Humanities Himalaya and SDC Foundation jointly hosted an insightful session at Cafe Laata on May 3rd, 2024. The session centered around SDC's recently released book Making Molehills of Mountains: Demystifying Disasters in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. Present were geologist Dr. YP Sundriyal, geologist Dr. SP Sati, anthropologist and author Dr. Lokesh Ohri, SDC's Prerna Raturi, and moderator Sargam Mehra.
Edited by SDC Founder Anoop Nautiyal and SDC Lead Research and Documentation Prerna Raturi, the book has 14 authors writing articles on several challenges that Uttarakhand faces. It also includes a message by Governor Uttarakhand Lt Gen. Gurmit Singh, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM (Rtd), and a foreword by Dr. B K Joshi, Advisor and Founder Director Doon Library and Research Centre.
Further, the book also has four human stories of Jyoti Semwal, a Kedarnath widow; Anita Kanwal, a woman living in a village near the Sitlakhet forest, and who along with several people has vowed to protect the forest from fires and people; Gabbar Singh, the foreman who was trapped with 40 other men in the Silkyara tunnel mishap; and Pramod Singh Rawat, inspector, SDRF.
Finally, the book includes our Uttarakhand Disaster & Accident Analysis Initiative (UDAAI) monthly reports for 2023, analysed by geologist Dr. YP Sundriyal; CSIR senior research fellow Dr. Jyotsna Dubey; and senior scientist from Physical Research Laboratory Dr. Navin Juyal.
We are thankful to Mr. Lokesh Ohri and the team at Cafe Laata for providing us the opportunity to host this informative session.
