Anshu Gupta

The devastated houses and broken roads that stand testament to the force of the flash floods in June 2013 in Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand received unusually heavy rainfall, which caused massive landslides and flash floods in the state. The flash floods and landslides which continued from four days affected 12 out of 13 districts of the state. Over 5,700 people died and about 1 lakh pilgrims were trapped in the Kedarnath shrine during this disaster*.

The man is sitting on a pukka road that was washed away by the floods caused by a cloudburst. The pressure with which the waters attacked the road was so immense that it broke and took away chunks of mountains along with it. Houses were left dangling from mountainside cliffs along with bridges and fans. A makeshift road was then built to restore connectivity in the area to continue with relief efforts. I used to go to that same spot and click the photo of that particular place where you could see the progression of destruction perhaps. A torn house hanging dangerously down from the side of the mountain in the first month, would be a fallen rubble at the foot of the hill by the next month.

*ReliefWeb: https://reliefweb.int/report/india/uttarakhand-flash-floods-%E2%80%93-report#:~:text=The%20flash%20floods%20triggered%20by,%2C%20Chamoli%2C%20Uttarkashi%20and%20Pithoragarh Read more