Back from Tehri...

On November 12th we headed back from Rani Chauri where we had stayed over night. We decided to go down to Rishikesh instead of going further up to Uttar Kashi which would be covered on my next trip to India in April. We took the direct route to Rishikesh from Chamba avoiding Devprayag which would be done when I come back after the 24^th to cover the area of Haridwar and Rishikesh again.

At Chamba we talked to a few locals about the Tehri dam project. Chamba is a town situated not far from the dam but far enough not to have drowned under the reservoir. The people were not happy – they did not receive any compensation because their town was not drowned, and they lost business due to migration of people from the nearby villages. However, according to them people whose villages were lost and did get compensation are very happy. They got land and money and most of them sold their land at a good price. Most people we tried to talk to were reluctant to come on camera, yet again. They would talk at length as long as it was not being recorded (or in other words if they did not see my microphone)

Our drive from Chamba towards Rishikesh was one of the most beautiful I have ever had. Although there was no river Bhagirathi that we were following but we did follow another river – Havel – that finally merges with the Ganga in the town of Shivpuri not far from Rishikesh. I met with some people who lived along the stream of the Havel and I felt jealous of their beautiful, stress free lives surrounded by nature. Maybe they have stress of a different kind...