Land's lesions due to the plethora of dams

गौरव नौड़ियाल ने लंबे समय तक कई नामी मीडिया हाउसेज के लिए काम किया है। खबरों की दुनिया में गोते लगाने के बाद फिलहाल गौरव फिल्में लिख रहे हैं। गौरव अखबार, रेडियो, टीवी और न्यूज वेबसाइट्स में काम करने का लंबा अनुभव रखते हैं।

In the morning, when we left Dehradun after a 40 kilometers drive we saw the rising sun. The sight was magnificent. Many of us saw the rising sun after a very long time. Yes, I did definitely see early mornings while going to the office during my morning shifts in Delhi, but those mornings could never arouse such a thrill in me.

The dense forest area scattered around Kalsi was now left behind and we were moving towards the hilly regions of Purola. After Kalsi, the width of the road was also getting narrower. Post taking a short halt in Kalsi, we thoroughly enjoyed the view of the rising sun for a while, in whose glittering rays the mountains ranging towards Himachal were spreading their golden aura all around. Peaks that radiantly begin to glow as the first rays of the sun fall upon them.

After traveling for about an hour, we reached Lakhwar. Lakhwar is the place where a dam is being built and it reminded me of all the big and small dams in Uttarakhand against which there were many mass movements. This is the most accurate sample of plunder of natural resources in Uttarakhand.

The manner in which governments have ravaged nature in the name of building dams is nothing more than the curse of science and technology, at least for us. Governments together with the corporate have stopped the flowability of our rivers and in return, we were given attractive and catchy slogans.

Slogans of development. This thought kept bothering me again and again while passing through Lakhwar that what would happen to those slogans of Environment Day, which were called by us in full strength and fervor during our childhood!

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I clearly remember those prayers which used to be hung somewhere on the streets, on which it was written, 'Nangi dharti Kare pukaar, vriksh lagakar Karo shringaar' (the bare earth is calling that adorn me by planting trees).

Here, the governments themselves are ready to rip off the clothes of the earth. Sadly, here also the mass movements were crushed like the rest of the country. And in the end, governments created destruction by building dams. Activists who were against it were honored with prestigious awards like Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan and along with this, a message was conveyed to the public that we too are an environmental lover... this is an ugly joke and I would like to leave this notion here only.

We were heading towards the beautiful land of Jaunsar and Rawain. The wounds of Lakhwar and dams were now left far behind in this journey. The Yamuna on the left was getting more closer now. Actually, Yamuna is a salvation giver here only, when it comes closer to Delhi, it becomes toxic. At a certain point, all of us were beginning to get exhausted on this mountainous journey, but time and again the changing landscapes were driving our sleep away. During all this time, in many places we got down from the car, merely to see a pleasant sight of the beautiful Yamuna.

Since it had been a long time since we had our breakfast. So, after departing from Lakhwar we had our breakfast at Nainbagh. Pure North Indian Breakfast… Aaloo Parathas, Pickles, and Curd. And of course, how come we forget to sip tea in the mountains.

We too enjoyed our hot cup of tea and left the place. In this journey, our biggest problem regarding food was with the girl. Cuckoo doesn't seem much excited about food and that was our real problem. In the course of travel, you are required to forget your comfort food and moreover several times you have to eat against the will. But to expect like this from a little girl was also too much to ask for.

After all, she was just an 11-year-old kid. And we all know how children throw various tantrums when it comes to food. However, still, we tried to share some important insights pertaining to such travelings with her so that she could get some help to be prepared for her future travels. Well, soon we left Damta behind and headed speedily towards Naugaon.