Assessment of environmental degradation and impact of hydroelectric projects during the June 2013 disaster in Uttarakhand

Successive state governments in Uttarakhand have pursued economic growth through industrialization without taking into account the fragility of the state’s mountains. A massive rain storm in June 2013 exposed the
inherently fragile character of the mountain region. As a battered state began to rehabilitate itself the Supreme Court directed the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to set up a body of experts to study whether hydropower projects in Uttarakhand had contributed to environmental degradation and the June 2013 tragedy.