Temple becomes refuge for them after midnight exodus

For the residents of Katli village in Ramshehar’s Nand gram panchayat, life has not returned to normal even three weeks after that terrifying midnight of August 8, when torrential rain sent boulders and debris crashing from the hillside. Families had to abandon their homes in panic and take shelter in a nearby temple, carrying little more than their fear.

Today, 40 villagers — men, women, children and the elderly — still occupy the temple hall, where makeshift bedding and rations are all they have. Another 20 are staying with relatives. Cramped living and constant anxiety have become their new reality. Each time thunder echoes through the valley, hearts pound and every fresh downpour feels like a cruel reminder of the night they fled.

For most families, their livelihood, selling vegetables from small fields, lies buried under rubble. Crops have been flattened, the soil scarred with rolling stones and attempts to step back into their fields are thwarted by the continuing slide of debris. The hills above, once the backdrop of their daily lives, now loom like an enemy.

Resident Balbinder appreciates the administration’s repeated efforts to clear roads with heavy machinery, but laments how every fresh shower undoes the hard work, burying roads and hope together. Relief supplies often fail to arrive on time as unrelenting rain blocks access, leaving the ailing and elderly most vulnerable.

Children too are restless, robbed of their carefree nights by the fear of falling rocks. Villagers now whisper the same question—how long can they hold on like this, without a permanent solution in sight? Katli waits, not just for clear skies, but for a way to reclaim life from the shadow of the hills.