-Hindustan Times The ₹12,000 crore Char Dham road project was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 to connect Hindu shrines of Gangotri, Yamnotri, Badrinath and Kedarnth through a four lane all-weather road The all-weather Char Dham road in Uttarakhand has witnessed 25 major landslides this rainy season, forcing the administration to close two stretches of roads in Tehri Garwhal for indefinite periods and indicating that “unscientific” road construction was causing...

-The Hindu The project is unique because the design consumes less concrete and the dams last longer than traditional stone masonry ones BELAGAVI: The State government is promoting construction of new generation check dams across natural streams, rivulets and other waterbodies under the MGNREGA programme. Over 5,000 multiple arch buttress check dams (MACD) have come up under MGNREGA, 1,820 in the last two years. The project is unique because the design consumes less...

-Down to Earth Shoreline armouring can increase damages by $723 million for a single flood event Sea-level rise due to climate change has threatened millions of lives and exacerbated infrastructure costs in building embankments and seawalls. These flood-protection constructions, however, heighten the risks of flooding and cost greater financial damages, according to a new report. "Protection of individual shoreline segments (5 to 75 kilometres) can increase flooding in other areas by as much...

The rise in COVID-19 daily new cases and daily new deaths compelled many state governments to impose local level lockdowns during April-May 2021. As of 20th April, 2021, partial lockdowns were noticed in 10 states across the country and complete lockdown was imposed in Delhi. As of 8th May, 2021, nearly the entire country was under complete lockdown as a result of either partial lockdowns and night curfews or complete...

-Newslaundry.com The state’s River Training Policy appears designed to allow near unfettered mining of sand and boulders by private contractors, bypassing green clearance and scientific assessment. In November 2020, a few months before floods ravaged Uttarakhand, the deputy collector of Purnagiri in Tanakpur district announced an open auction of tenders to desilt the riverbed in Champawat’s villages. Tenders for government work usually seek the lowest bidder, the contractor willing to do the job...