The Kedarnath Trajedy

this ppt. is about the flood that occured in Uttarakhand ,INDIA
in june2013.

1. The Kedarnath Tragedy, 2013 Vishvjeet Tholia 17WM60R01 Ritu Raj Jaitawat 17AG66R14 Surbhi Jain 17AG66R07 School of Water Resources IIT Kharagpur 1

2. Introduction Uttarakhand has a total area of 53,484 km² 86% is mountainous and 65% is covered by forest Most of Uttarakhand area is covered by high Himalayan peaks and glaciers It is known as the Devbhumi  (literally "Land of the Gods“) 2

3. Two of the most important rivers in Hinduism originate in the glaciers of Uttarakhand, the  Ganges  at  Gangotri  and the  Yamuna  at  Yamunotri . These two along with  Badrinath  and  Kedarnath  form the  Chota Char Dham , a holy pilgrimage for the Hindus. Continued.. 3

4. Uttarakhand 4

5. The Char Dham 5

6. Historical Cloudburst events in Uttarakhand 2002 Cloudburst in Khetgaon ( Pithoragarh ) 04 persons died. 2004 Cloudburst in Ranikhet ( Almora ): 01 casualty 2007 Cloudburst in Pithoragarh & Chamoli : 23 lives lost 2008 Cloudburst in Pithoragarh : 01 casualty 2009 Massive Cloudburst in Tehsil Munisyari district Pithoragarh : 43 lives lost 2010 Massive Cloudburst Kapkot ( Bageshwar ): 18 school children were buried alive and Massive Cloud burst in Almora : 36 lives lost 6

7. The Kedarnath Tragedy (15 th to 18 th june 2013) Heavy precipitation in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand (15th–18thJune) Bursting of glacial lakes Increased debris laden discharge in trunk streams Rising of water level upto 5-7 m Heavy flooding Fresh landsliding along steep river banks & slopes Colossal loss of properties and lives & road links 7

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9. Who is Responsible for this Man or Nature ? 9

10. Natural Reason Heavy incessant rainfall –a trigger for Uttarakhand Disaster From 15 to 18 June 2013, Indian state of Uttarakhand and adjoining area received heavy rainfall, which was about 375 percent more than the benchmark rainfall during a normal monsoon. 10

11. The massive rainfall and cloud burst events happened at multiple places, including Bhagirathi basin, Assiganga basin, Mandakini Basin, Badrinath region, other places in Alaknanda region from 15 June 2013 to around 18 June 2013. This lead to melting of Chorabari Glacier at the height of 3800 metres , and eruption of the Mandakini River which led to heavy floods near Kedar Dome, Rudraprayag district , Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh . It is considered to be the largest natural disaster after tsunami occurred in 2004 11

12.   Main cause of Chorabari Lake collapse was torrential rains that area received between 15 and 17 June 2013. Due to heavy rainfall, glacier which is thickly covered by snow rapidly melted due to rain-water allowing large amount of water accumulation in the Gandhi Sarovar lake. There were no outlets in lake, water was simply released through narrow passage sat at the bottom of lake. Suddenly millions of gallons of water accumulated in moraine dammed lake within 3 days, which increased their potential energy and reduced shear strength of dam. Ultimately loose-moraine dam breached causing an enormous devastation in Kedarnath valley Natural Reason Collapse of the moraine dammed Chorabari Lake Gandhi Sarovar Lake 12

13. The Landsat (8) satellite image (23 June 2013; after disaster), showing the lake burst (1), Gully erosion/cloud burst events (2) and circle (3) indicate the site of maximum devastation. b, The panoramic view of Chorabari Lake and Glacier, the red circle indicate the weak zone of the lake, where the lake was burst. c, The photograph showing the maximum devastation in Kedarnath town. d, Cartosat image ( Bhuwan ) of post disaster of the Kedarnath and surrounding areas and clearly indicating Chorabari Lake outburst. The red circle indicates the breaching point of the Lake. 13

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15. Is Only Nature Faulty….? 15

16. Man-made Causes of the disaster Pollution and global warming accounted for the melting of glaciers Violation of environmental laws and deforestation has also accounted for floods. Building of hydro electricity plants and increase in the infrastructural facilities have weaken the mountain causing land slides. Laxman Jhula Deforestation 16

17. Ecologists point out that the huge expansion of hydro-power projects and construction of roads to cope with lakhs of tourists in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh has compounded the scale of the disaster Currently 70 dams exist in the Char dham area alone. The dam constructions involve blasting of hills which increase the risk of land slides. More than 220 power and mining projects are running in 14 river valleys in Uttarakhand. Several rivers are being diverted through tunnels for these projects leading to major disasters in the state. 17

18. Consequences of The Kedarnath Tragedy 18

19. Consequences: Human Loss According to the official records 400 houses were destroyed and 265 were damaged 4,200 villages were victims of the flood 6,000 people were dead,10,000 were injured, 1800 were missing and 1,00,000 were stuck in the valley 19

20. Consequences : Economic loss Major roads, telephone towers were destroyed due to which communication with the outer world was lost. 20,000 crores loss was reported, which may be in the form of destruction of houses, roads, cars etc. 2232 were fully damaged houses 154 bridges were Damaged 1520 roads were Damaged Tourism constitutes about 30% of the state’s income which was lost All the shops and hotels were destroyed and all roads were broken 20

21. Rescue and Relief Operation The Army, Air Force, Navy, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Border Security Force, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Public Works Department and local administrations worked together for quick rescue operations. Several thousand soldiers were deployed for the rescue missions. Activists of political and social organizations were also involved in the rescue and management of relief centers. Helicopters were used to rescue people, but due to the rough terrain, heavy fog and rainfall, maneuvering them was a challenge. 21

22. By 21 June 2013, the Army had deployed 10,000 soldiers and 11 helicopters , the Navy had sent 45 naval divers , and the Air force had deployed 60 aircraft including 36 helicopters . From 19 June to 30 June 2013, the IAF airlifted a total of 18,424 people – flying a total of 2,137 sorties and dropping/landing a total of 3,36,930 kg of relief material and equipment. The woods had been brought to the site with helicopter for the funeral of the people who died in Uttarakhand flood 22

23. Special trains were employed by the government all over the country to cater the needs of the flood victims ITBP J awans distributed medicines to stranded pilgrims during Uttarakhand rescue operation 23

24. Indian army showed extreme levels of courage in saving the people. In this rescue mission operation ‘ Rahat ’ one helicopter got crashed and 20 bodies were found on the site. Local people distributed food to rescue pilgrims near IAF base camp in Dharasu 24

25. Financial assistance Prime Minister of India undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas and announced Rs. 1,000 crore (US$170 million) aid package for disaster relief efforts in the state Government also announced Rs. 2 lakh for total damaged houses in flood Several state governments also announced financial assistance: Uttar Pradesh Government: Rs. 25 crore, The governments of Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi: Rs. 10 crore each The governments of Tamil Nadu, Odisha , Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh: Rs. 5 crore each 25

26. International funds The US Ambassador to India extended a financial help of USD $150,000 through the United States Agency Also US announced that the US will provide further financial aid of USD $75,000. 26

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28. STRATEGY FOR REHABILITATION Close survey of the affected villages Assessment of nature of loss Priority areas for help and support Knowledge and technology support Rehabilitation of community Training and teaching to community to combat future disaster 28

29. The whole strategy must be in two major steps Immediate Plan Long Term Plan Immediate Plan: Food Utensils, Stove etc. Milk for children Clothes First aid Kit Emergency Shelter Sanitation Water filters Immediate Need 29

30. Long term Plan: Ecological and Economical Rehabilitation Livelihood support option Training on disaster management practices Shelter, House, Agriculture , Horticulture, Silvipas , Cattle Skill development, resource use Equipped community to combat disaster in future 30

31. Lessons Learnt A robust and strong Disaster Preparedness including increased awareness amongst all the stakeholders during planning and management in hazard-prone areas is essential More stress on identification of landslide susceptible areas should be given Codes for landslide zonation should also take into account the domino effects of flash flooding and effects of landslide run outs Creation of norms , regulatory mechanisms and strict compliance of land use zoning regulations in the mountains based on landslide zonation maps Constructions should be restrained from entering into active river regime and fluvial geomorphology 31

32. Measures to reduce the intensity of such disasters Protecting the environment can only be the way to reduce the risk of such disasters Putting cap on number of tourists may be a solution, which reduces the construction of hotels, expansion of roads Keeping a check on illegal constructions and on deforestation Alerting and transferring people to safe zones at proper time Training the people on how to take basic safety measures 32

33. References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttarakhand http://chimalaya.org/2013/07/30/kedarnath-disaster-facts-and-plausible-causes/ Uttarakhand flash floods – A report (2013). Indian Red Cross Society Uttarakhand Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre: http://dmmc.uk.gov.in/ Uttarakhand Disaster: Can the Nation learn any lessons? Transcript of the talk by Himanshu Thakkar, 22 August 2013, Bangalore 33

34. Thank you 34