Shimla: This 15 August was an exception for the affluent Summerhill ward in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla — a sombre day in contrast to its annual Independence Day bhandara (community meal) at the ancient Shiv Mandir.
A cloudburst early Monday had swept away the temple along with an estimated 30 people who were inside.
As of Thursday, 14 bodies had been recovered, local police officials told ThePrint.
Built in 1920, the Shiv Mandir had withstood many a monsoon. But this year’s downpour proved too much.
As residents waited anxiously for the bodies of their family members to be retrieved, watching a swarm of policemen, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) members and Army personnel hard at work, they recalled what the temple meant to them.
“We used to make puris for 2,000-3,000 people the night before the bhandara,” said Narendra Sharma, a resident. Generations of his family have prayed at the shivling inside the temple.
The cloudburst struck at 7.15 am. Temple regulars said the unyielding rain had ensured the number of devotees inside was lower than usual. “There could have been far more bodies,” said Virendar Thakur, Summerhill’s municipal councillor.
His wife was inside the temple too, and had returned home merely minutes before the cloudburst. Within 15 minutes, everything was over. Thakur quickly put together a list of people possibly inside the temple. Of the 14 bodies that have been recovered, 13 are on the list — one is unidentified.
The temple was built on top of a hill. As it got washed away, it left behind a trail of debris leading to the valley, its dome finally settling closer to the bottom, a little away from the shivling.
Bodies also got dragged down, almost 1-2 kilometres from the temple site, said local residents. Shaily (who goes by first name only), a former councillor, pointed to a green roof at a distance and said bodies from that far were being recovered here. She said a drain took the bodies further away.
Among the dead is the president of the temple society, Sandeep Thakur. “He had called me about a month ago, but I was busy so I didn’t call him back. Now, I wish I had,” Shaily told ThePrint. She lives in an apartment complex not too far from the site, surrounded by the homes of retired professors.
The temple was built above a spring, said Shimla’s former mayor Tikendar Singh Panwar. Krishna Nagar, where houses collapsed after a landslide the same day, is also above a water source, he added. “We need to have water contouring (marking water table on a map, for better planning of construction). Infrastructure needs to be climate-resilient, made according to a climate action plan,” he said.
According to media reports, 217 people have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh since the onset of the monsoon on 24 June.
ThePrint tried reaching D.C. Rana, director-cum-ex-officio-special secretary (revenue-disaster management), through phone calls. This report will be updated when he responds.
Also read: Family loses 7 loved ones & home of 2 decades in deadly Himachal cloudburst — ‘Sab khatam ho gaya’
‘Monsoon got fiercer’
Summerhill is the perfect retirement spot — large, quaint houses and a community of like-minded people. The Himachal Pradesh University accommodation is also close by. And for many members of the community, going to the temple was part of their routine. There were some professors at the temple that day, as councillor Thakur’s list showed.
Karandeep Sharma, an IT professional working in Chandigarh, said his uncle’s family was in the temple Monday.
Sharma’s uncle, Pawan Sharma (60), his wife Santosh (57), their son Aman (32), daughter-in-law Archna (27), and three minor granddaughters were holding a hawan. Five of the bodies have been recovered so far.
“It’s been raining here since March. When the actual monsoon arrived, we thought it’d be milder. But it was fiercer than ever,” said Thakur.
Beside the debris stands a multi-storeyed structure. A part of the temple, it was meant to seat those eating at the bhandara. Narendra Sharma, who worked in the hotel industry in Delhi for years before moving back to his hometown, was involved in this expansion project.
“So many people used to sit outside the mandir and eat,” he recalled. While there is barely a trace of the temple, this structure survived destruction as water bypassed it completely.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
Also read: ‘Will take a year,’ says Himachal Pradesh CM as monsoon fury destroys infra worth Rs 10k crore