I loved writing this one

Smile is back on Angmo’s face
Jupinderjit Singh/TNS


Dalden Angmo with her mother Tsering Dolma. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari


Chandigarh, August 4
From crying in pain on a hospital bed to clutching her mother in fear, three-and-a-half-year-old Dalden Angmo, who is known as the “Face of Leh cloudburst disaster”, has now come a long way to laughingly peddle a brand new bicycle at her home on the premises of the Chandimandir Command.

Providence helped her wade through rocks, bodies and houses floating in the flashfloods caused by the August 5-6 cloudburst at Leh. Having recovered well now, she successfully negotiates chairs, table and visitors driving the bicycle. She kind of makes a statement that she is ready to take on life having already won the greatest battle for survival she would encounter.

The tragedy took away her house and toys, but it gave her a blessing in disguise. It is to feel at home before a camera. As we stepped into her house, she remained quite, withdrawn and shy clutching to her mother till the camera was out. And it was then her show as she smiled, posed and laughed and stared in a reflective mood. She insisted on seeing each picture and her approval depended if she smiled or remained indifferent.

In perfect health and shape, Dalden Angmo may understand in many years what she went through and the importance of her survival against all odds. But her parents live through a trauma still.

“Her mother has grown very thin. Even a year after the incident, she is yet to recover both mentally and physically. She rarely feels like eating,” says Tsering Dorjey, brother of XX Dolma. Dolma’s husband, also named Tsering Dorjey, said Angmo used to get scared after hearing the sound of clouds, rain or winds. However, she was now perfectly fine. “But her mother still gets panic,” he said.

Dolma said those bad moments haunt her again and again. “I have consulted many doctors, but my fears are not going away and keep on haunting me,” she adds.

But she is happy at the way Angmo is growing up. “Thanks to the media, especially The Tribune. She is known everywhere
now.” Dolma said.

She said apart from psychological scars, she was always tensed at the future of her daughter’s education and that would they be able to rebuild a house. “The Indian Army has done so much for us. But unfortunately, the Leh administration is yet to approve our application for a house in Solar Colony, where the cloudburst-hit families have been given accommodation. “Whenever we ask, the only answer the administration gives is that our file is under process,” she said. She rued that they even did not have enough money for their daughter’s education.

Dorjey said after his transfer, he decided to move to Chandigarh along with his family so that they could get good accommodation here and his wife and daughter could recover well.

First published in The Tribune : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110805/j&k.htm#2

my first Chanidgarh bateline by the way....

hope-the story is complete now. It raised quite a storm.

Relief extended by Punjab wasn’t meant for any individuals: Leh DC
Jupinderjit Singh/TNS

Leh, August 4
The controversy over the alleged “non-fulfilment” of promises made to two Sikh families and to a Leh girl by Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal refuses to die down. Now, the Leh Deputy Commissioner has said that the Rs 1-crore relief given by the Punjab Government was not meant for fulfilling those two promises. The DC appreciated Punjab Government’s gesture of providing Rs 1 crore and 500 trucks of fodder, but distanced himself from having any knowledge about the promises, “if any”, made to any individuals.

After having a telephonic talk with a senior official of the Punjab Government, the DC said Sukhbir offered more help, but they (the Leh administration) felt embarrassed to ask for anything more.

However, he insisted that the Rs 1 crore was not meant for any promise Sukhbir made to any individuals. “I don’t know about any promise made. I also read about them in newspapers only,” he added.

link - http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110805/j&k.htm#3

PREVIOUS STORY
LEH REVISITED
In Leh, Sukhbir has many more promises to keep
Skalzang Angmo outside her new house in Choglamsar.

Jupinderjit Singh /TNS
Skalzang Angmo outside her new house in Choglamsar.


Leh, July 20
At the time of a tragedy, politicians, cutting across party lines, often promise the moon to the victims. But not all promises are kept.

Twelve-year-old Skalzang Angmo is a living example. Her case, highlighted by The Tribune last year, had moved many to come forward to help.

The wounds of losing her elder sister and their house and in last year’s cloudburst on the night of August 5-6 continue to hurt, but equally painful are some of the promises, made to her by politicians, that have not been kept.

Union Education Minister Kapil Sibal had promised free education to Angmo. This promise was kept as she is studying free of cost at Jawahar Navodya Vidyalaya in Chandigarh.

However, the promise to reimburse her one-time free air travel to Chandigarh from Leh for taking admission was not kept. The girl and her mother Stanzin Dolma claim that no money was paid.

“We are grateful for the free education and we hope that the promise of free higher education would be kept. But her transportation from Chandigarh costs us Rs 50,000 annually. No one has footed the bill yet. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had specifically promised it,” said Stanzin Dolma.

Two Sikh families of Leh find themselves in a similar state. They too were promised much, but have not got a single penny out of the Rs 5 lakh each compensation promised by Sukhbir.

“We have not received a single penny,” lamented Harbans Singh, owner of a book shop in the Polo Ground market.

“I lost a house and a book store. Many books there cost over Rs 10,000. No one compensated me for the books. Then Sukhbir Badal came and promised Rs 5 lakh to both the families.

“Our photos meeting him appeared in all newspapers and TV channels. But we are yet to receive the money,” he said showing the damaged books and the news clippings of Sukhbir meeting them.

His brother Balwinder Singh owned a hardware store. He has also not received any aid. A Jammu-based RTI activist Balvinder Singh had raised their issue many times, but to no avail. He claims that he had sent a representation to Sukhbir Badal, but there was no reply.

Sukhbir Badal had promised Rs 1 crore relief for cloudburst victims which he gave to the Leh administration, but his individual promises, for which he got maximum mileage in the media, are yet to be kept.

To be fair to junior Badal, the Leh administration hails his contribution. Deputy Commissioner T Angchok said the contribution of the Punjab Government, especially Sukhbir Badal, who brought several trucks of essential commodities, cannot be forgotten.

“He led a delegation of MPs and MLAs and brought a lot of aid for which Leh would always be grateful. However, we have no details of the relief given in individual cases. As far as I can remember, the girl, Angmo, was promised help if she required it. No one from her family has approached us.”

Sukhbir Badal was not available for comments.
link : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110805/j&k.htm#3

PUNJAB GOVERNMENT'S REJOINDER

Money for Leh girl with the DC, says Punjab
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 21
A spokesman of the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Badal, today clarified that the Leh district administration is to be blamed if relief promised by the Deputy CM did not reach some of the victims of the cloudburst last year. He was responding to the report on the front page of The Tribune today under the headline, “ In Leh, Sukhbir has many more promises to keep”.

The spokesman , in a written rejoinder, claimed that the Deputy Commissioner, Leh had called up the Principal Secretary to the CM to say that expenses to be incurred on the education of Skalzang Angmo d/o Stanzin Dolma would be borne from the Rupees one crore cash relief received from the Government of Punjab.

Pointing out that Punjab had mobilised and sent as many as 515 trucks of fodder/dry fodder and 40 trucks of animal feed to Leh, the spokesman asserted that the Deputy Chief Minister had fulfilled much more than what he had promised to the cloudburst victims of Leh.

Sukhbir Badal had himself visited Leh with 14 trucks containing dry ration and blankets. He had also announced that Punjab would bear the full expenditure of educating Skalzang Angmo studying at Chandigarh Navodaya Vidyalaya and adopt Solar village. The Leh DC had undertaken to meet the cost of the last two promises from the cash relief sent by the Punjab government, the spokesman claimed.

First anniversary of Leh cloudburst-micro-analysis of Leh. first story of full page

Leh ready to move on
A year after the tragedy, the people are still searching for the elusive relief
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Leh, August 4
Tsewang Narboo of Wakha village looks at his field across a seasonal rivulet and breaks into tears. About 1 acre of fertile land that fed him and his family for generations till the last year’s cloudburst is under eight-feet debris these days. And, the Ladakh administration doesn’t have money or infrastructure to get his field cleared.

It hardly gives him any strength to face the situation when told that he is not the lone sufferer and that around 250 hectares of agricultural land in Ladakh that has become unfit for cultivation like his field due to the last year’s cloudburst. The debris lay settled under the snow during winter and the summer sun baked it into a hard rock-like surface. All that time, he prayed for help, tried to do something with his shovel, but to no avail. The Ladakh administration also kept knocking at the doors of the Prime Minister’s Office for getting released Rs 133 crore for reclaiming the land lost in the cloudburst.

About 150 km away in Solar Colony, near Choglamsar, Tsering Dolma is busy cleaning willow for use in fabricating the roof of a room. This is the place where displaced victims of the cloudburst incident have been rehabilitated. Tsering Dolma was given a tent first, then she got a pre-fabricated room and now she is getting constructed another room as the Leh administration has released a compensation of Rs 2.42 lakh to her. She has now got a shelter, but has no money for the education of her children. She looks for sponsors.

Stenzin Wangmo, a young girl, has other worries. Little well off than others, her parents reconstructed the house and shops fast in the Choglamsar market. But just behind her house flows Saboo Nullah. The flow of the gentle stream was music to her ears. But last year, death flowed through it. Stenzin can’t sleep well ever since. She prays to God that nothing of that sort should happen again. She also prays to the administration to clean and widen the nullah at the earliest so that if there is a gush of water again, it can flow down smoothly.

These three persons lived miles apart, but suffered together due to the cloudburst and flashfloods of last year. A year later, they reflect on the progress made in the reconstruction of devastated Leh.

Almost a year after the cloudburst, Leh is back on its feet and is just about to move on. But to be firmly on the path of progress, it needs the Prime Minister’s Office to extend yet another helping hand, dispensing a help of Rs 407 crore.

Tourists have lent some strength to the economy, but that is mainly limited to the city of Leh. The mainstay of economy and the year-round food supply depends upon agriculture. That sector was hit the worst and would take at least yet another year, depending upon the inflow of funds, to be in a position that it was before the August 5-6 cloudburst.

Only around Rs 40 crore out of the PM package of Rs 125 crore, which included ex gratia and compensation for damaged houses, has been received so far and utilised, too. The amount received so far included Rs 25 crore for Sonam Narboo Memorial Hospital, Rs 1.25 crore for water lifting and Rs 8 crore for diesel gensets to generate 4.5 MW power daily.

The major challenge is to reclaim the lost agricultural land. Rigzin Spalbar, Chief Executive Councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), said around 129 hectare land was unlikely to be reclaimed. “It is covered with over six feet of debris and has become hard like rock. Another 125 hectares is inaccessible for JCB machines and has been left out for the moment,” Rigzin added.

The council roped in community leaders and motivated village panchayats and groups to clear the fields. “We are thankful to members of the JCB machine operators union who agreed to work at discounted rates. After all, it was a tragedy suffered by all,” Rigzin added.

“We were not happy taking aid and help from others. We live in extreme circumstances and the cloudburst tested our resilience. As we understood limitations of the government, we readily formed a group and cleared lot of land in our village,” said Dorji Pambar of Basgo village. This village has led the region in community service.

First Published in The Tribune dated - August 5

Amir Khan's school all smiles

LEH REVISITED
Revamp for Rancho’s school
Having learnt its lessons the hard way, Druk White Lotus School (of ‘3 Idiots’ fame) has now put in place solid flood-safety measures
Jupinderjit Singh/TNS

Shey (Leh), July 24
The Druk White Lotus School, which was catapulted to fame after it was featured in Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots and was destroyed in last year’s deadly cloudburst, is flood-resistant now. ‘Rancho’s school’, which had won many awards like ‘best green school, best earthquake resistant building, best education school, had, ironically, not put in place adequate flood safety measures and had to pay the price.

Druk White Lotus School principal Prasad Eledath plays with students.
Druk White Lotus School principal Prasad Eledath plays with students. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma

Left wiser by the disaster, the school has now made elaborate arrangements to save itself from floods. Also, repeated drills are being organised to enable students and teachers to reach out to safe zones in the wake of any natural calamity.

A high boundary has been constructed around the school. Also, in place is a flood alert system. Similarly, school authorities have also asked villagers staying uphill to alert them in case of floods. “We are maintaining vigil uphill. We have asked people, who stay at a higher altitude, especially at Stakmo village, to alert us. They have got phone connections and other warning systems like bells and fire shots to sound an alarm,” said Prasad Eledath, principal of the school. The school has undergone a complete makeover. There are hardly any visible signs of the nature’s wrath it had to endure in August last. A neatly dressed guard welcomes the visitors at the entrance. With many tourists coming to have a glimpse of the school, a special visitors’ room has been constructed for them.

The computer lab, which was filled with mud and debris last year, has been shifted to the first floor in another building. The room has been converted into a library. The school has 619 students. The school started nursery and LKG classes in 2000. “Now, we have upgraded to Class IX,” the principal said.

The school maintained its high standard of education despite loss of study days last year.

first published in The Tribune - link http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110725/main6.htm

Leh flooded with tourists

LEH REVISITED
Ladakhis smile as tourists throng cold desert
Jupinderjit Singh/TNS

Leh, July 21
Their blood had run cold at the sight of death and destruction caused by the cloudburst last year. However, less than a year later, both foreign and domestic tourists have shown nerves of steel and made a beeline for the cold desert of Leh. Even the war-ravaged Kargil has witnessed a heavy rush.

Situated amidst bewitching scenic surroundings, the peaceful and mystic sight of lamas and the challenging high altitude life, Leh thrives mainly on tourists.

A few months of good summer season of playing host to tourists is all that they need for comfort all year.

All fears that tourists would not return have been belied. And most surprisingly, it is the domestic tourists, who came in large numbers in May and June, as compared to last year. No wonder, Ladakhis are laughing all the way to the bank.

“The foreigners often come in or after July. Till then, Ladakhis depend on domestic tourists. However, last year Leh witnessed 44,000 tourists till June 30, while this time the number has almost reached 59,000,” said Deputy Commissioner T Angchok.

“The tourist season actually starts in August and September,” the DC said. He added that a little over 5,000 were foreigners. “I am confident that this year we will break all records of tourist inflow,” he said.

Locals believe that cloudburst has made Leh more popular as tourist destination. “True that there were pictures of destruction, but they too projected Ladakh’s beauty,” said Sonam Dorzy, who runs a trekkers’ agency.

Angchok said tourists, especially Indian, came to Leh as there was peace in the valley.

Ghulam Mustafa, who runs a cyber café, said though the Internet and phone connectivity hasn’t improved coupled with frequent power failures, tourists have arrived here in droves.

Nisha, who runs a restaurant here, said: “There is not a minute to rest. We are very happy.”

Anwar Hussain, who runs Nimdumluri Travel Agency in Kargil, said all hotels were full. “There has been at least 40 per cent increase in the number of tourists,” he added.

many still missing

LEH REVISITED
27 still missing, flood toll could go up
Jupinderjit Singh/TNS

Leh, July 22
The death toll in Leh cloudburst, which is being quoted as 257, could well be higher as 27 persons - all labourers from Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Bihar - are still missing.

Though it is not uncommon to find fake claimants of compensation in such tragedies, no one has come forward to seek compensation for as many as 63 victims, including the 27 “missing” ones. The administration had to pay Rs 3 lakh each to the next of kin of victims. Now, the officials don’t know what to with the ex gratia money.

Of the total 63, the whereabouts of 27 persons are not known since the fateful night of August 5 -6 last year when the tragedy took place. Repeated communication with respective state governments has borne no fruit.

The remaining 36 were also outsiders (not from Ladakh). While six persons were from Nepal, five were foreigners and the remaining were labourers from different states.

“They have been identified. We have their addresses too but no one had come to claim the compensation. We have to keep the money on hold till someone gives us in writing that compensation wasn’t required,” said DC Leh T Anghok.

“But there is no news of the missing persons. Hopefully, they have survived and somehow managed to reach their native place,” he said. The J&K Chief Secretary had last week sent a reminder to the governments of Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Bihar regarding the missing persons.

Only Rajasthan has responded saying that the state government was trying to locate their next of kin.

LEH REVISITED

LEH REVISITED
Choglamsar rising from the rubble
Despite little aid, life has moved on and only a few survivors now talk about the tragedy
Jupinderjit Singh writes from Choglamsar

July 19
Eleven months after it bore the hardest impact of the last year’s cloudburst tragedy, Choglamsar presents a blend of destruction, reconstruction and new construction.

The confluence point of two turbulent streams of mud and water, one from Leh town, situated uphill, and the second from Saboo village, situated nearly 30 km away, Choglamsar presented a sorry picture of mud, rocks and ravaged houses after the cloudburst took place on August 5-6 night.

Picking up the threads

Tsering Dolkar and her daughter StensinTsering Dolkar and her husband Labzang Tsering’s fortunes were washed away by the cloudburst last year. They owned a large house of 10 rooms and 11 shops. Today, they live in a two-room house along with their two children. And only three of their 11 shops have been reconstructed. Dolkar says they carried out the reconstruction with their savings.

Tsering Dolkar and her daughter Stensin

Today, remnants of the destruction remain, but a considerable amount of reconstruction has also taken place. Many new houses and shops are also being built.

But there are many persons who have no money to repair their shops and these remain as nature’s fury left them on that ill-fated night - broken, with twisted shutters and full of mud.

As one enters the village, one can see the thick wall of mud that had reduced the four-lane stretch of the Leh-Manali Road to one lane. In these 11 months, the stretch has been cleared at most places.

An illegal colony, right at the entrance of the village that suffered the brunt, is being dismantled gradually by the survivors. As the colony was constructed without approval on the bed of a seasonal rivulet, the Leh administration has asked the ones who survived to move to Solar Colony. And they are taking along whatever they could salvage - wooden planks, stones, wooden beams and windows.

People here have got the promised compensation, but they need more. The persons, whose house was damaged, got Rs 2.42 lakh. Shop owners got Rs 1 lakh per shop. But those who were operating from rented shops did not get anything for the stock that had been kept in the shop.

Sonam Choral, who runs a grocery store in the main market, said, “As I had taken the shop on rent, I did not get a single penny. We reconstructed it on our own. The only good part is that the rent was not hiked this year. No one can pay more.”

In the opposite lane, a long row of shops lies abandoned. “No one will take these on rent. The mud has been cleared, but rainwater can enter anytime. A little amount of water did a few days ago.”

The streams of muddy water swept away the fortunes of Tsering Dolkar and her husband Labzang Tsering. They owned a large house of 10 rooms and 11 shops in a row.

Today, they live in a two-room house along with their two children. And only three of their 11 shops has been reconstructed. “We did it with our savings,” Dolkar said.

Solar Colony, where the cloudburst-hit families were kept in tents and later provided pre-fabricated one-room houses by a private company, is a picture of hope. Almost all residents are adding rooms, built in traditional Ladakhi style (using large stones and mud), to the pre-fabricated ones.

Another major problem is that there are less than 10 bathrooms and toilets for over 750 residents. Long queues can be seen outside these. “The alternative is to relieve ourselves in the open.”

Deputy Commissioner Tersing Angshok said the administration was aware of the problem, “We have asked for money from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.”

link : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110720/main6.htm)

Madeline Mc Can sighted in Leh- India???

Missing Madeleine puts Leh in a tizzy
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Leh, July 23
High drama prevailed in the busy Fort Road market of the city last night when three persons identified a six-year-old girl as Madeleine McCann, a British girl who went missing while on a holiday in Portugal in 2007.

The infamous case had hogged limelight when Madeleine disappeared in May 2007 while she was holidaying with her parents and siblings in the Algarve region of Portugal. The minor girl went missing from an apartment a few days before her fourth birthday and has still not been found. According to the Wikipedia and various web portals, Madeline’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann had stated that they had left the children unsupervised in the ground floor bedroom while they were at a restaurant about 120 metres away.

Last night, a British woman saw a French woman with her Belgian husband roaming in the market with a girl who looked like Madeleine. She immediately informed the British police and the Leh police. The local police has taken the passports of the suspects for verification.

The missing girl’s parents have set up a website where they have put up her pictures that were taken in 2007 and also pictures of how she would look like as she would grow up.

As the British woman shared her suspicions with few others and took a picture of the girl, an American youth -- who was also following the couple -- tried to take away the girl from them. He later told the police that he suspected the girl to be Madeleine. Another American woman also shared the suspicion.

The French woman, however, rubbished their claims, saying that she and her husband were the biological parents of the girl.

A local police official said there was worldwide alert for Madeleine and it would be a great honour for the Leh police to find the missing girl. “However, it all depends upon the evidence like DNA for which help from Madeleine’s parents and the British police was required.”

( first published in : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110724/main4.htm)

LEH REVISITED

M A I N N E W S

LEH REVISITED
Almost a year after tragedy, relief hasn’t reached people
Leh cloudburst victims are struggling to take hold of their lives. A first-hand account of their travails
Jupinderjit Singh writes from Nimmu

July 18
Yang Chan Dolma of Nimmu, a proud owner of a substantial piece of land and a general store before the cloudburst hit various parts of Ladakh division in August last year, has now been working as a labourer to make both ends meet.

Damaged houses in Wakha village on the Srinagar-Leh highway.
Damaged houses in Wakha village on the Srinagar-Leh highway. Tribune photos: Anand Sharma
Yang Chan Dolma shows the torn clothes that were sent by an NGO.
Yang Chan Dolma shows the torn clothes that were sent by an NGO.

As one travels to Leh, remnants of last year’s tragedy are still visible. Yang Chan Dolma shows us her damaged house and the fields behind it. “I had my house -- which was my whole world — here when the cloudburst brought about the flash floods. It took away everything we had, including our shop, and even today we cannot cultivate the fields.”

Her house had an excellent location. The shop opened onto the busy Leh-Srinagar road and the land touched a rivulet. The rivulet that fed her family for years took away all in one stroke, she lamented.

Her daughter Stenzin Dolma explained that their fields were now too hard to handle. “I am forced to do labour work in other fields or at construction sites.”

Nimmu was the worst hit outside Leh. Nearly 80 per cent of the houses were damaged in the flash floods. The government had announced it would construct houses but so far only Rs 1 lakh for each damaged house has been provided. Nothing has been provided for the damaged or destroyed shops.

Victims say the compensation is too meagre. “What can you arrange for yourself in Rs 1 lakh?” asked Dolma. “Moreover, they have not provided anything for the shops. The administration claimed it would get our houses constructed but we had to do it on our own.”

In Wakha village, situated on the Srinagar-Leh highway, Nasir Hussain and Sonam Targis have the same tale to tell. “I had two shops and three stores. The floods swept away everything. I even had Rs 73,000 in cash in one of the stores... and I did not get a single penny,” said Nasir.

Worse, Nasir had to shift location and that meant extra money. “Very little relief reached us,” claimed Sonam Targis, pointing towards his barren fields and the damaged house and shops. “Many like me are unable to cultivate. I got no compensation.”

Leh Deputy Commissioner Tersing Angshok admitted that compensation for shops could not be provided. “We are awaiting aid from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. We had sent our requirement to the Centre.”

The Cruel Cut
Though help poured in from all sides, there were some organisations which seemed to have provided aid for publicity only. Yang Chan Dolma showed us two sacks full of torn clothes. “A Delhi-based NGO sent us these rags... in fact these are worst than rags.”

(first published in The Tribune . Link http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110719/main5.htm)

Leh-post cloudburst-story-4--The village that disappeared

The battered model village
Jupinderjit Singh writes from Leh

After performing a daredevil balancing act on the wooden logs laid to cross the Saboo River, we sat on a small structure, only to get up with a start when my local guide revealed that before August 6, the ‘small structure’ was the rooftop of a two-storied house.

The quantum of the tragedy that struck Saboo village was clear to us that moment. As many as 14 persons died in the wee hours of August 6, as Saboo River, an otherwise small rivulet, went on rampage taking along several houses, burying houses under mud and rocks, and tossing cars and trees away, twisting them in mad fury.

As we stood near the two-storey house, now reduced just to one or two feet above ground level, we looked upward and saw a steep slope of rock and sand. “Where is the village?” I asked.

“It was here only. This slope was formed by the river,” said Tsewang Gailten, a Political Science lecturer and my local guide, pointing at the boulders and rocks. Underneath those, were the once vibrant streets and houses of Saboo village.

This was the favourite village of former President Abdul Kalam Azad, who four years ago laid the foundation of developing it as the model village of Ladakh.

It is the same village where all relatives of Survine Yustoy, who is studying in Jammu, were killed by a single stroke of nature. She lost her parents, brother and a pregnant sister, who had reached her maternal house just a day before the incident. Then, there is the tale of another girl, Tsering Dolma, who is also studying in Jammu. Her friend Yangdol lost three relatives.

Many Ladakhi students, worried about the fate of their family and relatives had given their addresses and names to The Tribune team hoping to find them hale and hearty. As one writes this story, one wonders how to call them and tell the tragic end of their near and dear ones. During the fateful night when a cloudburst in lower Leh, especially on Mane Tseling colony, occurred, the giant river of water and mud swept towards the Choglamsar village, wiping away the bus stand, the BSNL office, the radio station and damaging the hospital. At the same time, Saboo River, too, went on rampage destroying the village and forest and eventually taking it all to Choglamsar village, which was destroyed the most.

“Saboo village with little over one thousand population was developing fast. Every house had a car or two and children were studying in Jammu, Delhi or Chandigarh. It seems someone cast an evil eye on it,” said Gailtsen.

Fear of evil eyes, bad luck or devils is quite common here with people hoisting flags having inscription of mantras on rooftops all over Ladakh.

As we slowly climbed up, we passed across ITBP jawans who were busy clearing way to a house whose only upper storey could be accessed, while at other places, people had employed local labourers to clear the mess.

We also saw cars that were either buried under sand and debris or were tossed and twisted against walls and tress by the furious river. Then there were boards of an under-construction market, buildings and complexes where a hospital, a library, a college or a school was to come up as per the dream of the former President.

The dream is surely going to take longer time now than expected.

Immediate challenge is to construct houses with whatever aid is reaching, save crops and food for the harsh winter that is just one and a half month away. Reconstruction of the model village would require huge effort from the state and Centre government.

Leh-post cloudburst-story-3- the Durk school famous as "Rancho's school"

ONTOURS OF CALAMITY
Aamir Khan reaches out to damaged ‘3 Idiots’ school
Jupinderjit Singh writes from Leh


The computer lab of the school inundated by slush. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma

Bollywood star Aamir Khan today finally managed to call up Prasad Eledath, principal of “Rancho’s School”, five days after the school made famous by the “3 Idiots” movie was destroyed due to the cloudburst in Leh.

The school principal told The Tribune team that Aamir Khan had offered all kind of help. “We are yet to make a proper evaluation of the damage caused and the funds required to reconstruct it. Aamir Khan has asked me to tell him what is required and it will be done. The telephone call came at 10 am today.”

As one reaches the school, 25 km from the Leh crossing, a couple of rivulets, which have suddenly resurfaced, and several speed-breakers of mud, the first thing one notices is that it is not Rancho’s school. It is actually called Durk White Lotus School. “We are quite sensitive about the name of the school. True, the movie has made it world famous. About 25 to 75 tourists come here daily to see it where Aamir Khan (Rancho) and his students were inventing one thing after another and especially the wall where ‘Chaturlingam’ got electric shocks.”

The school should be known by its original name, as it existed since 1999, much before Aamir Khan shot his film here, the principal insisted.

The other thing that strikes you as you reach here is that the school has disappeared. It rather looks like an excavation site, with volunteers, students and staff all trying to clear mud from practically all rooms and the campus. At the very entrance of the school there lies one computer terminal, all covered in mud, as if telling what to expect in the building.

Go further in; the computer lab having 40 computers is one big heap of mud, with only four computers visible. The condition of the first floor of the library is the same, so is the principal’s office and all classrooms. The pavement, the gardens, the floors, the walkways, all lie covered in several feet of mud.

The school, which had won many awards like Best Green School, Best Earthquake Resistant Building, Best Education School and Best Asian Building, had taken care of fire, earthquakes, and practically every disaster they could think of. But, ironically, it had no idea about flash floods and cloudbursts.

“We have to think about it now when we will reconstruct the school. There was a seasonal stream running down the hill in the rear of the school. It flowed a couple of hundreds of metres away from the school boundary but on that night, as the cloud burst, massive torrents of water and mud overwhelmed the school.

“I was sleeping in my home situated close to the school when someone raised the alarm about the gushing water. As I along with hostel warden Kamal Thakur rushed to the school, we saw water and mud all around. The two dormitories of the girl’s hostel were rendered asunder by a violent stream of water that brought with it huge rocks and boulders.

Thakur said as there was no power supply. “We switched on the headlights of a couple of cars and saw children perched on a wall. With great difficulty we made them jump into our laps and fortunately no one was injured.”

Singay, a Class VI student, was so fear-stricken that it took her a lot of courage to jump over the wall to safety.

The school founded by the 12th Gyalwanag Trukpa has 550 students with 55:45 ratio in favour of girls. Of the total strength 76 were present in the school today. The school started nursery and LKG classes in 2000. “Now, the highest class is the eighth standard,” the principal told.

When will the school start functioning again? The principal has his fingers crossed. “I think Class VIII will start from Thursday, but it will depend on how many students attend classes. We are looking at restarting the school in phases,” he said.

It would require huge funds and engineering to restore this special school to its earlier form. “We have no plan or need to shift it,” the principal said. The school imparts a unique blend of modern and traditional Buddhist education.

Leh-post cloudburst-story-2 --Born among dead

Ravaged Leh welcomes eight newborns

Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Leh, August 9
When nature’s fury was snuffing out lives in Leh, eight babies were born in the town. The eight babies, born in the last three days, are hale and hearty in a special delivery ward on the 2nd floor of the Sonam Marboo Memorial Hospital. The flash floods had filled the lower floors with mud.

Three babies were born on the intervening night of August 5 and 6, when nature was the most furious. Five expectant mothers managed to reach the hospital over the next three days.

Two of the babies have been placed in incubators in the lobby even though in ideal conditions the incubators should be placed in a contamination-free zone in a hospital. In such trying times, say hospital sources, when massive damage has been caused to the hospital, even getting a small corner is a “safe enough place”.

A senior gynaecologist, Dr Kunzey, said each of these eight woman has her own tale of survival to narrate. “Some of them came on foot, others were carried by their husbands or relatives. God was kind, as not a single delivery failed.”

She said many members of the hospital staff had been injured by the cloudburst “but all who could reach here that night came to help”.

Maya, who lived in Skara village, delivered a baby girl just hours after the massive destruction took place. She recounts: “There was a complete blackout at that time. There was mud and slush all around. I could hear cries all around me when I was being shifted to the make-shift operation room.”

Sakina Bano, who is from Assam and married to a local farmer, also gave birth to a girl on August 6. Her husband is busy retrieving whatever he could from their house near a government housing colony in the town as she recuperates after the childbirth. Dr Kunzey said the eight babies included six girls and two boys.

Leh-post cloudburst-story-I

Foreigners engaged in rescue operations
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Leh, August 9
Forgetting their personal loss and grief, large number of foreign tourists joined over a thousand volunteers in Leh repair, rescue and reconstruction work. The Ladakh Budhist Association is leading the volunteers and has set up camps all over the city seekling donations and urging more volunteers to come forward.

But foreigners, many of who had landed here a day or two ago only before the disaster, were seen removing debris, carrying mud and sand.

Tsewang Gailtsen, who is a lecturer in political science and was helping in rescue work, said all school and colleges were closed as the main work was to carry out repair and rescue work.

He said a sea of humanity has swarmed the damaged places lending any helping hand they could, "But the most touching is the foreigners, who stepped in on their own. Ladakh would be thankful to them."

Kasprzak, a french toursit came here on August three and has lost two members of a group of French tourists. But putting it behind, she was seen carrying stretchers in a hospital.

"We lost friends and our belongings. There is misery all around. I cound not wait for relief as I was fit to help." she said.

Another volunteer was Rikla from Italy, "I had come here for meditation. We had a narrow escape from the flash floods. We lost some of our baggage. I feel for Ladakh and its people and could not keep eyes away from the places where I could help."