Anshu Gupta

Battered cars and uprooted trees sit by the side of the road after the Leh Floods in 2010.

The floods of 2010 affected a large part of Ladakh. The largest town, Leh, was severely damaged along with 71 other towns and villages leaving thousands homeless with excessive damage to their properties. These flash floods were triggered by a cloudburst and heavy rains throughout the night, leading the way for debris flows and mudflows. Over 255 people lost their lives and about 9,000 were severely impacted by the disaster*.

There are consequences of our interference in the mountains’ ecosystem. We have built a life on shaky pillars, disturbing, distorting, destroying the equilibrium of nature. The firm foundations that we lay in hope of leading a stable life have been laid down on precarious grounds, these were supposed to be preserved and untouched from human interference. We have ourselves invited the wrath of nature by coming in the mountain’s way.

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