Uttarakhand

The flash flood disaster that struck Uttarakhand on 16 Jun 2013 had jolted the entire nation. It had emotionally touched many a heart at far off places across the country, and motivated many people to come up with help and positive actions, as we have shared before on our Uttarakhand Diaries series. This is the story of a group of doctors and volunteers from different parts of the country who came together for a noble cause of helping the disaster affected in the Himalayan State of Uttarakhand.

TBI writer Anusha Subramanian is currently in Uttarakhand, participating in the relief operations and assisting the locals in rebuilding their lives. She reports from the scene of the devastating floods on the current situation in the affected areas, on the aid provided by the administration, and the stupendous work being carried out by trekkers, mountaineers, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), army personnel and NGOs.

Read about the efforts of a unique financial inclusion programme that aims at empowering women in the the rural parts of the hilly state of Uttaranchal where employment opportunities are scarce, infrastructure is patchy and banks are practically virtually non-existent.

Collecting fodder and firewood to keep the household running would once take four hours of Sunita Arya’s time in Almora district of Uttarakhand every day. Today, she spend just half-an-hour on the same chores. What brought about this almost magical turnaround? The systematic protection of the village forest, thanks to an effective 'van panchayat' (forest governance unit).