We have learnt nothing from 2013 Uttarakhand disaster
Nivedita Khandekar
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It is not for the first time that the area is witnessing such a natural disaster. It is also not the first time that the government has allowed dam projects in the fragile Himalayan ecology
It has been more than 48 hours, but the villagers of Raini are still reeling from effects of the loud crashing sound that was followed by an almost deafening roar of the river, as it bolstered down the narrow gorge on February 7. From the cluster of glaciers of the Nanda Devi massif, a hefty chunk got detached and was swept down the Rishiganga gorge towards the base of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, and it took less than ten seconds for the flash flood to completely submerge the dam structure of the Rishiganga hydropower project, blasting it into smithereens.