Daily Recco, February 8: Himalayan Tsunami tells what shook Uttarakhand in 2013
The documentary is a piece-by-piece account of what caused the June 2013 flood that washed away over 6,000 people.
Glacial lake burst or avalanche – what triggered the devastation in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli? A team of scientists today reached the Dev Bhoomi to find out what shook the bhoomi on Sunday.
The visual of the tragedy in which about 15 people have died and another 150 are missing bore an eerie resemblance to the visuals that came in from the June 2013 Uttarakhand floods in the wake of which over 6,000 died, many of whom were presumed dead because their bodies could never be found. We now have answers to what triggered that flood - a lake burst. Why did the lake burst and not just overflow?
If you want answers, we recommend Discovery documentary Himalayan Tsunami (2013). The hour-long documentary, which also at some places turns into a docu drama to tell the tale, investigates the real story behind the catastrophic Himalayan disaster and explains what really happened and why. The documentary released in December 2013 itself.
The programme addresses key unanswered questions about the calamity as scientific investigators piece together and unravel the natural forces that led to the devastation, beginning with heavy rains, whose scale still makes us gasp. It retraces the disaster by speaking to first-hand witnesses who recount tales of survival and loss of fellow yatris.
The account is important because it is the work of the first geological research team that could enter the flood-ravaged Himalayas in search of answers when the omnipresent slush made it impossible to reach places where the answers lay hidden.
You can find it both on Discovery+ and YouTube.