Gopeshwar: It is exactly two years since a devastating deluge in the state claimed thousands of lives and rendered hundreds homeless, but for a majority of those affected, a safe, new home still continues to be a distant dream.

While many said they are living in ramshackle, makeshift dwellings, others spoke of being condemned to carry on as refugees in neighbouring villages. As per official figures, as many as 1,800 of a total of 2,510 families are living precariously in houses which were declared unsafe and uninhabitable soon after the tragedy.