ABSTRACT
The massive climate-triggered disaster in Uttarakhand (and parts of Himachal Pradesh) in June 2013 is categorised as one of the biggest climate-related disasters in India’s recorded history. The four worst affected districts of Pithoragarh, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi were devastated in all respects. The economy of the entire state, which depended upon tourism for nearly a quarter of its GDP and a large part of employment, also collapsed for a few months, making any recovery response that much more difficult. Large amounts of agricultural and forest lands were washed away and nearly 15,000 kilometres of roads were damaged. Skewed government and media priorities focused most attention on the richer tourist population that got stranded, while nearly 4 million affected local residents received little attention. Additionally, the devastation and massive human lives lost in the Mandakini valley (Kedarnath area) drew government and NGO resources to that area, while other affected areas languished. This was the context when the authors made preliminary visits to the Uttarkashi district to understand the impact of the disaster and community concerns.
