Climate change has been melting Himalyan glaciers twice as fast since 2000, and scientists pointed out that nearby populations are vulnerable to devastating floods and landslides in regions that have become too weak for large development projects.

“But the Indian government overrode the objections of experts and the protests of local residents to blast rocks and build hydroelectric power projects in volatile areas like the one in the northern state of Uttarakhand, where disaster struck,” New York Times reports.

The Chamoli district, which has been impacted by large-scale flooding and destruction on Sunday, is listed as one of the most vulnerable districts in Uttarakhand, a state where four in every five districts are hotspots for extreme floods, a report found.

“Villagers said the authorities overseeing the expensive development projects had not prepared them for what was to come, giving a false sense of confidence that nothing was going to happen,” New York Times reports.

The impact of the Himalayas’ fragile ecosystem are being felt from Bhutan to Afghanistan in addition to the forthcoming global warming risks that threaten up to 800 million people in South Asia.

The glacial lakes being formed by 15,000 retreating glaciers can cause catastrophic floods that “have been deemed imminently dangerous by The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, an intergovernmental group” in Nepal, Bhutan, India and Pakistan, New York Times reports.

Read more by Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar for The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/08/world/asia/india-flood-ignored-warnings.html