Uttarakhand tragedy

Uttarakhand Disaster - 2013

UTTARAKHAND – COVER PAGE

Sometimes it takes a natural disaster to reveal a

social disaster.

UTTARAKHAND – CONTENTS - 1

Contents

Introduction – Uttarakhand Factfile

Causes of the Disaster –Global Warming – Climate Change | Unsustainable Development Activities |Lack of Govt. Plan & Preparation

Rescue and Relief Operations

Lessons Learnt

Uttarakhand has been known since ancient times as the

“Abode of the gods” (Dev Bhoomi)…

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UTTARAKHAND – INTRODUCTION

→ Uttarakhand is located at the foothills of theHimalayan mountain ranges. The state sharesborder with China (Tibet) in the North and Nepalin the East and inter-state boundaries withHimachal Pradesh in the West, Northwest andUttar Pradesh in the South.

→ Uttarakhand has diverse geographical featuresranging from snow-capped mountain peaks inthe North to tropical forests in the South; itsclimate and vegetation vary accordingly.

→ The state was formed in November 2000 bycarving out the 13 hill-districts of Uttar Pradesh..

→ Formerly named Uttaranchal, the area covered bythe state has been known since ancient times asthe “Abode of the gods” (Dev Bhoomi). It is alsofamous for “Char Dham”, four holy places ofpilgrimage for the Hindus. These are: Gangotri,Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

Introduction: Uttarakhand Factfile

Parameters Uttarakhand

Capital Dehradun

Geographical area (sq km) 53,483

Administrative districts (No) 13

Population density (persons per sq km)*

189

Total population (million)* 10.11

Male population (million)* 5.15

Female population (million)* 4.96

Sex ratio (females per 1,000 males)* 963

Literacy rate (%)* 79.6

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Contents




Lessons Learnt

How shall I describe my misfortunes? Each of

them is nine cubits long.

-- Proverbs of Kumaon & Garhwal Regions. Used by one complaining of great misfortunes.

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UTTARAKHAND – CAUSES OF THE DISASTER

Causes of the Disaster

→ Global Warming & Climate Change :

→ Cloud Burst & Torrential Rain between June 14 to 17, 2013 the Indian state of Uttarakhand and adjoining area received heavy rainfall, which was about 375 percent more than the benchmark rainfall during a normal monsoon.

→ This caused the melting of Chorabari Glacier at the height of 3800 metres, and eruption of the MandakiniRiver which led to heavy floods near Gobindghat, Kedar Dome, Rudraprayag.

→ Unsustainable Development Activities:

→ Indiscriminate building of Hydel Power Projects: A total of 427 dams are planned to be built on rivers. Among these, there are roughly 70 projects built or proposed on the Ganga, all to generate some 10,000 MW of power. This construction has affected 80% of the Bhagirathi and 65% of the Alaknanda.

NASA satellite imagery of Northern India

showing rainclouds that led to the disaster

Floodgates of the 330-MW Srinagar Dam in

Pauri were opened on the night of June 16,

which inundated many areas

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UTTARAKHAND – CAUSES OF THE DISASTER (Cont’d)



→ Indiscriminate Dynamite Blasts: Dynamiteblasts are required to cut mountains and paveway for the construction of dams. To build onedam, a stretch of 5-25 kms is being blastedinside the mountains through dynamites.

→ Cutting of Hill and Mountainsides: To cope with influx of lakhsof tourists each year, roads arebeing built without paying anyheed to the warnings ofenvironmentalists in the name ofbuilding infrastructure for tourismand development. This factor isdirectly responsible for heavylandslides that alone causedconsiderable casualty in thedisaster.

→ Unprecedented Rise of Vehicular Traffic:. Datawith the Uttarakhand state transport departmentreveals that the state has seen a 1000 per centincrease in vehicular traffic in the last eight years.Ecologists have been warning about the correlationbetween tourism increase and the higher increaseof landslides.

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UTTARAKHAND – CAUSES OF THE DISASTER (Cont’d)



→ Illegal mining of stones and sand : It has been alleged that despite shrill cries of protests from environmentalists, Govt chose to look away while illegal mining of stones and sand from the river beds went on unchecked. On February 19, 'Clean Ganga' crusader Swami Nigamananda sat on a fast-unto-death in Haridwar to protest against illegal mining on the river bed. The 34-year-old ascetic died on June 13, 2011, exactly two years before the torrential rains set to cause the disaster.

→ Lack of proper plan andprecaution: It hs also been allegedthat the Govt. did not have anyplan and preparation to deal withthis kind of natural calamity.

Nigamananda(left) with another sadhu at his ashram in Haridwar.

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UTTARAKHAND – CAUSES OF THE DISASTER – Cont’d


→ Lack of Proper Govt. Plan & Preparation:

→ Unregulated Rise of Tourists: Therehas been an exponential rise in thenumber of tourists visiting the state inrecent years. To cope with the rust oftourists, the local people moved closerto the river banks and constructed highrise buildings in an unscientific mannerin the seismic zone which led to largescale destruction.

→ Inadequate Early Warning: It is also alleged that theWeather Deptt failed to give early and proper warningabout the impending disaster. Timely warning could havehelped reduce the loss of lives and properties.

→ No Disaster Management Action Plan:It is alleged that the Govt. had no suitableaction plan for mitigation of disaster todeal with a calamity of such magnitude.

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Contents




Lessons Learnt

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After the relief operations, I feel I am part Uttarakhand resident

and part Tamilian now,” said Tirupur resident S. Saravanavel,

flying the advanced light helicopters for the last four years


UTTARAKHAND – RESCUE AND RELIEF OPERATIONS


→ Deployment of Army & Paramilitary Jawans:The Central and State Governments deployed allpossible resources to deal with the immediateaftermath of the ghastly tragedy. About 5500Jawans and Officers of the Army, 3000 men of theBorder Roads Organisation and 600 ITBPpersonnel were engaged in relief and rescueefforts. Thirteen teams of the National DisasterResponse Force were deployed. The Air Forcedeployed 18 helicopters and a C-130 aircraft.Private helicopters also been engaged by the StateGovernment.

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→ Ex-Gratia Grant to victims: Ex-gratia assistance of Rs. 2 lakheach to the families of those who had lost their lives andRs. 50,000 each to those who were injured was provided from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF). Further, ex-gratia assistance of Rs.1 lakh each to those whose houses had been completely destroyed and Rs. 50,000 each to those whose houses had been damaged were also provide from the PMNRF.


UTTARAKHAND – RESCUE AND RELIEF OPERATIONS – Cont’d

Rescue and Relief Operations→ Helping Hand from Other States

and NGOs etc: Persons of more than 19 states across the country were involved. There were teams of senior bureaucrats and political leaders camping around Dehradun. A large number of volunteers from NGOs Humanitarian Aid Agencies and other organizations were involved in the operations in the calamity hit areas in the state.

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→ Rs. 1000 Crore for Disaster Relief: The Prime Minister announced to provide Rs.1000 crore to Uttarakhand for disaster relief, of which Rs. 145 crore was released immediately. “The immediate need is for rescue and relief operations and the Government will not spare any effort in this regard.”- the Prime Minister said.

→ Those who lost their lives while rescuing: Even as Army helicopters were braving inclement weather conditions and flying to dangerous zones evacuate stranded people, one Army helicopters crashed 20 Officials engaged in rescue operation died on 24 June. One 24 July, one private helicopter also crashed and 2 persons including the pilot died.


UTTARAKHAND – CO4TENTS - 4

Contents




Lessons Learnt

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― C. JoyBell C.

The only way that we can live is if we grow. The only way

that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can

change is if we learn.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4114218.C_JoyBell_C_


UTTARAKHAND – LESSONS LEARNT

Lessons Learnt

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The Final Toll: Till date, more than 580 persons

are confirmed dead and 5,474 (including 938 locals

and 4421 pilgrims) and 91 Nepali citizen are

"presumed missing" and feared to be dead.

What To Do:

→ Environmental Impact Assessment: Ensure credible environmental and social impact assessment of all activities including all dams and all hydropower projects including-

→ How the projects can increase the disaster potential of the area;

→ How they will affect the adaptation capacity of the local people in the context of climate change; and

→ How the projects themselves would be affected in changing climate.


UTTARAKHAND – LESSONS LEARNT – Cont’d

Lessons Learnt

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What To Do:

→ Early Warning Signals: Put in place a clearly defined monitoring system to give prompt report of actual rainfall so that the downstream area people and administration can be alerted.

→ Protection and Conservation: Protection and conservation of rivers, riverbeds and flood plains, including aquatic biodiversity are a must.

→ Remove Encroachment: Do not allow encroachment of riverbeds and floodplains.

What To Do:

→ Urgent Action: Prepare clearly defined space for rivers, have river regulation zone in place and remove all illegal encroachments in river beds and flood plains urgently through legislative, followed by executive action.

→ Unsustainable Mining: Do not allow unsustainable mining of

riverbeds.

→ No Blasting: Do not allow blasting for any development activity (Uttarakhand Disaster Management & Mitigation Centre made this specific recommendation after the Rudraprayag disaster of Sept 2012 that lead to death of 69 people.


UTTARAKHAND – LESSONS LEARNT – Cont’d

Lessons Learnt

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What To Do:

→ Protection of catchments including forests, wetlands and local water bodies that can play the role of cushion during high rainfall events.

→ All states, including those in North East must have an active state disaster management authority in place that will have key role in all development decisions.

IN CONCLUSION

While rainfall and cloud bursts are natural phenomena, the disaster potential of such events directly depends on what we have done on ground over the years. Uttarakhand, by, allowing indiscriminate building of roads, buildings and hundreds of hydropower projects without doing basic assessments and participatory decision making processes, have allowed the disaster potential of current high intensity rainfall in the state increase manifold. While some in the media are calling this as Himalayan Tsunami, many people of Uttarakhand are seeing it as a trailer of such Tsunami, if Uttarakhand does not wake up, much bigger tragedy may await the state.


UTTARAKHAND – THE END 16

There is a saying in Tibetan, “Tragedy should be utilized as a

source of strength. No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful

experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.”

― Dalai Lama XIV

THANK YOU

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/570218.Dalai_Lama_XIV

Uttarakhand tragedy

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