‘Himalayan Tsunami’
A natural disaster but a man-made catastrophe
How everybody looked the other way
- Meteorological Department says it had alerted the Uttarakhand government on June 14
- CAG report had warned of immense damage to hills by hydel projects along Bhagirathi, Alaknanda.
- Scientists have repeatedly warned of “Himalayan tsunamis” caused by glacial lakes breaking banks
Why the ‘ragad-bagad’ happened this year
- 500% higher rainfall than average in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh this year
- 385 mm rainfall received by Uttarakhand; on average it receives around 71 mm around this time of year
Why the scale of devastation is so huge
- Incessant blasting of hills to construct dams has loosened soil. So has deforestation. This causes landslides.
- Rush of pilgrims. Several...
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