Himalaya ki Ganga : Bhilangna
A river killed by the construction of Dam at Tehri
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
SAMAJ WEEKLY UK- Uttarakhand rivers are some of the most beautiful one in the world. I love the confluences in the Himalayas. They are so beautiful that one need to just sit and feel it. The shiny rivers with their songs make a wonderful union.
Bhilangana river rises from Khatling Glaciers in the Gangotri Himalayas. The river passes through extremely difficult terrain. Before joining with Bhagirathi river at Tehri, it conflate with Balganga river near Ghansali town in Tehri district. The river remain shiny and energetic till Ghansali. At about three kilometers from Ghansali, Bhilangana meets Balganga and the backwater of Bhagirathi also join it. The combined river then move towards Tehri where it used to conflate with Bhagirathi. After the dam was constructed on the confluence of river Bhilangana and Bhagirathi, a new lake emerged. The lake look beautiful. People come and enjoy the water sport in the lake. It looks stunning.
It is said that behind every good structure are the stories of pains and agonies of local communities. Tehri dam and its lake look stunning but it is also a fact that the big dam is made on the edifice of an entire culture and generation of Tehri city. Today, we cant watch the beautiful confluence of the two himalayan rivers namely Bhilangna and Bhagirathi. Both rivers are highly energetic but the dam actually killed the site of the merging of two rivers.
It is important for all of us to understand that while our energy needs are well understood. It is important that no new civilisation will emerge if we decide to kill our own glorious civilisation that nature has created. Tehri dam is superb piece of innovation but it cant really match the wonders of nature. It will never be able to do so.
Hope you will enjoy this journey of Bhilangana.
