00:00This isn't weather, but a wake-up call.
00:21Global warming melting Himalayas.
00:25Urbanization choking Uttarakhand.
00:36Is India ignoring a Himalayan SOS?
00:42This Himalayan region is an extremely fragile ecosystem.
00:47And to blame this incident, the tragedy that has happened just on monsoons would be too simplistic.
00:54So what exactly is the reason behind this?
00:56Well, there are multiple factors.
00:57It could be urbanization.
00:59It is also the apathy that we as humans show towards our nature.
01:04It is also the melting glaciers.
01:06There are multiple factors that work together in amalgamation that can lead to such disasters.
01:12Here is a report explaining it.
01:31The Himalayan deluge is back.
01:38Mountain of gushing water sweeping away everything in its path.
01:44With fast and ferocious space and this time also unforgiving.
01:51India's Himalayan region under siege of nature's fury.
01:57Flash floods are turning roads into raging rivers.
02:02Homes into rubble.
02:06What you are witnessing today in Dharali, this devastation, its crypt was written long ago.
02:15Rest of India is not untouched.
02:18The med department issues heavy to very heavy rainfall warnings across vast swaths of the country.
02:25The storms are more violent.
02:28The rains more brutal.
02:30Entire hill towns on the edge.
02:35Why?
02:36Because the planet is heating up.
02:38And this is more than just monsoon mischief.
02:43Scientists now confirm the rise of glacial origin floods in the Himalayas.
02:48Experts say the regularity of such floods earlier once every 10 years is now as many as three in just two months.
02:59The Himalayas are melting causing devastating floods downhill.
03:03Glacial lake outburst floods are projected to triple by the end of the century.
03:09Flash floods already the cause of 85% of flood related deaths are striking faster, deadlier.
03:17And India's rapidly urbanizing landscape is making things worse.
03:22Concrete replaces forest, water finds no exit.
03:26And cities and towns are caught unawares.
03:32One recent example is Uttarakhand, where the Tehri Dam was built on the Bhagirathi River.
03:38It stands at a majestic height of 260.5 metres with a vast 4 cubic kilometre reservoir.
03:44Earlier, the river's catchment area was limited.
03:47But post the dam, it expanded sharply, intensifying cloud formation.
03:52And now, during monsoon, the saturated clouds can't hold the excess moisture and they burst.
03:59This isn't weather.
04:02It's a wake-up call.
04:04More heat means more water in the air.
04:07And when it falls, it pours.
04:10The world is on edge.
04:12The next flood?
04:13Well, it could be tonight.
04:15And the clock is ticking.
04:18Will we act or drown in silence?
04:22The melting and receding glaciers can be extremely dangerous.
04:33They can create situations which can be a threat to human life and property.
04:37Now we cut across to Sneha Mordani in the studio and she will be explaining this to us in greater detail.
04:44Sneha, over to you.
04:46That's right.
04:47Anjali, be with us.
04:48In fact, it's Stella viewers a little about glacial flood threats in Himalayas.
04:51Not the first time.
04:52And unfortunately, we know it will not be the last time that we've seen a devastation of this kind.
04:58The Met had issued landslides and flash flood warning.
05:02This is the Met department warning on the 21st day of July.
05:06Mega flash floods and hit Nepal's Rasuwa on the 7th of July.
05:11Remember, it's the same region.
05:13Essentially, it's the Himalayan region, which is the common belt between both the countries.
05:18Flood due to Glacial Lake outbursts took place in Tibet as well.
05:22The same belt again.
05:24Flood destroyed a hydral plant, rich, and also the flood caused by Lake Underglacia, which grew in size.
05:32Rains in Himalayas aggravating the situation, aggravating what has triggered this devastation here with landslides and flash floods.
05:41The kind that we have seen in this region, in Uttarakashi, that has led to just so much devastation here.
05:49Back to you, Anshali.
05:50And as the disaster struck, India Today's teams rushed to the spot just hours after the incident.
06:05They trekked.
06:06They tried to cross these broken roads.
06:09They encountered landslides, but they reached the spot and tried to bring you the latest updates.
06:15Watch their journey.
06:17We are en route to Uttarakashi.
06:23And what you see behind me is just a sample of what's happening on the National Highway 34.
06:30This is the National Highway 34.
06:32This is what connects Uttarakashi to the rest of the state.
06:38Especially coming through Rishikesh and Dehradu.
06:41Now, this entire stretch has been dotted with landslides like these.
06:47And it's been a challenge for the authorities to constantly clear these up, remove the piles of rock, sometimes mud, gravel, remove them and make space.
06:58As you can see, it's a fairly wide highway that gives a lot of space.
07:04And that is the reason why it is considered that this area, which was considered a fragile ecosystem, had to face the impact of constant highway widening.
07:18There you see behind me.
07:19Right now, the traffic movement is happening.
07:22There is no issue about it.
07:24And as we can just see, if I can point out to you, there is a helicopter that we can see right now in the skies.
07:32This is an indication to the fact that probably some sort of air supplies will now start moving towards the affected area.
07:41The affected area, Dharali, currently completely inaccessible via road.
07:48But the NDRF and SDRF teams are going there by foot to attempt rescue operations.
07:54Now, we should remember there are three points where there was massive impact.
07:59One was in Harshal above the army camp.
08:02The second was Dharali.
08:03And third was Sukhi Top.
08:05So these three areas were where we saw massive columns of water rushing in.
08:09But to reach there and to help the people who might be stranded, we have to navigate this.
08:15Landslides like these.
08:16And we are hoping that we won't encounter something like this as we move further down.
08:22From the National Highway 34, this is Anjali Istival with Cameraperson Nasir Khan for India Today.
08:31The NDRF's Eye.
08:32The sarcasm in Japan is in Hamari and inSSP.
08:36The sky-soup is in Japan.
08:37So this was an agreement that the NDRF has already been."
08:39And this was just the one.
08:40The NDRF has gone within the number of years.
08:42The NDRF has gone there.
08:44The NDRF has gone further, to these numbers of the NDRF.
08:45The Harshal below the NDRF.
08:46The NDRF has gone into it.
08:48It's been added.
08:49The NDRF has gone a little bit.
08:51The NDRF has gone from there.
09:23Thank you very much.
09:53Thank you very much.
10:23And as we are seeing the weather also is taking a turn and it might be helpful now for the air operations to also kick off if possible.
10:32Then the rescue teams and rescue operation would reach the people who required the most.
10:37We were headed from Delhi to Dharali area via Rishikesh.
10:43That is when we got to know that the road over there is blocked due to the landslides and we took this detour.
10:48But here also, this massive tree was blocking the road.
10:51But promptly, the authorities removed it and now we shall be moving ahead from here and going towards Utthakashi.
10:58And we hope that the rescue operations over there will pick up.
11:02From Suwakholi in Uttarakhand, this is Anjali Eastwal with Nasir Khan for India Today.
11:10The first team who were there exactly started evacuation and rescue operations,
11:14ensuring people in the low-line areas living exactly along the Bhagirathi.
11:18Now look at this. This is really scary.
11:20The very furious Bhagirathi and why it was needed to evacuate people.
11:24I can see the huge tree branches that have come all the way from Harshal in different parts.
11:28That's a flow of the river. It itself looks scary.
11:32Now, once you have the access to that area,
11:35now remember there have been that top area, Khesu top,
11:38that there is also multiple landslides.
11:40And all these landslides, there are reportedly that now the lake formation is bunged
11:44because the river is not flowing exactly with its speed.
11:46Now, there is a lake formation.
11:48And if there is a lake formation, they'll have to see whether the water level is rising
11:51or even breaching the danger mark and it is coming on the road.
11:54Because if there is a flow and there is a lake formation,
11:57eventually that will also be further thread and could potentially wash away the road connectivity as well.
12:03So, once the first team of the responders as the road being now done,
12:07see, let me tell you, these are the roads that were totally washed away.
12:10Now, the another alternative route has almost been prepared.
12:14The structure there where exactly I am walking in,
12:17were literally, you know, it was a threat for any individual or vehicle to pass through.
12:23Now, they have just made alternative route, cutting the mountains from the side
12:26and preparing at least 12 to 13 feet of the road for the access of the vehicles.
12:32They are the people who are seeing in the outside routes,
12:38but the workers who have been in the outside,
12:40the rescue team that have been in the outside
12:42now have not reached the streets.
12:45The whole family of the government on the residential highway
12:47in the south, the rescue team that's not reached the path.
12:49The rescue team to get on the outside,
12:51the most important thing that the people of the government
12:53are seeing as well as the people of the state have caught in this area.
12:54The government of theuba amendments
12:56is being Gallery of the Osmanatians,
12:58in this country being the code of the reservation,
13:00जो गंगोत्री नेसनल हाईवे है उसको कही इस्तानों पर गंगा नदी ने अपनी चपेट में ले लिया है आप देख सकते हैं पहाडी किस तरह से दरक रही है जमीन में आप देखिए ये सड़क जो है बिलकुल नेस्ता नाबूत हो गई है पूरी धसने लगी है हर जगह क्र
13:30आदिकारी है जिन्होंने रैसक्यू कारे को मौनिटर करना था और साथ में रैसक्यू कारे को अजम देना था जिसमें
13:35डीम सप्लाई मिया से संबंदी जो टमाम प्रकार्किर के जो Department है जिम्मेदार जो महक में हैं वो उसके बाद वहां पहुंच र अभगा
13:59foreign
14:05foreign
14:11foreign
14:13foreign
14:19foreign
14:27what cute
14:29doubt
14:31titled
14:35those
14:36Press
14:37Press
14:40Is
14:43out
14:44on
14:46Chin
14:48right
14:51right
14:54I
14:55'm
14:57I
14:57I am living in acres that there have been me
15:01now, there have been a lot of water
15:02and there are still the birds
15:03that are out there
15:05in the south
15:07We once asked this question
15:08the wind was being used for
15:10Alakidhandan Dashe
15:15we have seen that
15:16it is now that Alakidhandan Dashe
15:18has been made over the land
15:20of the land
15:21and it can be expected
15:25Well, as the team of India today
15:55brings you all these updates and ground reports, our intention is not just to give you the
16:01information and the news, but also to make you aware of how sensitive our hills are and what
16:08we are doing to them. And also, we hope that what has happened this time is not going to be forgotten
16:14like the floods of 2013 and that the government and the right agencies are going to take cognizance
16:20of it and invest in things that could help us mitigate these effects. Early warning systems,
16:27disaster management systems, AI programs. These are the things which can help us ensure
16:33that our environment is protected and we live as one with this environment. Well, that's
16:39all we have for you from here. We are just 50 kilometers away from ground zero and we hope
16:44tomorrow we will be able to make it over there. Have a great day.
16:51We are on the road to Uttarkashi. We had to take a detour because National Highway 34 is completely
16:58blocked. There are multiple locations where there are land sites. It was a threat for any individual
17:04or vehicle to pass through. Now, they have just made an alternative route, cutting the mountains
17:11from the side and preparing at least 12 to 13 feet of the road.
17:14Question 1, we are in the national highway we are headed near barbecue 1st.
17:29Under Countrad, Resurrected Commission. If theissant has been part through the village,
17:36onlyigt which can allow the airport, in which Plaza bedroom has become the river generation of
17:40In this way, Bhatwari is on the whole route of the National Highway Dumbotri.
17:46And from a place to a place, there are blockages and the whole route is lost.
17:50Probably some sort of air supplies will now start moving towards the affected area.
17:57The affected area, Dharali, is currently completely inaccessible via road.
18:03The very furious Bhagirathi and why it was needed to evacuate people.
18:07I can see the huge tree branches that have come all the way.
18:10You can see this Abda's vision.
18:12This is a whole tree tree tree tree tree tree tree tree.
