Chamoli flash flood: A wake-up call
Print edition : March 12, 2021
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A general view of the damaged Dhauliganga hydroelectric power project in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on February 10. Photo: PTI
Path of debris after hill slope failure. Photo: NTPC-THDCIL Survey Report
Path of debris after hill slope failure. Photo: NTPC-THDCIL Survey Report
The lake after river damming at the confluence of the Rishi Ganga and its tributary. Photo: NTPC-THDCIL Survey Report
Geologists and glaciologists see the recent landslide and flash flood in Uttarakhand as part of inevitable natural processes given the fragility of the Himalayan region, but affirm that close monitoring and study of such processes are crucial to preventing the recurrence of disasters that result in significant human cost.
I am a child of the Ganga Himalaya , nourished materially and spiritually by Dev Bhoomi, our sacred land. The mountains , forests and Ma Ganga have shaped my imagination, my knowledge ,my science , my life , my activism.
I have been an ecological activist for 4 decades inspired by the Chipko movement which started in the early 1970’s in my region of the Garhwal Himalaya in Uttarakhand.
Uttarakhand is the source of the sacred Ganga and its tributaries.The Ganga is the lifeline of India. The sources of the Ganga, were made sacred sites in order to protect the Ganga Himalaya, and hence Indian civilisation .The material and the spiritual are not separate in India’s ecological civilisation . Our mountains ,forests and rivers are sacred. They are also the ecological foundation of our economy and society