Quick notes: Paraglacial dams | Vishwa coolie...

• VikAss in Himalayas: 'Run of the river' dams, which operate by digging large tunnels into the side of the mountain, actually weakened the mountain by introducing fractures and fissures, increasing the risk of landslides.
  
  "While receding, they leave behind huge amounts of boulders, rocks, and moraines. A heavy rainfall or landslide could easily trigger floodwaters to surge down the narrow mountain streams, carrying a deadly mixture of sediment and rocks. If this great mass of water and solids meets any barrier on the way, it'll just smash through the barrier. Each time it smashes a barrier, it moves downstream with further energy. More energy means more mass is going to be lifted from the riverbed, or the river banks."



• English medium Vishwa-Coolies: In ancient times India was the world's premier knowledge producer and exporter. Today it is the biggest importer and consumer of foreign technology.

  Did you know that the Indian IT sector's much-celebrated success was built on the labor arbitrage model? Many Indian middlemen became ultra-wealthy IT tycoons reducing India to a Vishwa coolie. To learn why this is detrimental to India's progress, read-https://t.co/CWLZyAScEP pic.twitter.com/3LAV357zwQ

  — Rajiv Malhotra (@RajivMessage) February 12, 2021




• Af-Pak: Hazara Shiites, prime targets of Sunni extremists. The Hazaras are among the most persecuted people on the planet.



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• J Sai Deepak: Uttarakhand, an eco-sensitive zone, aspiring for the same degree of road connectivity and “infrastructure” as Delhi notwithstanding the environmental impact of ceaseless “developmental” activity on its fragile ecological balance.
  
  
• Our mountain will fall one day: We have learnt nothing from 2013 Uttarakhand disaster. The ecological sanctity of the rivers is critically compromised. “Many Hydro-electric projects have been sanctioned inside protected areas, two inside the core zone of the Nanda Devi National Park. Two projects have been sanctioned on the Mandakini river inside the Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary and another is located just at its boundary.
  
  Earlier, four projects on the Gori Ganga were inside the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary. Another six large projects on the Dhauliganga (E) and Kali rivers were also within the Askot Sanctuary. Efforts made by the developers to have large parts of the sanctuary de-notified finally succeeded with the Supreme Court ordering a fresh demarcation of the sanctuary. Now most of the above projects are outside the Sanctuary.”

Kerala no different - outright rejection of any recommendations protecting the fragile ecology of the Western Ghats.
Centre’s notification on eco-sensitive zone triggers protests in Wayanad
No lessons learnt.https://t.co/wMuM8erplO

— Viva Kermani (@vivakermani) February 7, 2021




• Divine punishment? Raini village elders blame removal of temple for Chamoli tragedy. Raini is the same village which initiated the famous Chipko Movement in 1973. Raini villagers had also raised concerns that dams along the river could destabilize the mountain.