Consider the following statements about the 1970 flood in the Alaknan…

Consider the following statements about the 1970 flood in the Alaknanda valley:

(A) The flood was precipitated by an unusually heavy monsoon.
(B) The flood washed away metal bridges, motor roads and buses in the valley.
(C) Standing paddy crops in the valley were destroyed by the flood.
(D) After the flood, the villagers' cause was taken up by the Mahila Mandal of Chamoli district.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → A, B and C only

(A) The flood was precipitated by an unusually heavy monsoon. — Correct. The 1970 flood, the most devastating in living memory, was brought on by an unusually heavy monsoon.

(B) The flood washed away metal bridges, motor roads and buses in the valley. — Correct. In the Alaknanda valley the water washed away 6 metal bridges, 10 kilometres of motor roads, 24 buses and several other vehicles.

(C) Standing paddy crops in the valley were destroyed by the flood. — Correct. Besides the 366 houses that collapsed, 500 acres of standing paddy crops were destroyed.

(D) After the flood, the villagers' cause was taken up by the Mahila Mandal of Chamoli district. — Incorrect. The villagers' cause was taken up by the Dashauli Gram Swaraja Sangh (DGSS), a cooperative organisation based in Chamoli district. The Mahila Mandal was the women's club of Reni village, headed by Gaura Devi, and it comes into the story later.

NCERT (2026-27): “8.4 Ecological Movements …
The unusually heavy monsoon of 1970 precipitated the most devastating flood in living memory. In the Alaknanda valley, water inundated 100 square kilometres of land, washed away 6 metal bridges and 10 kilometres of motor roads, 24 buses and several other vehicles; 366 houses collapsed and 500 acres of standing paddy crops were destroyed. The loss of human and bovine life was considerable. …The 1970 floods mark a turning-point in the ecological history of the region. Villagers, who bore the brunt of the damage, were beginning to perceive the hitherto tenuous links between deforestation, landslides and floods. It was observed that some of the villages most affected by landslides lay directly below forests where felling operations had taken place…. …The villagers’ cause was taken up by the Dashauli Gram Swaraja Sangh (DGSS), a cooperative organisation based in Chamoli district. …Despite these early protests, the government went ahead with the yearly auction of forests in November. …”