Wangtoo (Kinnaur), June 30
Even as everyone here seems busy talking about the flood which has left a trail of destruction, an army of workers is quietly restoring power supply, water supply lines and also restarting work on building bridges.

The grit and determination of these people can be gauged from the fact that death stares them in the face as one wrong step could mean a drop into the swirling Sutlej flowing below.

This restoration work is being carried out along the banks of a still-raging Sutlej in the Himalayan region of Kinnaur. The river cuts through sheer rock and runs through deep gorges where no one ventures. The river still has a depth of more than 20 ft and is flowing furiously carrying with it debris of rock and broken branches of trees. The normal depth of the water is between 8 and 10 feet during the peak monsoon.

Workers can be seen perched at impossible locations virtually overhanging the river as they carry out their work. An engineer involved with re-starting of work on a new bridge at Wangtoo said, “Work has to go on and we are back.”

His team was building a new iron girder bridge when the floods came. Work on the bridge was re-started on Wednesday. Workers have got security lines ties around their chest. The security lines had to be shortened least a falling worker dropped into the river. The gap between the river and the bridge has shortened, as the water level is more than normal.

Restoration of power supply is the biggest challenge, admits the Superintending Engineer of Electricity Operations, Mr V.R. Gupta, in areas of Rekong Peo and beyond.

The Tribune met a team of the power supply wing perched precariously at a height on the edge of the fast-flowing Sutlej near Wangtoo. Probably the bravest would think twice before occupying those dare-devil spots.