An account of real pictures of the Valley of flowers after floods in Uttrakhand

I went personally to the valley of flowers after floods and the pictures in this post are all real and taken by me.

2013 is the worst year in the known history of Uttrakhand. In the month of June there were huge floods and countless people lost their life in Kedarnath. Valley of flowers and nearby area was also affected by the floods.

But fortunately the flowering area of the valley of flowers is totally intact. This post is totally an authenticated document as I went personally to the valley of flowers after the floods (I went in first week of October, 2013) and the pictures in this post are proof of the same.

Watch following video of the Valley of flowers after the floods. You can see that the flowering area is totally intact.

I went up to Govindghat earlier also after the floods so the pictures of Govindghat were already put in my earlier posts. As I started my trekking with Mr. Raghuveer Chauhan I saw this shop at Govindghat. Life has started to normalize for some locals.

Newly constructed Bridge at Govindghat side view

Newly constructed Bridge at Govindghat - Front view — Newly constructed Bridge at Govindghat – Front view

Govindghat bridge at Alaknanda.Old Iron bridge at Alaknanda can be seen in the river. This was washed off by the river during the floods.

Soon I crossed over this bridge over Alaknanda. And we started our trek to Ghangaria. The trek was intact in the starting and we could see few pilgrims going to Hemkund Sahib. The number was really very less. After trekking for about three kilometers I was keen to see Village Pulna as I have seen its pictures after the floods. I was very shocked the village. Mr. Raghuveer Chauhan is a local guy and I saw me his house also. His house was full of boulders up to first floor. Some of the locals have cleared their homes and started living in them.

Between Pulna and Bhyuandar the trek was broken at 4-5 places and a new diverted trek was built. But after seeing the site of Bhyuandar village I was totally shocked as now there was not a single house at all. All of the houses were washed off by floods in June. The old trek right from Village Bhyuandar and the point of crossing river Pushpawati was totally washed off (3 Kilometers). So the authorities made a bridge at Bhyuandar Village itself and the trek now is from the other side of the river and it meets the old trek after 3 kilometers. New trek is nicely made and safe but unfortunately people started putting plastic bottles before authorities could put dustbins. I was very sad seeing this.

Pulna village after the floods in Uttrakhand. At least one floor of most of the houses in under stones.

Govindghat to Ghangraria. Apples on the way.

Pilgrims using ponies between Govindghat to Ghangraria.

Govindghat to Ghangraria trek, Having lunch on the way

Govindghat to Ghangraria, shops on the way.

New trek between Govindghat and Ghangaria

Bhyuandar village after the floods in Uttrakhand

Valley of flowers after floods newly constructed bridge at Bhyuandar village on Pushpawati river

By evening I reached Ghangaria Village, I realized that the trek between Govindghat and Ghangaria is now increased by at least 2 kilometers. So you can safely assume the distance between Govindghat and Ghangaria is 16 kilometers instead of 14 kilometers earlier.

Trek near Ghangaria. Starting of trek towards Govindghat near Ghangaria

Next day morning I was keen to visit valley of flowers and see the amount of damage done to valley of flowers after the floods. I and Mr. Raghuveer Chauhan started early and there was no one else except us in the valley. I was shocked to see the power of water as a huge Iron bridge is missing on Pushpawati River and not only the bridge the river has widened its bed but now it was a small stream.

We crossed over the Pushpawati river using a temporary wooden bridge. The old trek of some 300 meters was also not accessible so there was a new raw trek after the bridge, which met the old trek soon. The temporary trek was made after that. The damage to the valley of flowers in floods is limited to the damage to trek to valley of flowers only. The trek was damaged for next 1.5 kilometers and a very raw trek was made after that.

Following are some of the pictures of valley of flowers after the floods in Uttrakhand, taken by us. These pictures clearly show that the flowering area is totally intact in the valley of flowers after the floods. Seeing this we were very happy.

Forest office at Ghangaria, Entry gate of valley of flowers

Valley of flowers after floods, Pushpawati river near the entry gate.

Valley of flowers after floods, New Bridge on Pushpawati river near the entry gate.

Valley of flowers after floods - New trek from forest — Valley of flowers after floods – New trek from forest

Valley of flowers after floods - Trek is damaged, this is newly constructed make shift trek. Next year the trek would be good one. — Valley of flowers after floods – Trek is damaged, this is newly constructed make shift trek. Next year the trek would be good one.

Valley of flowers after floods - Near the official starting point. — Valley of flowers after floods – Near the official starting point.

Valley of flowers after floods - Shallow stream, No damage to the flowering area is seen — Valley of flowers after floods – Shallow stream, No damage to the flowering area is seen

Valley of flowers after floods - Beautiful shade of October, No damage to flowering area — Valley of flowers after floods – Beautiful shade of October, No damage to flowering area

Valley of flowers after floods - overall view, No damage to the flowering area is seen — Valley of flowers after floods – overall view, No damage to the flowering area is seen

Valley of flowers after floods - No damage to the flowering area is seen. — Valley of flowers after floods – No damage to the flowering area is seen.

Valley of flowers after floods - Glacier point, Here used to be a huge glacier up month of July. — Valley of flowers after floods – Glacier point, Here used to be a huge glacier up month of July.

Bridge over Pushpawati river near Ghangaria

I went to Hemkund Sahib also next day. There was no damage to the trek to Hemkund Sahib. As the season for the flowers was already over, I could see very less flowers. But I saw Neelkanth Peak from Hemkund Sahib. I also saw a tailless rat at Hemkund Sahib.

After seeing the damage by floods I thought the reason for the damage. I think if the same amount of rain would have come in July or any later date the damage would have been less. The reason behind this is that in the month of June the higher peaks have lot of snow and huge glaciers. This snow melts gradually and gives water to the river Ganges. But on 16th June, 2013 the heavy rainfall caused sudden melting of the snow and Glaciers causing exponential growth in the amount of water in the rivers. For example you can see glacier in the below image. This glacier would have melted in few hours to cause the flood.