Shimla: On 14 August, before the crack of dawn, about 27 km from Shimla, the quiet village of Jadon, located in Mamligh sub-tehsil of Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district, woke up to a cloudburst.
This week, rain, cloudburst and landslides wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh where at least 50 people were killed in separate incidents, show media reports.
“We had lived here for 20-25 years,” said Kantha’s father-in-law Ratiram to ThePrint.
According to Superintendent of Police, Solan, Gaurav Singh, Ratiram lost his son Harnam (38), daughter-in-law Hemlata (34), son-in-law Kamal Kishore (35) and grandchildren Rahul (14), Neha (12), Golu (8) and Raksha (12) in the cloudburst that decimated a portion of Jadon.
It has rained before, but such destruction is unprecedented, said villagers speaking to ThePrint. “Sab khatam ho gaya (everything is finished). Kudrat ki maar hai (this is nature striking),” said Hari Kumar Dutt, a member of the panchayat.
Kaushalya Devi, another panchayat member under whose ward Jadon falls, said that even elders in her family had never seen anything like this.
As soon as she heard about what had happened to Ratiram’s family, Kaushalya rushed to help. But roads were blocked due to heavy rainfall and it proved to be impossible to reach them in any kind of vehicle. So, she and her companions walked. It was around 5 am.
“There was mud all over my body,” said Kaushalya, adding that they reached an hour later. “You wouldn’t have known anything had ever been there,” she said. The mud house, which wasn’t a ‘pucca’ structure, had been completely wiped out.
With the help of local police, villagers managed to extricate six members of the family from the rubble.
The family’s gaushala, their only source of income, was also swept away. They had about 20 cows and goats, of which five remain. The cowshed was only a short distance away.
State Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu paid them a visit and they received Rs 5.5 lakh in monetary compensation. According to media reports, the CM surveyed the scene for over an hour, and urged rescue teams to speed up operations.
ThePrint reached Ajay Yadav, additional deputy commissioner, Solan, via phone calls. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Also read: ‘Will take a year,’ says Himachal Pradesh CM as monsoon fury destroys infra worth Rs 10k crore
Road ahead
Meanwhile, the family is staying at a relative’s house. Kantha Devi’s 10-year old son, Saurav, holds one end of her dupatta, reluctant to let her go. The remaining seven members are seated on a double-mattress.
On the hill opposite, against the dull brown of the earth and the lush green of trees, one can see the remains of a colourful roof — the debris of Ratiram and his wife Jamuna Devi’s house.
The family faces the task of rebuilding their home, as well as their lives. However, according to Hari Chand, head of the ruling panchayat, there’s too much mud and earth-moving equipment can’t be brought in right now.
“What do you want me to say? There is nothing left,” Jamuna Devi said to ThePrint.
But she knows they have to move on. “We have to, for the sake of the children,” she said, pointing to her two grandchildren. The family is still debating when and where they should build their house. But Jamuna Devi is certain of one thing — “Wahan toh nahi banayenge. [we will not make it there].”
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)