Uttarakhand glacier break kills 14 and damages hydropower projects

Environment: Fourteen people have died and 170 are missing after a glacial break in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district triggered an avalanche and massive flooding of the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers on Sunday morning.

Most of those killed or missing are believed to be people working on hydropower projects in the region—the 520 MW NTPC Tapovan Vishnugad and the 130 MW Rishiganga plant. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has announced INR 4 lakh as compensation for the families of those killed.

According to scientists, the flash flood of water, mud, and rocks that swept through the river valleys was a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), probably triggered by a gigantic chunk of ice separating from a glacier.

Global warming is causing glaciers across the world, including those along the Himalayas, to retreat; this results in an increase in the size of many glacial lakes. For instance, the Safed Lake—another glacial lake in Uttarakhand—has doubled in size over the past 50 years. As the number of glacial lakes and their sizes increase, so does the risk of catastrophic flash floods like the one that took place on Sunday.

When the hydroelectric dams were planned twenty or more years ago, the changes in water flows that would occur due to the melting of glaciers were not taken into account. Experts are therefore calling for extreme caution now when awarding infrastructure projects in the area.

Fundraising & Communications: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a circular extending the validity of FCRA registration certificates to September 30th, 2021. This applies to all FCRA licences that have expired or will expire between September 29th, 2020 and May 31st, 2021. The decision to extend the deadline has been driven by the exigencies arising from the COVID-19 situation.

FCRA refers to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010, which permits charitable organisations based in India to raise funds from foreign sources.

The order also clarified that nonprofits that have already opened an account and have the requisite permission to receive foreign aid, can henceforth receive it only in these newly-opened accounts.

The FCRA law was amended in September 2020 to include a clause that mandated that all nonprofits receiving foreign aid must necessarily open an account in State Bank of India’s New Delhi Main Branch. The government had initially set the deadline for this account opening as March 31st, 2021; it later extended it to June 30th, 2021 after several nonprofits argued in court that there had been delays because necessary approvals from MHA had not been received.

Several organisations have not been able to receive foreign funds during the crisis caused by the second wave, and this has impacted their COVID-19 relief efforts. Relaxing the foreign funding rules could significantly help organisations ramp up their operations to help individuals, supply critical healthcare equipment, and respond to communities in rural areas.

Read this article to know how amending the FCRA can have unforeseen implications.

Philanthropy & CSR: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has issued a circular that allows corporate spending on health infrastructure for COVID-19 care to qualify as corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure.

This includes setting up medical oxygen generation and storage plants, manufacturing and supply of oxygen concentrators, ventilators, cylinders, and other medical equipment to counter COVID-19.  

The announcement comes at a time when all efforts are being directed towards expediting efforts to support the country’s healthcare infrastructure.

According to the circular, companies can now undertake projects and activities in collaboration with other companies using CSR funds. Additionally, they can contribute to specified research and development projects, as well as publicly funded universities and certain organisations that conduct research in science, technology, engineering, and medicine.

The government had earlier clarified that setting up makeshift hospitals and temporary COVID-19 care facilities would also be considered a CSR activity. Rajesh Verma, the Corporate Affairs Secretary, has requested businesses to consider converting vacant office buildings into COVID-19 facilities to cater to the rapidly increasing caseload.

Read this article to understand why media attention on COVID-19 deaths due to lack of oxygen in big cities has skewed donor priorities.