Uttarakhand flood survivor recalls the agony: Laxmi Prasad Pandey

Priest of Dhari Devi temple speaks about flash flood of 2013 in Uttarakhand. He says " On the 16th June morning when I went for the Devi snaan (bathing ritual for idol). For the ritual bath I have to go down and fetch water from the river. That time around 8 AM the water had almost reached 10 stairs below from where people take their slippers and shoes off. After offering prayers around 8 AM, water had reached the area where people take their slippers off. I was with my nephew who had his turn of duty in the temple. I told him to go home as the water level was increasing and I did not go as I have to protect idols. He said no, " I will stay with you". Water had reached everywhere around 12 -1 in the afternoon. By then my friends came to provide me with food through a crane. The administration requested and warned us to leave as the water levels were rising, but I stayed there and told them that I will save both the idols and myself. Even if I feel scared I will protect myself and the idols because I have spent half my life doing prayers. This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at rupindang [at] gmail [dot] comand [email protected].