On 16 and 17 June 2013, heavy rains together with moraine dammed Chorabari Lake burst caused flooding of all rivers in Uttarakhand. The flash flood and landslides killed more than 6000 people. It left approximately 84000 people stranded for several days. Indian Army and its Northern Command launched one of the largest and most extensive human rescue missions launched in its history. Spread over 40,000 square kilometres, 45 helicopters were deployed to rescue the stranded. Increasing human activities are augmenting the risk of natural disasters in the ecologically sensitive region of Uttarakhand. Everywhere development has been done without a care for regulations. The economic future of the Himalaya and its people can never be secured if the already vulnerable region is made more hazard-prone. This paper aims to find out the natural and manmade causes of this disaster and emphasizes upon the need to be alert about such events in future.