the hill on which Dwali was based, leading to heavy tremors which shook all the buildings, leading to sleepless nights and on two occasions, evacuations to higher ground. The bridge on the trek route to Khati broke before our eyes, and the hill opposite Dwali on the Kafni river side turned from green to brown, as the rain and river combined made sure more and more land slid down into the churning brown Pindar River. ![]() As we watched on the morning of the 16 th, the waterfalls that merely trickled down the hills now resembled rivers themselves, while the two rivers coming down from the Pindari and Kafni glaciers were well past their boundaries, eating up mountains and trees like a child swallows a candy. ![]()
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