Dear Express Explained Reader, It's been a week since the flood in Uttarakhand; 40 people are dead, and hope about the 160-odd missing now survives only in theory. Initial reports had said that a mountain phenomenon called “GLOF”, or glacial lake outburst flood, may have been responsible; now, a team from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology believes this is what likely happened: a mass of rock and ice broke off a hanging glacier and barreled down a steep incline, sweeping along a mass of soil and vegetation, which fell in a narrow stream some 2,000 m downhill, blocking the flow. After some time, the blockage gave way under pressure, and a large volume of water and debris gushed downstream. Through this week, as the story developed, we published a series of explanatory reports on how the disaster came about. On the day after the disaster, with details still sketchy, science editor Amitabh Sinha discussed the possibilities of what might have happened; he then spoke with Dr D P Dobhal, one of India's most eminent glaciologists, about glacial lakes and avalanches, and the mitigating steps that are required to be taken to reduce the threat of incidents like this. Another leading glaciologist, Prof Syed Iqbal Hasnain, wrote about the formation and monitoring of glacial lakes in the Himalayas, and made important policy points. Deeptiman Tiwary summarised the policy prescription regarding GLOF and related events that exists as of now, in a set of guidelines issued last October by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) headed by the Prime Minister. The governments in Beijing and New Delhi announced this week that Chinese and Indian troops had begun to disengage in the Pangong Tso area in eastern Ladakh. Krishn Kaushik wrote on what the disengagement plan is and what it entails, what went into its making, and what this disengagement means in the larger context of the months-long military standoff in Ladakh. With talks on the farmers' protest at the gates of Delhi stalemated, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh earlier this month recalled a grim memory from nearly four decades ago, when the central government's failure to effectively negotiate a list of 42 demands presented by the Akalis had triggered a series of powerful events that ultimately culminated in the tragedy of Operation Blue Star. Manraj Grewal Sharma recounted that full story, with details and context, an important piece of Punjab's recent political history. Thank you for reading. I urge you to go to the Explained section on The Indian Express website and check out some of the content there. We do quite a bit on a vast range of topics, and would love to have more of your feedback. Stay safe. Sincerely, Monojit (monojit.majumdar@expressindia.com) If you received this newsletter as a forward, you can subscribe to it here | Do read our Explained articles here 
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