Clear blue skies, stark beauty, ancient monasteries, rushing waters of the icy Indus, majestic snow clad peaks.
This is Ladakh - The Roof of the World and in the words of its guests, simply heaven.
On 5th Aug, 2010, disaster struck. This high-altitude desert, sheltered from rain by the Himalayas, was devastated by Flash Floods. Thousands of homes were destroyed, hundreds lost their lives with more missing and many more badly injured. Ladakh is coping as they brace themselves for a severe winter which is just around the corner.
We, the Himalayan Club, a fraternity of the lovers of the Great Himalayas, are committed to rebuild Ladakh. Driven by this goal we have undertaken two projects to prove that Ladakh is hit but not beaten.
Inside the Hemis National Park, the scenic villages of Skui and Kaya form a part of the famed Markha Valley trek. This trail is one of the most frequently visited by trekkers and mountaineers. Situatd at an elevation of roughly 3500 meters, Kaya and Skui villages are adjacent to each other.
On the 5th night these two villages got badly hit by the cloudbursts. Many trekkers lost their lives in the resultant flashfloods. Fortunately there was no report of loss of life in case of local villagers. However the loss of property was immense.
Life in the villages was severely affected. Many houses collapsed and much of productive land is buried under mud slides. The irrigation and drinking water channels were completely destroyed. In Kaya, most houses are damaged and few of them will need complete reconstruction. Some of them require major repairs. Similarly in Skui, many houses are completely damaged and need complete reconstruction. The families in these villages are in urgent need of temporary alternate source to stay to survive the winter months.
The cloudburst brought along a huge mudslide, which is so severe that 80% of the cultivation land was completely ruined. These lands wont produce any crops in for the foreseeable future. In the premises of the villages there were camping grounds of trekkers. These camping grounds were major source of income for the villagers. However they are too completely ruined.
As these villages are not connected by road they have not received any substantial support from the authorities. Therefore, considering our strength and expertise to operate in the remote mountainous region, Himalayan Club will do all it takes to reconstruct the damaged households of these two mountain dwellings. However construction can begin only in April 2011, because winter is just weeks away. And the whole valley will soon be under a severe spell of cold weather. Doing anything constructive then is next to impossible. Hence the Himalayan Club has made arrangements to take care of the entire population of the village by providing them food, warmth and shelter to endure the extreme temperatures.
Skui & Kaya: The destruction caused by flash floods on the 5th August 2010
Total no. of houses:
· Kaya: 16 Houses
· Skui: 11 Houses
Destroyed Homes:
Kaya: 3 houses (2 houses major damage)
1. Nawang Samstang s/o Tundup Tashi
5 members in family
Mud slide into the rooms of the house. House not in habitable state
2. Tsering Namgyal
Roof caved in. River cut big chunks of mountain underneath the floor. Cracks in the floor. May collapse anytime.
3. Sonam Dorjay
1 room destroyed. Mud slide just next to the house.
Skui: 2 houses
1. Sonam Stanzin
4 members in family
Mud slide into all the rooms of the house. Mud hardened now. Little chance of clearing the mess.
House inhospitable.
2. Rigzin Tamchoos
8 members in family
Water has ripped the house apart. Theres a big hole where water has taken away everything. Mud has entered the other rooms of the house.
Farmfields Destroyed:
Kaya:
1. Sonam Dorjay 4 fields
2. Jigmet Namgyal 3 fields
3. Dorjay Gyaltson (Kaya Goba) 5 fields
4. Tsering Spaldan 12 fields
5. Padma Tsering 2 fields
6. Tsering Gyalpo 4 fields
7. Tsewang Dorjay - 2 fields
8. Tundup Tashi 2 fields
9. Ishe Namgyal 1 very big field
10. Tashi Tsering 2 fields
Skui:
1. Sonam Stanzin 1 field
2. Tashi Tundup 2 fields, Camping site destroyed
3. Tashi Namgyal 2 fields
4. Nawang Tsarap 4 fields
5. Dolma Putit 4 fields
6. Tashi Gyaltson 1 field
7. Sonam Gyaltson 7 fields, Camp ground ruined
8. Rigzin Tamchoos 9 fields (Biggest loser, House also gone, just 1 field remains)
9. Tashi Gyalpo Camping site ruined, Shop near camping site destroyed
10. Tsewang Dolma 2 fields
Other major losses:
· The Markha River has taken a new path which cuts into the previous farm fields near the river.
· The new path has also cut of the water channel created by the villagers for their farmfields. Itll need a lot of labourers and many man hours to recreate the water channel which is the only source of water for the farm fields.
