The Himalayan Journey : Tehri Phase (Part 3). Review on Garhwal

Time goes by, Seems like the blink of an eye

It’s so crazy, What can we do

Cont. from Part 2

While sipping the tea, we decided to make this a night to remember. But for this we needed dry wood to keep the fire burning, both inside and outside. The few shops at Dhanaulti were already closed down and our difficulty of finding dry wood was aggravated by the fact that dry wood was a valued possession at that time of year cos’ the long season of snow fall was just round the corner. However, finally we did manage to buy the wood, sufficient enough for our purposes.

After dinner, started our rendezvous with a Himalayan night, the whole valley which was totally dark, soon glew with silvery moonlight as the moon rose from behind the mountains. In the background the beauty of the snow clad peaks was magnified due to the shining effect provided by the moonlight. The surroundings were absolutely quiet with not even the wind blowing. It was a perfect time to recollect all the memories and persons (read gals) whom one held close to one’s heart. We all being Mechanical Engineers have had our fair share of heartbreaks and so we all remembered the numerous gals we had fallen. However it was not senti kinda environment but a leg pulling session with everyone laughing at eachother and also at oneself while remembering the kind of foolish stuff we all did while chasing the gals in the college. So many golden words and thoughts were shared that night, like “Hasina Ki Hasi Ka Yaaron Karna Na Aitbaar, Doob Jaayegi Naiyya Tumhari Beech Bhawar Majhdaar” and “Tension Lene Ka Nahi, Tension Dene Ka, Senti Hone Ka Nahi, Senti Karne Ka”. Around midnight it became really cold and since our stock of wood also got finished, we moved into our rooms. Before retiring for the night we decided to alter our program a bit. Next day instead of going back to Roorkee via Mussoorie we decided to go via Tehri, thus planning a visit to the famous Tehri Dam.

Next morning, the time had come to say goodbye to Dhanaulti. We had our last tea at Dhanaulti at the same Tea Stall before boarding the bus to Tehri. Surprisingly the bus was completely full and the conductor asked us to sit at the top of the bus. The idea seemed weird at first, considering the fact that it was peak time winter (2nd Jan.) and the morning was still cold. Docs immediately backed off preferring to cover the journey standing inside the bus rather than traveling on top of a bus. We however decided to give this adventure a shot, thanks to Baji and APS for compelling myself and Shirish into this seemingly absurd adventure. We too never regretted as this proved to be one of the high points of the journey. The 22 km journey to Chamba passed amidst laughter as APS was back in his Miya Zazzakh mode. At Chamba, the conductor asked us to come down and though we wanted to cover rest of the journey in the same manner, we had to come down and join Docs inside the bus.

The bus moved from Chamba to Old Tehri (10 km) and just as the Chamba town ended we had the glimpse of the Central Jail of Tehri, a place synonymous with the Tehri movement, a place where several leaders associated with the movement are still held. The bus dropped us near the dam site and we boarded a Jeep to the Tehri Dam site.

“This Dam is built with our tears” – Sundarlal Bahuguna

Built on the confluence of Bhagirathi and Bhilangana (or Bhil Ganga), Tehri Dam is one of the largest dam in the world and has long been a subject of controversy with activists protesting against the construction of dam due to which several acres of land will be submerged under water and many people will loose their only source of living; their land. Not just that, with this kind of massive Dam getting operational environmentalists feel that this already seismic prone area will become far more dangerous as the chances of movement of tectonic plates will become even more. The movement against the dam started in 1970 and continues till date with charge in the hands of well known leader Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna.

The jeep dropped us at the lower gates of the dam just before which was the bridge over Bhagirathi river which connected to the town of Old Tehri. Near the bridge was the half submerged hut of Shri Sunderlal Bahuguna. A local told us that only a few weeks back all the three tunnels through which Bhil Ganga passed were closed. Soon the half submerged hut would disappear and just like the hut, there would be no Bridge, no Tehri. Bahuguna ji’s new residence was on the other side of the bridge. We crossed the bridge and entered the town of Old Tehri, a town which was soon going to be submerged in the waters of the holy Ganges.

Old Tehri was a ghost town. Ruins of houses, haywire drainage system, people with sadness on face and the atmosphere without any enthusiasm or happiness, Old Tehri was nothing but a ghost town. We didn’t get the chance of meeting Bahuguna ji as he was in Lucknow in connection with some science summit. However we did get a chance to talk to one of his close associates who told us in brief about the Tehri Dam movement, the loopholes in the govt. policies regarding rehabilitation of the affected people and of course the prevalent corruption regarding the issue of land distribution among those affected. The pain in the man’s voice said it all. The mood was somber; the place was dull and gloomy with nothing but sadness all around.

By noon we moved on for New Tehri, the township constructed by govt. to rehabilitate the affected people. New Tehri is on the other side of the river, at the top of the mountain. Constructed in a very planned manner, the township is considered to be a masterpiece. Our bus started its journey by climbing the mountain on this side of the river and as we reached the top, it took a turn to reveal the massive Tehri Dam. My goodness, this was one huge huge dam, we had never imagined it to be this huge when we were standing at the lower gates. Spectacular is the only word for it, a prefect example that man can do almost anything. The bus climbed down the mountain, crossed the dam over the higher gates to the other side of the river and then again climbed to the town of New Tehri, all along the journey providing terrific views of the dam.

The view of the dam from the view point in New Tehri was splendid. New Tehri as I wrote before was a well planned town and yes a very beautiful one. It appeared as if the doll houses were spread over a vast area in a neat and clean manner. However this beauty meant nothing for the ones affected.

Finally, the time to wrap up the trip had come. We boarded the bus to Haridwar via Narendranagar and by evening reached Roorkee where we left Shirish and Baji and proceeded to Delhi. Three days of great fun and enjoyment had come to an end. Three days later I packaged my baggage and left the hostel. However being in Noida only, I kept visiting the hostel and kept meeting APS and Docs till I finally got my joining letter and left for Mumbai.

Epilogue

One and a half year has passed and apart from APS I haven’t met any of my folks. Shirish and Baji are now working in VA Tech as Asst. Managers, one being in charge of some site in TN and other in charge of the Mettur Dam site. Docs is busy doing Analysis at Quest in B’lore and APS is Design Engineer with Hero Motors. All well settled and doing well in life and though we haven’t met since that trip, whenever we talk over the phone, the memories of the trip do come back. A year and a half later, I still hold the memories of that beautiful trip very close to my heart and will continue doing so throughout my life .