Forest fires between Ramgarh Malla and Bhimtal |
Smoke rises from fires near Sitla |
I try to ease my nausea induced by the numerous hair-pin bends by lying down in the rear seat of the taxi, but it not helped by the acrid smell of wood smoke. In some places the smoke smells of pine. We drive past tree trunks charred and still burning.
The dry river bed of Gaula river near Khansyu |
The place is beautiful, layers and layers of mountains all around. That evening, though, I see a fire creeping up the hill opposite. I cannot see other fires, but I know they are there. The next morning, the valley is full of a smoke haze.
A fire creeps up the hill near Khansyu |
Smoke haze in the valley at dawn. |
There is a terrible water shortage in Khansyu and the villages around, and indeed all over Nainital district. Water is guarded jealously, and having your water tank emptied in the night is not unusual. During the week I was there, water was supplied twice.
Driving back to Kathgodam on Friday, we cross large tracks of mountainside that have already burnt out - blackened tree trunks (some still smoking), an eerie silence with no bird calls, no crickets chirping, and an overall bleakness. Would the earth look like this after a nuclear holocaust, I wonder - such total desolation?
Closer to Bhimtaal we see and hear fires again, and just a few kilometers before Kathgodam I spot large areas of mountainside that have been sheared clear of trees and dirt. Landslides during the monsoons last year, Dinesh tells me. They stand out as ugly white streaks many metres wide, against the brown and green of the mountainside, ending in a pile of boulders at the bottom of the valley.
The mountains are achingly beautiful, but how long can we preserve them that way?
5 pm: Just received the sad news that Nain Singh's landlord died on Saturday, trying to save people of his village when the fire threatened to engulf their homes. He sustained 80% burns and was taken to the hospital in Haldwani, but could not be saved.
Desperate times, Ramani. You capture it all well enough to leave us despondent.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe desolation, as a metaphor of our times, Ramani!
ReplyDeleteThe desolation, as a metaphor of our times, Ramani!
ReplyDeletePlease keep updating your blog, ma'am!
ReplyDelete