Kedarnath: It has been more than 200 days since the floods devastated Uttarakhand and killed thousands of people. Special funds were released by the Centre but there is little to show for it on the ground.
CNN-IBN travels on the route to Kedarnath for a reality check of the reconstruction work and finds that the condition in the Himalayan state is not encouraging at all.
Roads in Agustmuni witness huge traffic jam everyday. People had to crossover using a pulley before a Trust built a bridge much to the local resident's relief. "I have to walk 5 kms everyday to reach my school," said a student.
In Chandrapuri, the condition is worse. Locals have to use this pulley to go across to the other side of the river. Across the river, people are living in tents even months after their houses and land was washed away in the nature's fury. They are forced to spend a bitter winter out in the open.
One of the women living in these tents said, "We are living here since the time of the floods. We feel cold but what is the way out, we lost house and land."
Last June, Deolhi Bhani had earned the name - the village of widows - from where over 57 bread earners had lost their lives. Compensation amounts have been spent but people need more than money to start life afresh. A young widow says what she wants most is a job. "I am a graduate, have done a course but government has no jobs for people like us," she said.
In Gaurikund, just 3 kms have been rebuilt in the last seven months. Eight labourers are doing what should happen on a war footing.
Comments
0 comment