The fire spread over the ground, and within minutes, the Tirchakheet village, near Bhowali in Uttarakhand, started burning.
Highlights
- Tirchakheet is one of the villages worst hit in the fire
- The village, 10 km from Bhowali, was hit a week ago
- Every house is damaged, there's no water or fodder for cattle
The fire came down from the hill, raging, uncontrollable, spreading over the ground littered with dry leaves and pine cones. The animals started running helter-skelter, houses turned into burning torches, lighting up the night. At Tirchakheet, one of the villages worst hit by the ongoing forest fire in Uttarakhand, 45-year-old Shankar has barely got over the shock.
Like many in the village, he has lost his cattle, his crop and even his home.
Their little village, 10 km from Bhowali, was hit exactly a week ago. "All of a sudden there was a lot of smoke... we rushed out to see the entire village was on fire... It came from that hill," Shankar recalled. A scared calf, instead of running towards the village, ran in the opposite direction. The villagers failed to rescue it.
Shankar and his family, who were having dinner, barely managed to escape. An entire section of the wall collapsed.
His neighbour's kitchen caught fire. All the cattle fodder burnt. The cattle are now living on dry leaves. What used to be their grazing ground is now completely scorched.
Forest fires are not new to Uttarakhand, but this time the fire's fury has been terrifying, the villagers say. Nearly 3,000 acres of forest land has burnt over the last 3 months in the state. As 6000 men, including the army, Air Force and the National Disaster Relief Force battle to contain the fires, satellite pictures show a sudden spurt in the blazing zones over the last 24 hours.
Nearly 3,000 acres of forest land has burnt over the last 3 months in the state.
On the ground, villages like Tirchakheet are the worst hit. "There's nothing is left. We lost everything in the fire... there is no water," wept Kamla Devi, a resident of the scorched village.
For now, the people are living with neighbours. While none of the houses are unscathed, some are still in better shape. But none know when the fire will be put out for good. The authorities are yet to reach them.
The heavy pall of smoke over the area, which have even been caught by NASA satellites, has ensured that army helicopters, which were to sprinkle water from above over the fires, found the going tough.