Mussoorie: When flash floods struck Uttarakhand in 2013, Deoli Brahmgram hogged headlines for all the wrong reasons. Almost all men in this quiet village, nestled in the Guptakashi hills, were washed away in the floodwaters leaving behind 60 widows and a title ‘widow village’. Their tragedy has been forgotten by many over time, or so feels Chandan Negi, 36, a Gurgaon-based professional who hails from the hill state.
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As a person who grew up in Uttarakhand, Negi felt deep anguish over how these women slowly faded from public memory. “When I read about the village, I wanted the world to know about the plight of these women. That’s when the idea of running for a cause came to my mind. I started running marathons seven years back. I wanted it to be different this time. Hence, I approached four of my friends who also liked the idea very much. They agreed to run with me,” says Negi, talking to TOI from Adi Badri where they have halted for the night.
Negi and his friends – Rajan Kachru, Ravindra Rawat, Vikas Kaul and Ashok Suyal - embarked on a 300-km journey from Ranikhet to Kedarnath on Sunday to create awareness about the women in the ‘widow village’. The group hopes to cover the distance in six days.
Kachru, who works with HP India and has been running for five years, says, “The disaster was widely discussed by officials and national media. However, most of them have forgotten about it over time. We wanted to create awareness about these widows who are living reminders of the tragedy. We thought the best way to do it was to run for them.”
The other members of the team also echo similar sentiments.
Their campaign is being supported by Sulabh International, an NGO which has adopted Deoli village.
Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the NGO, said, “While we have been doing our bit to support the widows and their dependants, it is heartwarming to see corporate professionals coming forward to offer support for those from a nondescript village.”