Q1.
In 2013, Uttarakhand experienced a sudden glacial burst caused by continuous heavy rain over several days. Many landslides followed. Areas around one of India's important sacred sites, the Kedarnath temple, were completely destroyed. Several villages were washed away in the floods, along with many roads and bridges. Altogether about 6,000 people, many of them pilgrims, lost their lives.
Answer
This box is the whole chapter in one event. Read it as a chain, because that is how the disaster actually unfolded:
| Step | What happened | Which part of the chapter it belongs to |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Continuous heavy rain for several days in June 2013 | Monsoon — and climate change making extreme rain more likely |
| 2 | A glacial lake's barrier of rock and ice gave way — a glacial burst | Floods in the Himalayan regions (page 60) |
| 3 | Water, mud and boulders tore down the valley; many landslides followed | Landslides (page 62) |
| 4 | Villages, roads and bridges washed away; the area around Kedarnath destroyed | Disasters damage infrastructure and disturb local economies |
| 5 | About 6,000 people died, many of them pilgrims | Why understanding the climate matters — Big Question 4 |
Why the death toll was so high: it was June — the height of the Char Dham pilgrimage season, so the narrow valleys held tens of thousands of visitors who did not know the terrain, and there was only one road out. That is what makes this a disaster rather than a natural event: the flood was natural, but the number of people standing in its path was not.
Did you know? The Kedarnath temple itself survived, protected by a huge boulder that lodged just behind it and split the flow of debris around the building. Local people call it the Bhīm Śhilā.