Dark Clouds of Disaster Over Uttarakhand and the Silver Lining

It was the monsoon season of 2016 and, as expected, Uttarakhand was once again in the news for a spate of killer landslides and floods. For the people of Pithoragarh and Chamoli - some of whom are yet to recover from the pain of the earlier disasters - the events of Friday, 30 June 2016 were only familiar messengers of death, destruction and mourning. If the trend of the last couple of decades is any indicator, every monsoon season is certain to cause floods and landslides, load rivers, bury people alive, block roads and highways, and bring life in the state to a grinding halt.