Kashmir floods 2014

recent flood in kashmir from news

1. Kashmir Floods 2014
The dredging of rivers carried out in the last decade has not helped the situation. In fact, it has
made it worse in certain cases — for example, the Doodhganga and Rambiyaar tributaries of the
Jhelum. As the floodwaters carried a high sediment load, the sheer force swept away the bridges
and roads that embank these turbulent streams.
The state has a specific objective to generate electricity from run-of-the-river projects and has no
dams. The construction of large dams is not permitted under the Indus Waters Treaty. As
Kashmir is yet to fully exploit its run-of-the-river power generation potential, this was not seen as
a limitation. But the state is vulnerable during intense precipitation, the incidence of which is likely
to increase if global climate change patterns replicate themselves in the Himalayan region and
intensify extreme weather conditions.

2. Strategically placed, dams could hold large quantities of water from the Jhelum’s tributaries. The
confluence of the Veshav, Lidder and Rambiyaar into the Jhelum within a few kilometres of each
other in south Kashmir could prove dangerous for Anantnag town and adjacent areas. This is a
good example of where a dam could be employed to good effect. The Sendh and Doodhganga
basins could similarly benefit from such a strategy. Wular lake near Sopore also presents a natural
water-storage option. Its capacity to hold a large quantity of water could be enhanced, as envisaged
by the Wular navigation project, to provide security against the threat of inundation in north
Kashmir. But the projects would have to be accommodated by the Indus Waters Treaty first.
Dams upstream on the Jhelum, Chenab and Indus, however, could have helped keep water levels
low and prevent breaches. Policymakers in Pakistan must understand this well. However, the threat
of dams being used as strategic weapons is something that has prevented the political leadership
in Pakistan from recognising their larger benefit. The stalling of the Wular project on the Jhelum
is a clear example of this mindset.
How can the lack of trust be overcome? The answer lies in the participation of J&K in future
negotiations over the Indus waters. The state could wield greater control over the river waters,
which should be distributed by the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty to provide Pakistan a
guarantee against strategic wartime usage. Through collective monitoring and the exchange of
real-time water discharge data, trust could be further built between water management authorities
on each side. And given the fact that dams would be essential to control floods, holding back water
would also be detrimental. For India, this would be a win-win situation. Industry and growing
metropolises could use the hydropower generated in Kashmir. Power is central to India’s growing
economy and hydropower provides an easy option for the country to decrease its reliance on coal.
Cooperation over water is not a new feature of India-Pakistan relations. In fact, it is the sole area
where diplomacy between the two countries has been largely successful. Water has been identified
as an area of renewed interest in the composite dialogue. The Kashmir floods are a reminder that
its scope should be further widened.

3. Reasons for floods:
1. Institutional failures
a) IMD - The immediate and recognisable cause of the Jammu and Kashmir floods was heavy
rainfall. In the week ending on September 10, Udhampur, Reasi and Kulgam districts
received much higher rainfall than the State average rainfall for the week (268mm), which
was evidently going to have disastrous implications. Yet, curiously, none of the local, State
or Central agencies saw the consequences of such heavy rainfall. There was sufficient time
before the water from the rainfall reached Srinagar or other upstream areas of the Jhelum
basin, and Jammu and other areas of the Chenab basin, but no agency provided any warning
to these vulnerable areas.
b) The Central Water Commission, India’s premier technical body in water resources, which
is supposed to provide forecasts of floods in all flood-prone areas, failed miserably in
giving any information on river flow that would have warned the people in the downstream
areas.
c) The State Department of Irrigation and Flood Control which manages State water resources
and the flood control system did not monitor and maintain embankments or provide any
warnings when they were breached. This means even in the State capital, people had
absolutely no idea of the impending disaster till the waters entered their houses and
colonies.
2. Increasing interventions
The encroachment of riverbeds and flood plains and the destruction of the once-abundant
lakes, wetlands, marshes, flood channels and other water bodies and areas exacerbated the
disaster. Wetlands act as a sponge, and their loss is bound to have serious repercussions.
Construction of buildings in such areas have not only made these buildings vulnerable but
also reduced the flood absorption capacity of these areas, thus making other areas
vulnerable too. E.g.,
 A report by the Bombay Natural History Society has mentioned that the Wular lake,
once spread over 20,200 ha, has shrunk to 2,400 ha.
 The Dal Lake in Srinagar has been reduced to almost half its earlier size, to 1,200 ha.

4.  According to the Centre for Science and Environment, over the last century more than
50 per cent of the lakes, ponds and wetlands of Srinagar have been encroached upon.
 The banks of the Jhelum have been overrun, reducing its drainage capacity. The story
is the same with the Tawi in Jammu. Flash floods in this river washed away some 400
buildings and inundated scores of colonies, many of them in breach of the Jammu
Master Plan.
 Major interventions are expected to take place in the Chenab and Jhelum basins
including about 40 hydropower projects in each basin of various sizes and in various
stages of development. Each of these projects involve the construction of dams, water
storage, tunnels, blasting, diversion of rivers, deforestation, construction of roads and
colonies, and mining of materials on a large scale, and dumping of millions of cubic
metres of muck from each large project. The Chenab basin is, in fact, home to the
largest capacity of hydropower projects under construction in India compared to any
other basin.
3. Climate change footprint
Such extreme weather events, whose frequency is already on the rise in the Himalayas at a
greater rate than global averages, there is an undeniable climate change footprint.