"Water comes
slowly down,
Flows into a wavy pond,
With green algae growing on top of the rocks,
Where there stands a slick,
green plant.The sun reflects on the surface."
(The
Waterfall)
Waterfalls
have inspired many romantic poems, and rightly so. The
sonorous waterfall at Panchghagh, 52 km from the city
on the Ranchi-Chaibasa Road has all the magic to inspire
poetry. Odes could be composed if a person gifted with
sensitivity, to feel both the waterfall and the magic
of peotry's, got a chance to visit it.
We
embarked on a journey to Panchghagh while it was pouring.
Thick slate slabs poured silver rain on the hills and
tall trees that capped the road. Soon a virtual dusk had
enveloped the stretch forcing the driver to switch on
the car lights. The mist disappeared eventually, allowing
the sun to spread its gracious glow on the rocks and the
water, hitting them rhythmically as we reached Panchghagh.
The very sight of the water, singing, dancing and flowing
through the pebbles and the entire area surrounded by
the picturesque Chhotanagpur Hills captivated us.
The
heavy rains on July 21 had caused extensive damage to
the staircases, ladders and pavilion, built near the fall.
Swirling water had flowed over bridges that linked the
three pavilions and had washed away the flanks, making
it dangerous for tourists to move from one pavilion to
another. But after a week or so, the water level of Banai
river, which is the source of the Panchghagh Fall, receded,
clearing away its pavilion, staircases and ladders. Normalcy
returned to the fall. But, it is still risky to walk on
the bridges that link the pavilions that offer a grand
view of the fall, for the administration is yet to repair
the broken flanks.
"Panchghagh",
a Hindi word, literally means five streams. The Panchghagh
Fall is unique in comparison to Dasham, Jonha, Hirni and
Hundru falls around Ranchi. Unique in the sense that in
its bid to find its way through the hard and jagged terrain,
the river branched itself out in five different streams,
generating ubiquitous singing rivulets through the cluster
of rocks.
Unlike
Jonha and Hundru Falls, Panchghagh's water does not fall
from great heights. Still, one can almost hear the roar
of the water when one arrives near it, because all the
five branched-out and swirling streams hit the rocks in
a very turbulent manner. It's a treat to watch and hear.
With a veiw that is so breathtaking, there's a catch.
There is no facility to stay and rest, even for a while,
near the fall. If you are not carrying a lunch packet
and a water bottle then you are in for major trouble for
there is no restaurant or drinking water facility near
the fall. Also there are no roadside dhabas or teashops
falling in the 15-km radius of the fall.
"I
try my best to assist visitors who come here for a picnic,"
said Sabran Mahto, the lone guard, appointed by the tourism
department to take care of the tourists. But Mahto is
indeed helpless. He can't do anything other than speak
some good words to the visitors. He is delighted to see
visitors for they offer him some tips. But then, like
in many other picturesque parts of Jharkhand, Panchghagh,
too, does not witness any steady flow of tourists for
obvious reasons.
The fall is surrounded by five remote jungle-villages
- Kolamda, Kodakel, Kurki and Ghaghari in the west. These
villages are in "full control" of the Maoists,
who write "slogans of liberation" on its rocks,
hills and trees leading to Panchghagh.
"For
reasons best known to them, the villagers don't relish
the sight of visitors or vehicles," informed Mahto.
Needless to say, the poor and unarmed guard was wary of
deliberating too much on the issue.
"Comrades"
may have etched slogans to induce a "sense of liberation"
among the toiling people. For the visitors, however, the
slogans simply indicate the frightening presence of Maoist
guerrillas in the regions and have a terrifying impact.
I am afraid to add that the beauty of places like Panchghagh
will stay hidden to outsiders if its people, and those
in its hinterlands, don't relinquish the culture of guns.
