Uttarakhand Tragedy: Cost of ‘Development’ & Climate Change
3 years, 10 months ago

Uttarakhand Tragedy: Cost of ‘Development’ & Climate Change

The Quint  

For years environmentalists have been crying themselves hoarse about the model of development being followed in these fragile mountainscapes, and yet the advice has fallen on deaf years. Their river had been imprisoned and they wanted her to flow unfettered else they predicted many disasters would unfold. At Chamoli, the epicentre of today’s crisis, I had met Chandi Prasad Bhatt, one of the founders of India’s first environmental movement, who echoed the warnings of the women of Mandakini Valley. “We were ready to give up our lives for these mountains and our forests and rivers and will do it again if we have to,” cried a now hoarse Chandi Prasad Bhatt who had sent several petitions to the government urging them to stop the massive tunnel and hydroprojects on the Ganga.

Ganga  change  climate  warnings  chandi  ganga  bhatt  hoarse  cost  tragedy  river  women  prasad  warned  uttarakhand  development  village

History of this topic

Mohan Guruswamy | Will ‘linking rivers’ work, or end up as a disaster?
1 year, 11 months ago

Mohan Guruswamy | Will ‘linking rivers’ work, or end up as a disaster?

Deccan Chronicle  

I keep hearing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to unveil the often spoken and then shelved ‘Rivers Link Up Scheme’ as his grand vision to enrich the farmers of India and unite the country. If the Aswan High Dam turned the ravaging Nile into a saviour, the constant diversion of the rivers feeding Lake Baikal have turned it …

Discussion puts spotlight on Majuli, Assam’s shrinking river island
2 years, 1 month ago

Discussion puts spotlight on Majuli, Assam’s shrinking river island

The Hindu  

A panel discussion at the India International Centre in Delhi put the spotlight on Assam’s Majuli, one of the largest river islands in the world which has experienced immense socio-environmental transformation over the years. The conversations centred around Slow Disaster: Political Ecology of Hazards and Everyday Life in the Brahmaputra Valley, an ethnographic account of the challenges faced by the …

Being sensitive to bias in environmental writing
2 years, 9 months ago

Being sensitive to bias in environmental writing

The Hindu  

Biases caused by words are an all-too-common fact. In the December-February issue of Saevus, a magazine dedicated to nature and wildlife, Rahmani has written an article titled “Accurate Appellations” which is all about using “correct terminology”. He begins by saying: “Recently I read a news in Indian Express titled ‘Chhattisgarh jail turns safe shelter to terrified villagers against marauding wild …

A hydro onslaught the Himalayas cannot take
3 years, 3 months ago

A hydro onslaught the Himalayas cannot take

The Hindu  

In normal circumstances, when a mistake is understood and suffered, one tends to learn from it and not repeat it. The background The affidavit filed recently by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in an ongoing matter in the Supreme Court of India has recommended the construction of seven partially constructed hydroelectric projects in the Uttarakhand Himalaya. Politicians …

A fine line: The Hindu Editorial on development and conservation
3 years, 3 months ago

A fine line: The Hindu Editorial on development and conservation

The Hindu  

The need for infrastructure development in the Himalayan region rubs up against the environmental and ecological challenges that they pose. The Uttarakhand government has for decades envisaged hydroelectric projects as the way forward to power the State, premised on the region’s undulating topography. There have been divisions even within various Central ministries: the Water Resources Ministry, which manages the NMCG, …

Ministries reach consensus on hydropower projects in Himalayas
3 years, 3 months ago

Ministries reach consensus on hydropower projects in Himalayas

The Hindu  

Six months after a devastating flood of rock, ice and debris gushed down the Rishiganga river in Uttarakhand and killed at least 200 and severely damaged two hydropower projects, three Central Ministries, which initially had dissenting views on the future of hydroelectric power projects have agreed to a consensus. According to an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court this month, …

Sanjeev Ahluwalia | Playing with God's world: Growth' has a high price
3 years, 10 months ago

Sanjeev Ahluwalia | Playing with God's world: Growth' has a high price

Deccan Chronicle  

Senior BJP leader Uma Bharati’s first reaction to the terrible news of the Chamoli glacier break/avalanche disaster on Sunday -- “I told you so” – fully aligns with the reservations of all those who put a higher value on conservation than on the development of natural resources for economic growth. On Sunday, a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke …

Himalayan glacier disaster highlights climate change risks
3 years, 10 months ago

Himalayan glacier disaster highlights climate change risks

Associated Press  

NEW DELHI — When Ravi Chopra saw the devastating deluge of water and debris crash downstream from a Himalayan glacier on Sunday, his first thought was that this was exactly the scenario that his team had warned the Indian government of in 2014. They had warned that warming due to climate change was melting the Himalayan glaciers and facilitated avalanches …

Troubled mountains: On Uttarakhand glacier disaster
3 years, 10 months ago

Troubled mountains: On Uttarakhand glacier disaster

The Hindu  

The staggering collapse of part of a glacier in Uttarakhand’s Nanda Devi mountain and the ensuing floods that have claimed many lives come as a deadly reminder that this fragile, geologically dynamic region can never be taken for granted. Once the crucible of environmentalism, epitomised by Sunderlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi and the Chipko movement, the State’s deep gorges and canyons …

Uttarakhand glacier disaster: What caused the deadly flash floods in India?
3 years, 10 months ago

Uttarakhand glacier disaster: What caused the deadly flash floods in India?

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Scientists are divided over what unleashed the deadly flash …

Was Against Power Projects on Ganga, Its Main Tributaries, Says Uma Bharti Amid U'khand Tragedy
3 years, 10 months ago

Was Against Power Projects on Ganga, Its Main Tributaries, Says Uma Bharti Amid U'khand Tragedy

News 18  

BJP leader Uma Bharti Sunday said the Uttarakhand flood tragedy triggered by a glacier burst is a matter of concern as well as a warning, and added that as a minister she had spoken against having any power project on the Ganga and its major tributaries. In a series of tweets in Hindi, she said the glacier breaking off had …

Uma Bharati recalls her warning on Uttarakhand hydel projects
3 years, 10 months ago

Uma Bharati recalls her warning on Uttarakhand hydel projects

The Hindu  

Former water affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Uma Bharati on Monday said the Uttarakhand disaster- the reported breaking away of a part of a glacier at Nanda Devi- resulting in the death of over a 100 people was both a tragedy and a warning, and something she had warned about when she was minister. Sunday saw tragedy unfold in …

Uttarakhand Flood: Green Experts Point at Increased Human Intervention in Himalayan Region
3 years, 10 months ago

Uttarakhand Flood: Green Experts Point at Increased Human Intervention in Himalayan Region

News 18  

Increasing human intervention in ecologically sensitive Himalayan region is making it more vulnerable to climate change, environment experts said on Sunday as a glacier broke off at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, triggering massive flood in the state. While exact cause of this incident is yet to be ascertained and needs an honest investigation, it is evident that increasing human …

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