NDTV Ground Report: No Land, Papers, Dharali Villagers Stare At Bleak Reality

NDTV

08-08-2025

Still reeling from the trauma of losing her home in Tuesday's flash floods, Sushila silently cooks for 150 others at a relief camp at Someshwar temple in Uttarakhand's Dharali village. "We have no house, no land, no clothes. We are speechless," she said, while urging the government to provide them with housing.
At the temple's relief camp, all those staying have lost all they had when a cloudburst led to a flash flood, sweeping through Dharali, burying homes, vehicles and even a legendary temple under metres of debris. Four died, while many are missing. Multiple authorities as well as the Indian Army are working together to conduct search and rescue operations.
Balvinder Singh Pawar's escape from the cascading sheet of debris was caught in viral videos, where he was in a visibly injured condition but fighting the flood's strong current to crawl out of rubble. "I saw death and I didn't think I would come alive. The only two scenarios in front of me were getting trapped under one of the collapsing houses or getting swept by the debris rolling towards me at great speed," he told NDTV.
Mr Pawar does not know what happened to the two people he saw stuck in the current as he struggled towards safety. he escaped with bruises and injuries, a prominent one on his eye. He remembered the Kalp Kedar temple, a Shiva temple where he prayed every day, which was now part of the debris. "I don't think the village will be the same again. We are out of the energy and courage. We have nothing left. People who have lost their young children haven't even been able to deal with the trauma yet," he said.
On a personal mission is Sushil, a boy who came from Nepal, to look for his father and six other family members who were in Dharali at the time of the disaster. "He called me and said 'save me, son. I am drowning in debris'. The phone disconnected after that and I was unable to connect with him," he recalled.
Under the thousands of tons of debris are also the many hotels in the village. NDTV's visit to the flash flood-affected area found that only marsh, mud and boulders remained where buildings once stood.
As the search and rescue operations continue with full momentum, forces have deployed sniffer dogs and drones to aid their efforts. Over 500 people have been rescued so far. According to residents of nearby villages, like Mukhba, who witnessed the disaster, the number of missing is likely to be higher as locals and labourers from Bihar and Nepal were working at under-construction hotels and there were guests in about two dozen big hotels in Dharali when the disaster struck.
Dharali is the main stopover on the way to Gangotri, from where the Ganga originates, abounding in hotels, homestays, restaurants and guest houses.