Nearly a fortnight after tragedy struck in the form of a glacier breach at Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, the State Government has issued a notification to declare 136 people, who are still missing after the February 7 flash flood, “presumed dead”. Of the 204 people originally reported missing when the flood hit two hydropower projects near the Naina Devi National Park, search and rescue workers have recovered the rest of the bodies or fragmented body parts. This move by the Government, which has begun the process of issuing death certificates for those missing, would basically make it faster and easier for the bereaved families to receive compensation early. Treating the Chamoli incident as an “exception”, the Government decided to invoke provisions of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. Usually, people who go missing in a disaster or natural calamity are declared dead if they remain untraced for seven years. But this law allows the Government to declare missing persons as dead before the stipulated seven-year-period. The death certificates for those missing would be made under three categories: One, locals belonging to Chamoli district; two, those belonging to other districts of the State; and three, tourists or people from other States.

While the Government’s decision is laudatory in the sense that it would help alleviate some degree of pain being felt by those families who are in the throes of uncertainty and suspense after their kin went missing, the need of the hour is for the authorities to address the real cause for the tragedy rather than just treating symptoms. While there is reportedly no imminent danger in the artificial lake formed in the upper catchment of the Rishiganga river as the volume of water is less than expected and it’s flowing through a natural channel that has been widened, the focus should be on containing mindless human and construction activity in the fragile ecosystem of the hills. Scientists are still debating the exact cause that led to the flash floods but there is little doubt that such disasters are likely to become more frequent. This could be because of long-term effects of human activity that brew slowly but lead to tragic developments — such as the climate crisis — as well as more recent developments, such as the construction of dams to generate electricity in the mountain terrain. Slowly but surely, we are beginning to feel the effects of climate change. It’s in the interest of our own self and our future generations that we heed these warnings and take timely action. Otherwise, it might be too late.

Nearly a fortnight after tragedy struck in the form of a glacier breach at Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, the State Government has issued a notification to declare 136 people, who are still missing after the February 7 flash flood, “presumed dead”. Of the 204 people originally reported missing when the flood hit two hydropower projects near the Naina Devi National Park, search and rescue workers have recovered the rest of the bodies or fragmented body parts. This move by the Government, which has begun the process of issuing death certificates for those missing, would basically make it faster and easier for the bereaved families to receive compensation early. Treating the Chamoli incident as an “exception”, the Government decided to invoke provisions of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. Usually, people who go missing in a disaster or natural calamity are declared dead if they remain untraced for seven years. But this law allows the Government to declare missing persons as dead before the stipulated seven-year-period. The death certificates for those missing would be made under three categories: One, locals belonging to Chamoli district; two, those belonging to other districts of the State; and three, tourists or people from other States.

While the Government’s decision is laudatory in the sense that it would help alleviate some degree of pain being felt by those families who are in the throes of uncertainty and suspense after their kin went missing, the need of the hour is for the authorities to address the real cause for the tragedy rather than just treating symptoms. While there is reportedly no imminent danger in the artificial lake formed in the upper catchment of the Rishiganga river as the volume of water is less than expected and it’s flowing through a natural channel that has been widened, the focus should be on containing mindless human and construction activity in the fragile ecosystem of the hills. Scientists are still debating the exact cause that led to the flash floods but there is little doubt that such disasters are likely to become more frequent. This could be because of long-term effects of human activity that brew slowly but lead to tragic developments — such as the climate crisis — as well as more recent developments, such as the construction of dams to generate electricity in the mountain terrain. Slowly but surely, we are beginning to feel the effects of climate change. It’s in the interest of our own self and our future generations that we heed these warnings and take timely action. Otherwise, it might be too late.