A flashflood hit Ladakh on 6 August 2010.
It was triggered by cloudbursts in Leh town and adjoining areas, around 425 km east of Srinagar.The once picturesque landscape has turned into a disaster zone, with tossed up vehicles lying scattered and mounds of silt and slush burying houses made of mud called 'gomfa' and shops.
The flooding also damaged telephone towers and highways leading to the region, Brar said in Srinagar, the main city in India's portion of Kashmir.
The calamity toll currently has climbed to 189 with 400 injured and over 500 people still to be accounted for after the Leh floods. There is widespread devastation and mounting losses.
Besides 2000 men of the army, Jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir police, General Reserve Engineer Force and residents are helping with the rescue work in Leh. Hundreds of locals waded through four feet deep mud to rush to higher reaches as mudslides and flash floods inundated low lying areas in the town. Currently, about 1000 people are displaced at temporary camps and 4 rehabilitation camps have been set up. There are community kitchens along the roads which are feeding the homeless.
However,bad weather conditions such as heavy rains have hampered the flood relief and rescue operations in Leh town.But, the relentless rescue efforts continues. The Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft had already airlifted medical equipment, medicines and para-medical personnel to Leh from New Delhi and Chandigarh.
Here are some more photos of the conditions in Ladakh now:
Don't seeing these pictures make you wanna reach out to them?
That's the very reason why VJC ODAC 27th Batch has taken up this youth expedition project! The funds raised are going to immediate response in the flood affected regions of Leh. We really hope to garner as much support as we can!
You can touch a life, You can change a life and You can save a life.
