Dehradun, Aug 7: When Amit Semwal received a phone call on Tuesday afternoon, he was around 20 kilometers from Dharali, his childhood friend’s village. The voice on the line was panicked—something terrible was happening. A flash flood had struck the village without warning.
Amit, 31, who lives in nearby Mukhba, a mountain hamlet barely 200 metres from Dharali as the crow flies, rushed toward the village. From his side of the hill, horrifying visuals began to circulate on social media, showing water and debris ripping through homes and shops. But the final stretch—just 20 metres—proved impassable. The road was submerged, and the terrain had turned treacherous.
“I stood there, shouting their names, trying to call them again and again. But no one picked up,” Amit told TOI, his voice breaking. “And now, none of their phones are reachable. I don’t know if they’re alive… I don’t know what to think anymore. It’s like they’ve vanished.”
Eight Friends, One Village, and No Word
Amit listed the names slowly, deliberately—like each name held a thread connecting him to hope:
Akash Panwar (30), Vinay (31), Shubham (26), Sourabh (30), Aneesh (23), Kanti (32), Dhani (31), and Tanishq (23).
“I heard Akash’s body was found in the debris,” he said quietly. “But for the others, there’s been no word.”
“These are not just names,” he added. “They are my people—my brothers, my childhood friends. We grew up together, celebrated festivals, laughed, fought, dreamed. And now I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again.”
Each of the missing, he said, had built a life in Dharali. Some cultivated apples, others ran small shops or homestays catering to tourists. “They were building something meaningful here—something hopeful, rooted in the mountains.”
A Community Builder Now Feels Helpless
Amit holds a diploma in civil engineering and runs an NGO that supports vulnerable communities in the region. He has spent years helping others—whether after landslides, infrastructure gaps, or medical emergencies. But now, for the first time, he says he feels powerless.
“Usually, I’m the one helping. But now… now all I can do is wait and hope. That maybe I’ll get to see my friends again.”
On Wednesday, Amit tried once more to reach Dharali. But torrential rain and rising water forced him to turn back again. The road was too dangerous, the threat of new landslides too high.
As rescue efforts continue, Amit’s story echoes the grief and uncertainty facing countless families in the region—lives altered by a disaster that struck without warning, taking with it not just homes, but the very heart of a community.
