On the morning of July 26, Sangay Pem’s 14-year-old son Kinley Rinzin was carving a khuru (dart). His father wanted him to cook lunch for the family but the boy refused.
But after a while, Kinley Rinzin agreed to put the rice in the electric cooker. “But I am not going to cook the curry,” he said.
His father said it was a fair deal.
And then, Kinley Rinzin took off to shoot the dart he had just carved.
***
A little further down Tashi Phuntsho, 14, was helping his father prepare for the puja to be held the next day.
Tshewang Tenzin saw his son pack some biscuits and raw noodles and asked him if he was going out. His son said no.
But not too long and his son was missing from home.
***
Exactly at 8 pm, a chill coursed down Sangay Pem’s spine. Her son had not returned home yet. She began to worry. Similarly, Tshewang Tenzin felt anxious too.
Sangay Pem then set out on foot to look for her son. She inquired to people around if they had seen Kinley Rinzin. But no one had seen him. She continued her futile search and made a few random phone calls.
Tshewang Tenzin set off in his car to look for his son. And no one had seen him, too.
***
A boy completely drenched in mud and water made it to Tsimalakha at around 8:45 at night. He looked spent and was in a state of shock.
It was Tshering Samten, the eldest among the eight boys.
***
Tshewang Tenzin drove toward Tsimalakha and saw a mud-splattered figure. He asked the boy where he was coming from. Tshering Samten said from the river, after swimming.
“And your son is still there, stranded with six other friends” said Tshering Samten.
Hearing this, Tshewang Tenzin bowled over and his heart raced to his throat. All strength slipped away from him.
***
Sangay Pem was still looking for her son when her cell phone rang. It was Tshewang Tenzin asking her to come to the last shop.
Soon, she, along with Tshewang Tenzin, Tshering Samten and some friends were running toward the river, in complete darkness.
**
The trail in the woods had now become slippery because of the rain. They lost their footing several times, fell down, rolled over, got up and continued running. They didn’t stop for a moment.
And they saw their sons and their friends, huddled together on a rock, in the middle of a raging river. Muddy water lashed at their half naked bodies and there was horror written in their faces. All of them were praying.
Sangay Pem passed out.
***
In panic they lost track of time. But Tshewang Tenzin called up the Chhukha dzongda. The dzongda quickly gathered a group for the rescue operation. Leading the group, the dzongda set off with ropes and flashlight.
***
It was one in the afternoon. The Chhukha Hydropower Corporation dam was rapidly filling up all throughout the morning. The rain in Thimphu, Haa, Paro, and dam area had swelled the river and the water inflow in the dam was recorded at 144.88 cubic meters a second. This record was made at 11 at night after the dzongda called the head of plant, Lam Dorjee.
At that time, the water level in the dam was 1,839.7 meters. The water storage capacity of the dam is 1,842 meters. The normal water level at the dam is always controlled at 1,838 to 1,839 meters. If the water level crosses 1,839 it can get dangerous and the dam can give way causing an insurmountable disaster downstream. Therefore, one of the radial gates is opened every so often to discharge the excess water from the dam.
On July 26, the shift in-charge started the hourly discharge of excess water from the dam at one in the afternoon. At 9 pm, the water from the dam was discharged at 47.5 cubic meters a second. At 10 pm it was discharged at 42.02 cubic meters a second. At 11 pm it discharged at 41.20 cubic meters a second.
However, immediately after the call from the dzongda, the water discharge from dam was brought down to nine cubic meters a second. It was 11:15 pm. This rate was maintained till one in the morning the next day.
But the water level in the dam kept rising. It was 1,840.9 meters at 1 am the next morning. So, the discharge was increased to 15.08 cubic meters a second at 2 am, and 15.42 cubic meters a second at 3 am. By this time the water level in the dam had reached a danger level at 1,841.2 meters. More than 1,842 meters and the dam could burst.
***
Meanwhile, a small stream called Tichalumchhu which joins the Wangchhu about a kilometer downstream of the dam had also swollen, pouring more water into the river.
***
The boys looked relieved when they saw their parents. They knew help was on its way.
But the rain held up and the river continued to rage.
**
The rescue team reached the spot. And to everyone’s relief, as if a divine intervention was on its way, the river subsided, ever so slightly.
Taking advantage of the ebb, seven adults (Sangay Pem, Tshewang Tenzin, the dzongda, the police officer, and three dzogkhag staff) jumped on to a huge rock to be closer to the rock where the boys stood. Hope had replaced horror in their eyes.
The team passed nylon ropes to the boys telling them to tie it around their waist. But the boys didn’t hear them. The river was too loud for human voice to surpass it.
Unable to communicate with the boys, one of the parents put a cell phone in a plastic bag and passed it on to the boys. Seeing his son bare, Tshewang Tenzin took off his shirt, put three packets of glucose biscuits in it and passed it to the boys.
“Apa is here to save you, don’t be frightened, we are all here to save you,” he told his son over the phone.
Just then the river started to swell more.
***
The boys tied the rope around their waist and the other end was with the rescue team.
But the water level started to rise again.
Sangay Pem held a torch and looked on helplessly at her son. Other parents shouted at the boys telling them not to be scared.
Time went by and the panic-ridden rescue team couldn’t make much progress. Dangerous currents stood between them and the boys.
***
And then at around 3:30 am, there was a strong gush of water. In a blink of the eye the boys had been washed away. Only the rock on which they stood waiting for help for more than six hours remained.
Sangay Pem and Tshewang Tenzin fell flat on the rock and cried.
***
On hearing that the stranded boys had been washed away, and fearing the dam would burst any time (water in the dam was close to the full capacity), the water was discharged at 52.01 cubic meters a second. It was four in the morning.
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