Dehradun’s smart water ATMs provide clean drinking water at an affordable price
As part of the Smart City Dehradun project, 24 water ATMs have been installed at various locations in the capital of Uttarakhand. Shopkeepers, slum dwellers, migrant workers and travellers find these ATMs convenient. Fifty per cent of the ATM operators are women.
Megha Prakash
Mayhem in May as Uttarakhand has episodes of back-to-back intense rainfall
Between May 3 and May 7, heavy rains, flash floods and landslides were reported from several districts in Uttarakhand as houses and markets were washed away and agricultural fields inundated with muddy slush. Should IMD’s criteria for cloudburst be redefined in light of these incidents?
Megha Prakash
Uttarakhand villagers launch another Chipko Andolan to protect their sacred grove
For the past five days, villagers in Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand are protesting against the proposed felling of trees for a road project. They have launched the ‘Chipko of Bageshwar’ movement to save their trees.
Megha Prakash
Invitation to Disaster: Even before the Uttarakhand disaster, NTPC was violating muck disposal norms at Tapovan project
In March 2020, the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board found NTPC violating the environment ministry’s muck disposal rules. Despite repeated warnings, the violations continued, and the PCB slapped a fine of Rs 57,96,000 on the company. The NGT has upheld the fine. But it is too little too late, say environmentalists.
Megha Prakash
Fear in the mountains: Following the Uttarakhand disaster, women, children and the elderly in 13 cut-off villages are terrified to return home
Despite the near-freezing temperatures, the residents of the 13 villages in Chamoli, affected by the landslide and flash floods, have been camping in the forests. They say their homes had already developed cracks due to the tunneling. Meanwhile, the water level in Rishganga and Dhauliganga rivers is reportedly rising again.
Megha Prakash
Uttarakhand Disaster: Over 300 km from Joshimath in Chamoli, ripples of alarm in Himachal’s Lahaul and Spiti
Massive flash floods, possibly due to a glacier burst or a landslide, in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand have sent shock waves in Tandi and Gaushal panchayats in Lahaul-Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. Villagers are holding meetings and passing gram sabha resolutions to oppose the proposed hydropower projects in their region.
Megha Prakash
Full of Beans: Wholesome winter food in Uttarakhand
In the Garhwal and Kumaon regions of Uttarakhand, winter brings with it a deliciously unique cuisine. Herbs from the upper reaches of the Himalayan state, and a rich haul of locally grown beans, tubers, citrus fruits and sun dried vegetables, provide sustenance, nutrition and warmth in the cold months to the mountain people.
Megha Prakash
Flavours of Uttarakhand: Himalayan state to get its first spice garden in Sauni village, Almora
A garden that grows 25 different spices unique to Uttarakhand coming up in Sauni, a tiny village lying between mid and upper Himalayas.
Megha Prakash
Uttarakhand gets its first doppler radar to predict extreme weather events; two more radars in the offing
The hill state’s first Doppler weather radar is now operational at Mukteshwar. It will help predict freak events such as the 2013 cloudburst. Two more radars coming up at Tehri and Pauri Garhwal districts.
Megha Prakash
Poor internet, limited smartphone users, weather, affects online schooling in Uttarakhand
Even before the schools were shut due to the COVID19 pandemic, the status of education in government schools in the state was dismal. Online schooling has made the matters worse.