| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"SheBlewHimDidYouBlowHim" |
| Date: |
12 Apr 2005 05:58:28 AM |
| Object: |
god the killer strikes yet again |
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/04/12/india.pilgrims.reut/index.html
DHARAJI, India (Reuters) -- Hundreds of wailing pilgrims have lined the
banks of a holy river in central India and prayed for loved ones after more
than 150 people either drowned or were missing when the gates of a nearby
dam were opened.
Some hastily cremated their dead among the scores swept away when the
upstream dam released water for power generation on Saturday when an
estimated 300,000 Hindus had gathered on the banks of the now calm Narmada
river to pray.
Others cried in hope, that the four boats and several divers still scouring
the waters for survivors or more bodies from Saturday's tragedy will find
their missing mother, their missing father, sisters, brothers and children.
Officials said the bodies of 65 people had been traced so far but more than
90 remained missing.
For Ambaram Kakaria, it was too late. She sobbed as she performed the last
rites over her 19-year-old nephew Babulal, who was due to be married soon.
"I would have never allowed my nephew to come to this place had I known that
I would be losing him forever," she said. "I was planning to get him married
in a couple of weeks."
Dead baby in her arms
Unclaimed bodies were lying on the river bank, swelling in the sun, the
smell of death growing in the gathering heat of the north Indian summer.
"We found the body of a woman with a one-year-old dead child in her arms,"
police constable Ram Singh told Reuters.
Divers and lifeguards were looking for more bodies.
The pilgrims had gathered on the banks of Narmada a day ahead of the new
moon, a period which is considered auspicious by Hindus as they feel bathing
in the holy river at this time would wash away their sins.
State authorities said the tragedy occurred after the gates of the Indira
Sagar Dam, about 100 km (60 miles) upstream of Dharaji, were opened without
warning.
But officials at the Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation (NHDC),
which operates the dam, said they were not aware of the Hindu fair
downstream.
Indira Sagar is part of the controversial Narmada Valley project, one of
India's biggest dam projects. When finished, a series of dams will generate
electricity and provide water to millions of people.
A leading environmental group, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada
Movement) says the dam has made the river dangerous.
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