Impact of flood in Uttarakhand, Rishiganga project.

Whether you can go to Uttarakhand after the flood on 7th Feb near Joshimath

In this article we will study the impact of flood in Uttarakhand. The crown of our country, the Himalayan ranges; world’s youngest mountain ranges on 7th February witnessed flash food due to landslide or avalanche or glacial lake outburst flood, something that is yet to ascertain about. This flood that took away lives and destroyed the Hydro projects by washing them away reminds us of the mistakes that we keep on making. The state of Uttarakhand is prone to such disasters and the Himalayas are as well prone to landslides and erosion because of high seismic activity in the region ever since many decades.

The state of Uttarakhand has a hilly and mountainous terrain. Almost the entire state has the same structure. Among the states like Jammu Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh Uttarakhand as well has an extremely exceptional fragile landscape that is very much sustainable to natural disasters and natural calamities. The entire state is pre disposed to earth quakes, landslides, cloud bursts, flash floods and have witness it all at different intensities and time duration. Due to climatic changes the entire state is quite vulnerable to climate induced natural disasters which is nothing new across the globe currently.

Uttarakhand the Dev Bhumi

Uttarakhand also known as Dev Bhumi houses uncountable Hindu god and goddesses and is quite venerable to natural disasters but with the blessings of god it always bounces back to welcome its tourists from across the world every year. In the gone decade the number of tourists visiting Uttarakhand has only increased no matter what the state has witnessed and how many disasters may have occurred. The land of Dev Bhumi may be fragile but the spirit and togetherness of the residents of Uttarakhand is remarkable that helps in bouncing back the economy and bringing a boom.

Uttarakhand is not just to be tagged as the mythological hub of the country. It has always been known for its temples, pilgrimage, spiritualism, culture, yoga and what not. We together need to rise above that stature given to a state. There are many other geographical artifact as well of the state that need promotion.  From just being called the mythological hub the state has a lot to hold in its bag and flaunt. The state must be promoted for its rich cultural heritage, beauty of nature and much more hidden facts that beautify the state.

What happened on 7th February 2021 is something unpredictable and currently nothing is certain as what made this happen in winters, was it the melted glacier or un-seasonal snow melting or release of water trapped behind the glacier. A landslide or an avalanche occurred is a sure scenario and we all can thank god that this happened in winters with less water which caused limited damage focusing on the specific area and landscape. However we must take this as a stir warning of nature and try not to play with it rather learns from what went wrong.

We learn from our mistakes and so should we from this one. The beauty of Uttarakhand can never be washed away with these destructions but we must not forget to learn from mistakes and not repeat. This incident has occurred in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The area is far from being connected to Auli, Joshimath or our beautiful Valley of flowers. All these areas are still very well connected leading an easy way till Rishikesh as well. Tourism has always been the biggest backbone of economy of Uttarakhand, 2020 along with it got many difficult times for the tourism industry. To bring a boom to the tourism and business of Uttarakhand we together have to initiate to build it up. With most of the famous tourist destinations still functional and easily accessible we must not be scared to reach out to them for our vacation plans.

Uttarakhand is a divine home for the important Hindu pilgrimage sites in our country.  From char dham to many small and big temples and sites Uttarakhand is a home for many. The Badrinath and Kedarnath pilgrimage remains unaffected with whatever has happened recently. Assuring the same the tourism minister of Uttarakhand ensured the tourists and pilgrims that damage caused is to limited restricted area which is far from these sites. The preparations of the Char-Dham Yatra have not been stopped and are just unaffected.

We need to understand that the beautiful cities of Uttrakhand in the Garhwal hills like Dehradun, Rishikesh and in Kumaon region like Nainital, Ranikhet and Almora are untouched by the incident causing no damage. All these places are away from the area that is the most affected one. These cities are the tourist attractions and no damage is a sigh of relief to the all kinds of business houses after the pandemic effect of 2020. We need to understand that the affected area is far away from most of these cities and town. The area affected is approximately 25-35 km ahead of Joshimath. This makes all the essential facilities in the prominent towns of Uttarakhand unaffected, open and completely functional. All the resorts of beautiful Auli are as well unaffected as they are far away from the region. They are fully functional and easily accessible with all activities and excursions.

Don’t change your plan if you wish to visit the Valley of flowers and our resort Blue Poppy in Auli as all the excursions and activities are on. No tourism has been affected and the calamity of nature is with the grace of god restricted to the specific area which remains away from all this.  While you are planning onto your visits in any of the areas around, just don’t stop yourself and keep up with your plan.

Impact of flood in Uttarakhand At Devprayag you can see the color of Alaknanda is still hazy and not green due to floods.
Impact of flood in Uttarakhand At Devprayag you can see the color of Alaknanda is still hazy and not green due to floods.

With the rise, promotion and publicity of tourism industry of Uttarakhand, it  will keep on booming no matter what the future holds. It is expected that by 2026 the number of tourists reaching the Dev Bhumi will be 67 million. Even though the environment is in stress due to grim situation however nothing can stop tourists from reaching the Dev Bhumi and spending their time in the serenity and beauty of the nature with the beautiful valleys, excursions and activities.

Blue poppy resorts Auli and Valley of flowers are open and has no impact of this flood.

Blue Poppy Resort Auli, Valley of Flowers, all excursions and treks remain functional for all the tourists without any risk and hamper with all precautions and safety measures in mind keeping the Pandemic and recent incident in mind. The damage caused to the mother earth of Uttarakhand due to mistakes caused by humans have had limited effect and is a learning tip for all of us to wake up to.  However, let us all together promote the tourism and beauty of Uttarakhand without forgetting that the boom of economy has always helped and in future will always help in revival and improvements.