It took less than two minutes for the three-storey building — and Lance Naik (Retd) Ashok Guleria's dreams and life's savings — to come crashing down like the proverbial house of cards. Yet to come to terms with his loss, a video footage of which has been played and replayed thousands of times on social media, Guleria, now posted as head constable with the Himachal Pradesh Police, joined duty in Shimla within hours of his dream home turning into dust at his native Tatih village in Mandi district. “The house is gone, but the job is still there. I had to take the call of the duty," says Guleria in a choked voice. Guleria is posted in the state capital where 21 people died in three major landslides — at the Shiva temple in Summer Hill and in Fagli and Krishnanagar. Eight persons are still feared buried in the temple debris, and Guleria, like others in the police force, are at helping in search and rescue operations. Guleria saw his house collapsing in a video shares by a local. He knows that the video footage of the building collapse on August 14 has gone viral. “It is very disturbing to see people watching that video over and over again, but they don't know and understand the pain I am going through,” says the 54-year-old. Guleria, who joined the HP Police after retiring as Lance Naik from the Army, built the house two years ago. “The buikding itself cost me Rs 80 lakh. In all, I had spent around over Rs 1 crore, if you include the price of furniture and other household stuff," says Guleria, who couldn't even take out his car as the road outside his house had already caved in. Tatih village falls in Sarkaghat Assembly constituency and has a population of 325 people. The district administration officials visited the area on Wednesday and advised the locals to shift to safer areas. At least 10 families have already vacated their houses. Guleria lives in Shimla with his wife and had visited the village during the weekend. The house was part of his retirement plan. Father to two, Guleria has married off his daughter while son is an engineer and works in Chandigarh. "I had gone to my village for the weekend. I couldn't even take out the things from the house as the rod in front had already caved in exposing the foundation of the building,” says Guleria. He adds wistfully: “Monsoon has claimed so many lives in Shimla and at other places. So many people are missing and are yet to be traced amid fears that some may not have survived. At least we all (his family) are safe. Jan hai to jahan hai”. Guleria has refused to accept an interim aid of Rs 5,000 announced by the government. “I had got a call on Tuesday that immediate help of Rs 5,000 is being given by the district administration. The compensation amount is yet to be decided. What is the need of this Rs 5,000," he asks. His elder brother Ashwani Guleria, who has his house next to Guleria's, has shifted to a rented accommodation in Sarkaghat town. “The open verandah of my house too got damaged. I shifted out as earth is sliding from beneath our backyard. Yesterday, I took out my belongings one by one with the help of others,” Ashwani told The Indian Express over phone. “The approach road has been damaged while part of a pathway is visible. We moved out of the village with great difficulty,” says Ashwani, who runs a restaurant in the town. Balbir Guleria, a cousin of Ashok who too lives close by, has also moved to a rented accommodation with his family. “We took some clothes, important documents and some money. My wife saw the road caving in. She started running out of the house, fell down, and fractured her leg,” says Balbir whose hand got crushed in an accident a few years ago and is unable to do any heavy work. His wife, Santosh, is posted as a group inspector at ITI in Sarkaghat. After the landslide, only very few houses in the village are occupied. "Only those people who have cattle with them are risking their living and staying there. There is no way to take the animals out of the village," says Omparkash Guleria, another villager. But villagers like Balbir wish to see if the government would allot them land for making houses. The people of the region pin the blame on the ongoing construction of the National Highway in the area. “They have done alignment of entire drainage towards one side which goes through our houses," laments Guleria. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Thursday visited the rain and flood-affected areas of Matehdi, Baldwara, Maseran and Jukain of Sarkaghat and met people there. He assured them all possible support from the government.
