Worlds highest golf course is relief camp

The scale of the devastation caused in the flash floods is visible as people have been camping out with barely any basic amenities. Most have set up tents that they borrowed from friends and relatives. Others have been moved into a large Army auditorium at the training area.

With the massive scale of loss,it will take several months for the affected people to get back on their feet and the worry is that winters are just some time away. Most like Kunsum Fatum have lost everything in the floods that have engulfed thousands of houses.

She and her three school-going daughters managed to move out of their house in Leh minutes before it got submerged. We have lost everything,school books,uniforms,furniture and clothes have been washed away. The entire house is under water and we dont know how much time it will take to get back, Fatum,who works in Ladakh council office,says.

For her youngest daughter,Afrana 6,the small tent seems like a picnic spot as she plays around with her sisters. She does not recall much about the night when it rained hard and we kept praying but wants to get back to her school at the earliest.

Her elder sister Farwa,who studies at St Peters School and,as her mother proudly describes,is the topper of her class,is more aware of the scale of the tragedy. We have little facilities here and hope to get back to the house as soon as possible. I have to study maths, she says.

For others,football is the only balm as teams have been formed that organise games in the evening to keep busy. Rigzin Dawa,14,was bouncing around a football in the afternoon but was waiting for teammates to come in for a more serious game.

The landmark of Leh town,the towering Shanti Stupa that overlooks the entire region,has also turned into a massive refugee camp with hundreds huddled in camps and makeshift shelters.

Amongst them are foreign tourists who shifted out of their hotels in town after rumour that more flash floods are expected. We have been here since Friday after the hotel owners told us that it is not safe to stay. We are hoping that things get better in the next few days and we can go to our planned treks to the Zanskar valley, says Brivet Robert Monique,a French tourist who has been staying with his wife in a tent under the Shanti Stupa.

Several locals too,who are too scared to return home,are camping up at the site. Many have lost their lifes savings and have little left except a few utensils and clothes that they managed to recover.

My restaurant near the Leh bus stand got washed away,nothing is left now. We will have to start life from scratch, Kezang Dorje,who has been camping inside a makeshift shelter for two says,said.

Sadly,most relief camps in Leh have not seen any visits by the civil administration even as the Army and NGOs are providing pre-cooked food. Most of the men in the camp have been out all day to help in the rescue and relief efforts. We have seen a unique phenomenon. In the day time,the people go down to their villages to work but all of them come back to the camp at night. Most are too scared to spend the night at lower reaches, Brig N M Bhaduri,BGS ,14 Corps,said.