Sri Nagar is the capital city of Jammu-Kashmir and is the largest city in India that does not have a Hindu majority. The Kashmir is predominantly Muslim with a strong separatist movement. Until 1947, Kashmir was one of the princely states of India, ruled by Hari Singh. Pakistan invaded the region in 1947 and took most of Sri Nagar. To prevent Kashmir becoming part of Pakistan, Hari Singh signed a pact with the Indian government, providing for the city and a large part of the rest of the kingdom become Indian Kashmir. The section of his kingdom controlled be Pakistan became Pakistan Kashmir. Ever since, the actual border has been disputed, hence the term 'Line of Control', and strong separatist politics. Some separatists favour becoming part of Pakistan while others are proponents of a separate Kashmir nation.
From time to time, problems erupt in the Kashmir, only to be quickly quelled by the Indian Army Forces. This is one of those times. Since we arrived in Leh, there have been periodic uprisings in Sri Nagar, accompanied by shootings of protestors. Many people were killed during this recent uprising and apparently four more protestors were killed yesterday and the curfew, which had been just recently lifted, was reinstated. The curfew prevents people from moving about during the day, rather than at night. This has a massive impact on the citizens and businesses of this very historic and picturesque town, which under better circumstances, would be a tourist Mecca.
So, by virtue of our luck and good judgment summing to form our fate, we had ended up in Srinagar after all. As soon as we entered the Kashmir Valley, in fact, we noticed a marked increase in military presence. By the time we reached the city itself, you could count the troops and police well into the hundreds if not more. Thankfully, we had been lucky enough to find a driver from Sri Nagar, and this proved to be invaluable. He was able to steer us to a nice, safe hotel, which we managed to negotiate a great rate for, due to the poor tourist season. We were required to have an escort if we left the hotel and the driver, Riyah, was actually willing to come back later that night and take us to a restaurant for a meal. This was beyond the call of duty as he had just driven us for two straight days. We had a great meal in a Jain restaurant and called it a night.
After a good sleep, we were up early so that Riyah could drive us to the airport. Going to the airport in Sri Nagar is no easy task. First, we needed to have tickets for the flight before we would be granted entry. We did not have tickets, nor could we get them as the curfew meant all the businesses were closed. Second, you have to run a gauntlet of security measures, starting with a frisking and bag scan more than a kilometer from the actual terminal.
Riyah was pretty confident we would be able to talk our way through, with the story that we would be picking up our tickets at the ticket counter outside the terminal. That got us by the first check but we were subject to more stringent inquiry a few meters down the road. Riyah told the officer at the checkpoint that we were picking up tickets and he was immediately asked to get out of the cab. Fortunately, Drew and Hanna, the two Scots, had their flight itinerary showing that they had purchased tickets from Leh to Delhi but were obviously unable to access that flight because the Leh airport was closed due to flooding. This evidence that we were somewhat stranded and intended change our flights at the airport was enough and we were ushered through. At the terminal, we managed to get some of the last seats on the first flight to Delhi and, 4 more security check later, we were in the air and on our way to Delhi.
Later, we talked about the long streak of luck that we had, and good decisions we made, which got us out of the disaster area relatively quickly and unscathed. We had, firstly, been very lucky to have the opportunity to visit a region of incredible beauty, see things and stay in homes with Ladakhi families, and that will be an experience I never forget. We were also very lucky to escape much of the incredible tragedy that hit the people of Ladakh. Of the thousands of tourists in the region, I would hazard to guess that we were the only ones, or at best six of the very very few who were able to get out on their own. We were very much more fortunate than those trapped in the area or worse. Most people were trapped in Leh or on the roads or trails, and rescue took days.
The impact on the area can't be understated. This was an unprecedented natural disaster. The rain storms were part of a larger system that effected large areas of Pakistan, India, and China with great cost of lives. In the Ladakh area, the last figure I heard was over 150 dead and 400 missing, most in Leh and nearby villages. Over 15000 were injured. Choglamsar, a village next to Leh, was wiped off the map. The storm also claimed many of the road workers; poor Indians who come to the area seasonally to do back breaking work for the relatively high wages (300 rupees per day = around $8 CDN). In Leh, large sections of the old town in which we worked were destroyed, with great loss of life. Sonam Norboo Memorial Hospital, in which we worked for the last month, was destroyed. Only our Paediatric Unit, a separate building at the rear of the property, was spared and was quickly converted into the Emergency room. We have been able to find out that most of the people we worked with are unhurt but are still trying to find out about others. The bus station from which we had started our trek was destroyed and over 50 people were killed. The airport was closed as it was also flooded but has subsequently reopened. Apparently, it was chaos as tourists scrambled to get out on the first flights. Some countries, such as Israel, chartered a flight to get their citizens out.
As harrowing as our tale might seem, we were not there at the centre of events. A couple of days ago, I got an email from David Shackleton, describing the situation. David is a former UBC prof who has lived in Leh on and off for the past few years. This is what he had to say:
"Hello – Just a short report to let you know what’s been happening here in Ladakh. The first sign of problems was a thunderstorm of tropical proportions that began around 2.00 am in the Himalayan mountains south of the Indus. It travelled from east of Leh westwards to beyond Leh. The lightening lit up the sky, silhouetting the mountain peaks with flashes at almost 30 sec intervals.
The next day, we had the first reports of 7 houses washed away in Basgo to the west of Leh, with the loss of 10 people’s lives and the destruction of two road bridges – one at Basgo and the other at Basgo. Also, the roads from Manali and Srinigar were closed. Little rain fell in Leh itself and certainly there was no serious destruction. Our guest house – made entirely of adobe brick and mud - had a few leaks in the roof.
Later this same day the river running near Chanspar rose dramatically and we could hear its roar over 200 meters away. The bridge between Chanspar and Sankar was almost washed away but no other destruction in that area as far as we know. As the evening progressed black storm clouds gathered on both sides of the Indus valley and heavy rain could be seen falling to the north of Leh.
That night around midnight, the thunderstorm from the north hit Leh – bringing high winds, torrential rains and lightening that lasted over an hour. It was during this downpour that the major damage to Leh and Chanspar occurred. Flash floods – one starting in the hills above and to the east of the Palace, and the other above Sabu and Choglamsar, tore down the gulleys bringing boulders and mud in unbelievable quantities.
In Leh, the flood’s route took it past the polo grounds and the old bus station, through the Leh Gate and into the new Bust Station and on as far as the Sonam Norboo Memorial Hospital (SNMH) and the petrol station. On its way, it took out buildings and deposited mud and rocks up to 60 cm deep. Vehicles were either smashed and twisted wrecks buried inside the stronger buildings or were washed down until the flood ran out of steam and the vehicles lay in heaps half buried in mud. The new hospital had 50 cm of mud covering the entire ground floor. Buildings and shops around the entrance to the new Bus Stand were either completely destroyed or had collapsed beyond repair. The large prayer wheel near the station’s entrance was found in the bus station, while the BSNL telephone company’s compound at the bottom of the stand was largely destroyed. It is still uncertain how many people died in this area – many who probably disappeared were the itinerant cobblers from southern India who worked and lived near the bus station.
Choglamsar suffered even greater human losses. Many houses lined the gulley down which the flood came. These were washed away along with their inhabitants. No one yet knows for certain how many people died there, but current information is that a total of around 130 bodies were brought to the SNMH with at least 500 people unaccounted for.
The next day we learned that almost all the roads between Hanu (near the border with Pakistan) and Khaltse were washed away, and though some houses were lost at Hanu Tang no deaths have been reported. A telephone call came in from Cynthia on Monday to say she was safe but stranded in Hanu Gongma. On either side of this high village were landslides and she would probably be there for at least 3-4 days.
Not surprisingly many people are still very scared and worried about the chances of more flooding. Each evening, large numbers of Ladakhis and Tibetans have moved to the high ground around Shanti Stupa and near the Gompa above Leh Place as well as along the road above Lamdon School. Volunteers of all stripes along with the army have been working wherever they can be of help. They are organised by various organisations such as the LBA and the main mosque.
Electricity just returned on Monday evening but communications are very difficult. The BSNL system is strill down, as is Aircel within India (strangely international calls are possible with Aircel), and Airtel service is intermittent. Most locals use the BSNL system with the result that it is impossible to contact friends and relatives via phone (cell or land line). All the people associated with Health Inc. are fine and we have been able to meet with most of them.
With the major roads blocked no food supplies are coming in to Leh, but some expect the Srinigar road to open in a few days (unlikely), bringing fresh vegetables and basic other supplies. The Manali road will apparently take much longer to repair. Most shops are re-opening including the local ladies selling vegetables along the main Bazaar. The fruit and veg market is of course running out of supplies and what is left is not in the best of condition.
Flights (commercial and military) are operating and the airlines are putting on extra flights Many westerners are happy to get out and the tourist shopkeepers are all assuming the this year’s tourist season is effectively over. For those of us remaining, there is a strange sense of helplessness even though we volunteer. At the same time, for many visitors there is little change – the restaurants are open and full and there is still shopping to do. Overall there is an air of unreality.
What has happened has, in all likelihood, never occurred before in written history in Ladakh. It is most likely that it was part of the storm front that hit NW Pakistan a couple of weeks earlier. Needless to say the infrastructure and emergency services simply don’t exist to cope with a disaster of this magnitude. It is impossible to say how long it will take to bring physical and service conditions back to “normal” but my guess is that it will take many months if not longer for recovery.
Update - today we had more rain but more heavy showers than anything else. In fact over the Ladakh Range on high ground there was a thin skim of fresh snow. With luck we might see some of the perseus shower tonight."
That is the story of this part of our journey. As we try to still make sense of all that has happened, spend some time and read more about the situation. We still have one week left in India, and I'll tell you about how we spent that time in the next entry.
-Ross
That is the story of this part of our journey. As we try to still make sense of all that has happened, spend some time and read more about the situation. We still have one week left in India, and I'll tell you about how we spent that time in the next entry.
-Ross
Wow.
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