Bhagirathi almost vanishes in Uttarkashi...

On our way back from Gangotri we stopped again in Uttarkashi... another holy town on the banks of river Bhagirathi. As the name suggests it is Kashi of the North (Uttar). The other Kashi is of course the Kashi of the East or of Plains which is Varanasi. Both these towns are situated on river Ganga (Bhaigirathi), and also on two other rivers which are called Varuna and Asi in both the towns, although they are not connected to each other. Both the towns have temples dedicated to Lord Shiva (Vishwanath). The Vishwanath temple in Uttarkashi has a huge trishool (trident) which is said to have been used by Lord Shiva to kill demon Vakasur. The priest there told us the meaning of "Kashi" as a place where ones sins get absolved.

All that aside, what really bothered me was a dam in Maneri on river Bhagirathi, one kilometer from Uttarkashi (going towards Gangotri). The dam literally brings Bhagirathi to a standstill, with water just trickling through one of the openings in the dam. The stretch following the dam and before water, post power production, is thrown back into the river through pipes, Bhagirathi is transformed into a tiny almost dry stream. For a moment I felt very disheartened seeing a breakage in the flow of Bhagirathi. Again the same debate crops up. Those who work and earn from the dam do not care a bit, but the religious people and the environmentalists feel these dams are meddling with faith and environment, respectively.