On February 7, the Rishiganga in Uttarakhand suddenly turned virulent. Laden with boulders, water and ice it crashed through its banks in Chamoli district causing an unexpected flash flood which reverberated all the way downstream.
Bridges and dams were destroyed and lives lost. The scene of death and destruction that unfolded evoked memories of the terrible Kedarnath flood of 2013. Clearly no lessons had been learnt from that tragedy. Dams, tunnels and road construction in this ecologically sensitive region had continued, leaving no scope to absorb a natural occurrence.
After the Kedarnath flood, Ravi Chopra, director of Peoples’ Science. . .
