Who was responsible for the Kedarnath disaster?

By

Dhiraj Kumar Beniwal

It has been three years since the deadliest natural calamity at Kedarnath Dham.Thousands of people died at Kedarnath on June 16,2013.

Kedar Dham is once again ready for intrusion. The number of tourists has increased considerably in recent years. Thousands of pilgrims, and tourists too, visited Kedarnath Dham every year. Due to this intrusion into the Himalayas there is an increase in the temperature and pollution of the region.

Studies show that the changes in the atmosphere of the Himalayas are affecting it. People who visit the holy places and other sites in the Himalayas are responsible for the drastic changes in its geography.

Due to the increase in the number of visitors the need for places to stay has also arisen, this further compelling the authorities to allow the cutting down the jungles and construction in the respective areas. It has though provided golden business opportunities, but at the cost of the environment. Due to the cutting down of jungles and rise in the temperature of the region a big and dangerous change in the environment took place.

These changes further affected the glaciers and monsoon pattern which resulted in floods in the river of the region that originated from the Himalayas. Floods in the Mandakini River caused the landslide and death of thousands of people in Kedar Ghati and other adjacent areas on June 16, 2013.

Was Mandiki or nature alone responsible for this?

Dhiraj Kumar Beniwal

Dhiraj is a Senior Reporter at the Amar Ujala Hindi Daily Newspaper in India, having covered several big legal cases as the Delhi Cantt Sikh riots 1984, Hashimpura Meerut Genocide case Trail, Vasant Vihar Gang Rape case Trial, Uber Rape case trail, Danish woman Rape case trial, MLA Krishna Nand Rai murder case involving muscle man MLA Mukhtar Ansari among many others.