Introduction Uttarakhand is a mountainous land with more than 60% forests (Guha, 2006). The high peaks and glaciers of the Himalayas cover the northern part of Uttarakhand (Riley & William, 2005). Climatic conditions and forest cover vary greatly with elevation. Glaciers are at the highest point and subtropical forests are at the lowest point (Riley & William, 2005). We move from ice and bare rock at the summit to alpine shrubs and meadows, then to subalpine coniferous forests (Guha, 2006). Due to agricultural activities and massive infrastructure, most lowland forests have been cleared to make way for land (Riley & William, 2005). Human activities in the state are believed to be the cause of environmental imbalance resulting in frequent occurrence of disasters in the state.Natural DisasterFrom 14 to 17 June 2013, the northern part of the Indian state of Uttarakhand was hit by heavy rains (Sharma, 2013 ). Due to continuous downpours, the Charabari glacier melted causing the Mandakini River to flood (Sharma, 2013). The floods caused large-scale destruction of property and loss of life. Official reports indicate the deaths of 822 people and 1800 missing (Sharma, 2013). The damaged houses were found to be 2232. One hundred and fifty-four bridges and 1520 roads were completely swept away, making them impassable (Sharma, 2013). After the 2004 tsunami, the June 2013 flood became another worse natural disaster (Sharma, 2013). Causes of the disaster and possible prevention A common occurrence in northern India is summer monsoon winds (Guha, 2006), which in turn cause heavy downpours and floods. The sudden change in precipitation patterns is attributed to global warming (Riley & William, 2005). Stu... middle of paper... what events. However, the Uttrakhand government has never enforced laws related to the environment. People were allowed to engage in environmentally destructive activities, which led to the June 2013 floods. If people had been informed about the dangers of deforestation, unplanned construction and obsolete cultural activities, the damage caused would have been minimum. Works Cited Guha, R. (2006). The restless woods: ecological change and peasant resistance in the Himalayas. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Sharma, Ravi (2013). “Uttarakhand floods wipe out hill tourism, hotel occupancy is 5-10% despite 50% lower rates.” Economic times. The Economic Times, August 7, 2013. Web. October 16, 2013. Riley, Laura; William Riley (2005). Nature's strongholds: the world's great nature reserves. vol. 208. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-12219-9.