50,000 people are trapped, 14,000 missing in one of the worst monsoon seasons on record.
The heavy rains that accompany the seasonal monsoons have caused immense mudslides. This has been described as an "himalayan tsunami".
The rescue of the people trapped is almost impossible as roads have been ripped away, and the only way to reach most of the people is via helicopter.
Already 140 bodies have washed up downhill in the river Ganges.
33,100 people have already been rescued, but there are even more still trapped.
Many of the people stranded in the Himalayan foothill were pilgrims and tourists who flock to this area, where the river Ganges is born from the glaciers dissolving slowly into the mountainside.
Some scientists and Indian researchers are blaming excess deforestation for the cataclysm. in addition, large hydroelectric dams have been illegally or shoddily built in areas where the valley walls can become weak and burst in the case of a heavy monsoon.
The other problem is the surge of pilgrims to the area. It has significantly increased in the past few years, with almost 200,000 a day visiting the holy sites and spiritual areas of the Himalayas.
In bordering Nepal as well, floods and landslides have killed 40 people.
Source : The Independent/ 6.21.13
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