- Thu, 9 Sep, 2010, 11:08 am -

Jonha/Ranchi: The sun’s unprecedented fury for the past three weeks has not only made life unbearable for the people of Jharkhand but has also taken toll of the Mother Nature’s gift in form of the great Jonha and Sita water falls.

Jonha, situated about 55 kms from Ranchi, is set in the beautiful picturesque backdrop of jungles and mountains. The beautiful Gautam Dhara River flowing under it has been a treat for all the sore eyes. The cold soothing water of the sacred river offers a refreshing relief from the stress and strain of journey. Named after Lord Buddha, who is believed to have meditated here for a long period, the sacred Gautam Dhara River and Jonha have always been the first choice of tourists.

The intense heat wave sweeping the State for the past three weeks has its effect on this tourist haven too. Both the river and the falls has dried up. Rajendra Mahto, the Jharkhand Tourism’s official guide, woefully points to the dried up falls and cries that it is for the first time ever in the past decade of his service here, that he is witnessing such a tragic scene. Yes, the falls definitely start drying up a little in mid May but that too for hardly 15-20 days but this time the wrath of the sun has dried the river and falls from end March itself, he adds.

According to Mahto after the children’s exams are over, tourist inflow begins with a steady trickle of 100 odd tourists everyday with the numbers increasing on Sundays and holidays. He finds it extremely difficult to convince the people that it was just a temporary phase and with a couple of good showers the normalcy would be restored. A few who have managed to reach the spot have gone back thoroughly disappointed.

The area is very famous for the delicious ‘Jamuns’ growing on trees here. Villagers make a lot of money selling to train commuters at the Gautam Dhara station. Mahto says that the reason for sun God’s wrath this year is that the ‘contractor’ (?) has cut off all the Jamun and Kend fruit trees. How the forest officials have permitted such a drastic act is a point for probe!

The adjoining Sita Falls is also facing the same kind of wrath. The saddest part is the hundreds of villagers of both Jonha and Sita are mainly dependent on the tourist inflow. Apart from bearing the unbearable heat, they are now saddled with the prospect of starvation. The bright cheerful atmosphere of the historic spots now wears a gloomy look of melancholy. The once summer capital of the British, due to its hill-station like weather is now no better than the warm deserts of Rajasthan.

The same is the case of all the falls around Ranchi. Dasam, Hundru, Pachgagh and Hirni all are either completely dried up or on the verge. Ranchi is currently registering around 41 degrees C for the past few days. A record by itself! Experts say that the main reason for the climatic change in the area is due to concrete jungles taking over the natural forests. The fury with which deforestation is being carried out (albeit illegally) has to be controlled with an iron hand and immediate schemes for a-forestation launched. Else the coming generations would never forgive us!

- P. Vijay Raghavan