Man has ill-treated nature for thousands of years now. From rampant deforestation to water pollution to the air quality index falling below average over the past years, man has been nothing but unkind. However, nature has been giving signs of destruction. In 2013, it was the Kedarnath floods in 2013 and in 2021, it is the Uttarakhand glacier melt now. The COVID-19 pandemic, too, was a reminder for us to change our lifestyle.

A resident of Chamoli, Uttarakhand, Vikram Chauhan learnt it the hard way soon after he saw death face to face in the flash floods on Sunday.

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The 49-year-old excavator operator said, “My job has always been to cut the mountains, or plough the earth. I never conserved nature. 

But today, I am grateful that nature came to my rescue in 

the form of a tree,” in a statement to the TOI.

He said that he respected trees just for the sake of oxygen and never gave much thought to them. However, after this near-death experience, he was extremely grateful. 

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He said that he was at work when icy-cold water came gushing down and all the people on site were swept away. A tree saved his life after he hit it and clung to it. He was spotted by a group of villagers who rescued him and put him in warm water to revive him.

Chauhan is hopeful that his two friends were who were at work with him and have known him for several years might have been saved just like he was.