It was everywhere. After the 2013 floods, experts as well as activists, had pointed out that the back-to-back dams on upper reaches of Ganga River and its tributaries like Mandakini, Bhagirathi and Alaknanda in Uttarakhand had intensified the magnitude of the disaster. All houses were filled with muck and in some cases, the water had completely covered the ground floor of the house. Uttarakhand, a highly disaster-prone state, witnessed one of the biggest natural disasters in independent India’s history when it was hit by heavy rainfall and flash floods across the state. How did a once water-rich village in Goa become entirely dependent on tankers? Meanwhile, even as impacts of big dams are being debated, India is looking at building the country’s highest dam in Uttarakhand. However, work restarted in 2018 and the project started operating in June last year. Over 1800 days have passed since the June 2013 floods that brought widespread tragedy to Uttarakhand. Mongabay-India is a conservation and environment news and features service that aims to bring high quality, original reports from nature’s frontline in India. The town around Kedarnath temple and the downstream area were heavily damaged due to the collapse of the Chorabari Lake that lies around 1.5 km upstream of Kedarnath. “I got only Rs. “Now even a rail route is being proposed and planned. The only aim visible is to benefit the contractors. But it seems that we have learnt nothing and we keep on repeating our old mistakes not respecting the fragile nature of the Himalayan ecosystem and not respecting the floodplains requirement of the rivers. More than 60 percent of Uttarakhand is covered with forests and they are huge storehouses of biodiversity. The latest plea to the union environment ministry was made in December 2017. 150 missing, three bodies recovered in Uttarakhand flash floods Sources said teams from ITBP, which has a base at Joshimath, about 26 km from Reni, along with units of the State Disaster Response Force have reached the spot. The goal of the programme is to rapidly implement a collaborative geospatial platform, integrate real-time and baseline data into the platform and deploy applications on the platform to support the emergency operation centers (EOC) and decision makers involved in disaster management in the state of Uttarakhand. As you all know few days back the Northern Indian states-Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and their adjoining areas have experienced heavy rainfall that triggered devastating floods and landslides.As of 21 June 2013, more than 1,000 people have died with many more missing. 2021 Uttarakhand floods ring alarm bell in Kashmir By Auqib Javeed, On February 13, at 10.34 p.m, when an earthquake of 6.3 magnitudes shook the whole Kashmir valley, 64-year-old Sarfaraz Khan hugged his children. There have been series of landslides/cloud burst/ flood events too. Srinagar was one of the worst-hit areas during the devastating June 2013 floods in Uttarakhand. Most of the district is still inaccessible. But there seems to be a ray of hope as the government has taken action to tackle disasters by trying to strengthen is disaster management authority. The classrooms and the training halls are still filled with the muck. 100,000) compensation and that too after a lot of haggling. 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Citing updated inputs received from local administration, ITBP spokesperson […] A period of heavy rain in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, has left at least 30 people dead and several houses destroyed or washed away, according to local media reports.… Read Full Article Floods Across Northern India – 6 States Affected How did a once water-rich village in Goa become entirely dependent on tankers? Even as the final decision on the case remains pending with the SC, more applications have reached the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), seeking environment clearance for dams and their construction has continued. CLOSE TO 150 people were reported missing with seven bodies recovered, and two hydro power projects and a key bridge severely damaged, by a flood likely set off by a glacial breach that surged through the Rishiganga river in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district Sunday morning, officials said. Pradeep Srivastava, a scientist at the Dehradun based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, said the region is disaster-prone and has seen similar disasters since the 1890s but the magnitude of the damage has increased. The area adjacent to Shakti Vihar, which includes the training ground of Sashastra Seema Bal, a paramilitary force of the Indian government, also suffered heavy damages. The whole area was filled with muck brought in by floods. Fearing a repeat of the 2016 experience, residents of Raini village petitioned the Uttarakhand High Court against it. Since then, the Uttarakhand government has been making efforts to get the, Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone notification, amended, seeking permission for constructing 10 hydropower projects on Bhagirathi River with a total capacity of 82.5 MW. The government has argued that they were allotted prior to issuance of the 2012 notification and were under different stages of development and implementation. The flood destroyed the footbridges and roads, rendering all of 70,000 people stuck across the regions because of no means of transportation. It cleared that till the muck disposal sites are identified and become operational, all construction activities or widening of roads on the river banks in the state shall remain stayed. The government’s disregard for the environment is visible in other aspects as well. The power channel (canal) of 330 Mw, Srinagar Hydro Electric Power (HEP) project has been leaking since December 16, 2018 affecting Surasu, Mangsu, Naur and Supana villagers in Srinagar, Uttrakhand. If completed, more than half of the 450 HEPs projects will have an installed capacity of five MW or more and majority of them will divert rivers through tunnels to powerhouses downstream. Flash flood is described as the flow of water catastrophically in a very short time span. “The water came rushing in. This is rapaciousness defined,” Bhanot added. According to a USAC study conducted between 2002 and 2018, some 26sqkm of the 243sqkm glaciated area in the Nanda Devi region had vanished in the previous 37 years because of global warming. The disaster coincided with the peak tourist and pilgrimage season which led to significant increase in the casualties and damage. More than nine million people were affected due to the flash floods. Is the Uttarakhand Tragedy Tied to Rawat Govt's Move to Reduce Water Flow from Hydro Projects? Another massive infrastructure project that started in the last couple of years is the 900 kilometre long all-weather Chardham highway widening project being built at a cost of Rs. Experts believe that the development of these projects will irreversibly affect the landscape of Uttarakhand. According to the Uttarakhand government’s disaster mitigation and management centre, these disasters are seasonal in nature and strike at a certain period of the year with high frequency. Uttarakhand floods: 32 dead, 197 still missing as boulders hamper rescue efforts in Tapovan tunnel Efforts are underway to rescue workers trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, two days after flash floods in the region swept away almost everything along the Alaknanda river system. Despite several expert committees questioning the role of a large number of dams spread across Uttarakhand, the state government has not slowed its push for more such dams as it believes hydropower is an important source of revenue and will bring development to the state. If in between this, such dams are created, it means we are playing with the natural water flow. India’s millets policy: is it headed in the right direction? A massive effort is underway to rescue at least 30 workers trapped in a tunnel at a power project site. Hriday Ram Kotnala, whose house is adjacent to the training ground, explained that before 2013, the training ground was several feet below the level of the locality but now it is several feet above the ground level of their colony due to muck deposition. As per official figures, over 5,700 people have been ‘presumed dead, … Read more "Uttarakhand Disaster" [Video] The invisible impact of mining on women, India to explore if there can be co-development of mining and ecology, The hits and misses of a mine reclamation project in Jharkhand, Using fossil fuel as a cash cow: A big obstacle in India’s energy transition. It is believed to have been caused by a landslide, an avalanche or a glacial lake outburst flood. This brought on overwhelming surges in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Western Nepal, and intense precipitation in other adjacent areas of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and a few sections of Tibet. Their fears were confirmed in the 2014 report of an expert committee, formed on Supreme Court’s order and led by environmentalist Ravi Chopra. The order asked the MoEFCC and Uttarakhand authorities to identify suitable sites, 500 metres away from the river banks, for disposal of muck and excavated material. Damage to bridges and roads left over 70,000 pilgrims and tourists trapped in various places,of whom, many were rescued. Glacier burst leads to massive flash flood in Uttarakhand | IndiaToday. I suffered heavy damage and everything was destroyed,” Upreti recounted to Mongabay-India while showing the restoration work he carried out. “We saw what happened in 2013 and all those mistakes are being repeated again. In the city of Dehra Dun, capital of Uttarakhand, this was the wettest June day for more than five decades. 14 lakh (Rs. Chamoli (Uttarakhand): Nearly 150 people are missing or “feared dead” as a sudden flood inundated a power project at Reni village in Joshimath area of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Sunday following a glacier burst, the ITBP, which is engaged in rescue and relief operations there, said. The dam that is being built near our village has a huge tunnel inside the fragile mountains. The government has argued that they were allotted prior to issuance of the 2012 notification and were under different stages of development and implementation. The mega hydropower project, the, 5,040 megawatt (MW) Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project (PMP). The 2021 Uttarakhand flood began on 7 February 2021 in the environs of the Nanda Devi National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the outer Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand state, India (Maps 1 and 2). This includes Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangootri, Pithoragarh and surrounding areas. Fallout from a devastating flash flood in Uttarakhand hit Delhi more than 500 kilometres downstream on Monday, when water supplies were cut to tens of thousands of residents. India’s millets policy: is it headed in the right direction? These forests are home to about 4500 plant species, of which 116 are endemic, representing an invaluable genetic resource. State authorities are continuing with their massive construction projects in ecologically sensitive areas and are even looking at diluting the stringent rules that are in place to protect these areas. Machines worth millions of rupees and several vehicles (cars and trucks) are still under the muck. On the fifth anniversary of the disaster,the situation is bleak. This is not planned development. This can be easily made up by more efficient power generation and transmission,” he added. National Disaster Response Force teams stationed in Uttarakhand have also left for the spot, sources said. Local villagers too fear another disaster. 120 billion (12,000 crores). by the Comptroller and the Auditor General of India had noted that the “natural terrain conditions combined with climatic/ weather conditions and haphazard human intervention resulted in the unprecedented disaster in the Kedar and Mandakini Valleys and in other parts of the state”. “Unabated construction of dams was one of the main reasons that amplified the destruction by 2013 floods but the governments are still following same policies which invited the 2013 disaster. “It is a very unfortunate fact that five years have passed by but the governments have not learnt the invaluable lessons that Kedarnath disaster brought to us which is, not to mess with the already overburdened ecology of the fragile vulnerable hills of Garhwal. At least 150 have died in Chamoli district, as per the Indo-Tibetan Border Police following a flash flood in the Rishi Ganga river near Joshimath on Sunday morning as a glacier broke up and fell into the river, exponentially increasing its volume. The most affected districts were Bageshwar, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi. In fact, A final decision about the amendment of the 2012 Bhagirathi ESZ is yet to be taken. “Local people are not benefiting from these projects. The entire Ganga, Brahmaputra, Sutlej and Saraswati plains have been formed due to the interaction between the river systems and mountains. The affidavit had stated that “existing dams and river water diversions have caused significant damage to the river length and have depleted and deprived the river with its original content thereby compromising the quality of the water downstream”. Mongabay-India is a conservation and environment news and features service that aims to bring high quality, original reports from nature’s frontline in India. (Uttarakhand Flash Floods: 2nd July 2013 by United Way of India) i. To add to that, the government is promoting preposterous tourism policies. We don’t even realise that ill-appropriate developmental activities in the Himalayas are going to make us suffer history one again,” said Manoj Misra of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan. It is a significant order as illegal muck disposal in rivers has been often called out as one of the main culprits in escalating the level of disasters like floods in Uttarakhand, as it raises the level of the riverbed. Rules are not followed in such projects and in many cases government collude with these private corporations. end of article. “Nearly the whole colony was underwater. It’s a scene I will never forget.”. While Upreti has spent most of his savings restoring his life and home, many of those living around him do not possesses the resources to recover from the disaster at their own cost. ii. Uttarakhand Flood Disaster: Role of Human Actions 1 Central Water Commission’s (CWC) non-existent Flood Forecasting in Uttarakhand 6 How do they add to the disaster It has been estimated that about 6,000 people were killed, found missing or presumed dead, 4,200 villages were affected, 9,200 cattle/livestock were lost and 3,320 houses were completely damaged due to the floods. The preparedness to deal with any similar extreme event is as bad as it was a few years ago,” warned Vimal Bhai. The pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath bustle with pilgrims from all over the country, especially in July and on wards. We will not understand the effect now because these things act beyond human time scales,” said Srivastava. In a letter, the chairman of the court-appointed High Powered Committee Ravi Chopra had attributed the Uttarakhand flash flood to the Rs 12,000-crore road project. What do you get? the 16th and 17th June as well as the whole of Uttarakhand between 15th-18th June, we are faced with severe limitations: there are no daily rainfall figures for any regions worst hit by floods, rainfall and landslides. The temperatures are also rising in Uttarakhand, the report states, saying maximum temperature in the Chamoli area has increased at the rate of 0.032 degrees C per year between 1980 and 2018. The region has one of the most important pilgrimage circuits in India.The disaster took place during the peak tourist and the pilgrimage season. Flash flood is the disastrous result of hydrological disturbance. “The unrelenting insistence demanding approval for the 10 hydropower projects of the total capacity of 82.5 MW is simply incomprehensible. A massive flooding has resulted in Dhauliganga River, Joshimath in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, on Sunday after a glacier breach in the area. The government of India as well as of Uttarakhand is not interested in improving the situation. Back in Shakti Vihar in Srinagar town, there are visible remnants of the damage as the muck brought in by floods can still be found in gardens or verandahs of homes. There will be a constant danger to our lives,” said Sushila Devi, an activist from the Banswara area. A 2015 report by the Comptroller and the Auditor General of India had noted that the “natural terrain conditions combined with climatic/ weather conditions and haphazard human intervention resulted in the unprecedented disaster in the Kedar and Mandakini Valleys and in other parts of the state”. Furthermore, January 2021 was the warmest January on record in Uttarakhand for six decades, the report states. He vividly recalls the day, five years ago, when one of the worst natural disasters struck his hometown. A sudden and unknown glacial lake burst, or an avalanche hit the lakes of Uttarakhand on the 7th of February 2021, morning resulting in a lethal situation. The area adjacent to Shakti Vihar, which includes the training ground of Sashastra Seema Bal, a paramilitary force of the Indian government, also suffered heavy damages. Take a disaster-prone area, add some lax administration and generous helpings of construction projects and voila! Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand Flood: At least 18 people are missing after a flood in the Tons River washed away around 20 houses in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district on … But it seems no lessons have been learnt. The actual power available to the state will be about 38 MW which is less than 10 percent of the current installed capacity inside the Bhagirathi ESZ. It is obvious that the government is in the hands of the vested interests,” said environmentalist Ravi Chopra, who is a member of another expert committee, appointed by the National Green Tribunal, to draft the zonal master plan for the Bhagirathi ESZ. “River connectivity has become an important parameter. Dams in disaster-prone areas are sometimes considered to amplify floods and earthquakes because of impact on the river’s course, water levels and ecosystem and poor management which can further worsen the situation. Over 250 of these projects are still on the drawing board and growing concerns about the effect of dams on biodiversity and riverine ecosystems have not helped their case either. Earlier this week, the Uttarakhand High Court ordered a halt on all construction activities along river banks, construction of hydropower projects and road construction projects in Uttarakhand, until authorities develop proper muck disposal sites. “It has been five years since the devastating floods occurred but the conditions in Uttarakhand are as they were. 5th anniversary of devastating Uttarakhand floods: Over 5,000 still deemed missing I agree that electricity is our need but big dams are not needed. 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Claims of large-scale development activities inviting more danger are not ill-founded as Uttarakhand has a history of natural disasters where landslides, forest fires, cloudbursts and flash-floods area common phenomenon. 1.4 million) to restore my house,” added Upreti, who is now fighting a case for enhanced compensation. According to data from the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL), the state plans to develop 450 hydroelectric projects (HEPs) to harness its potential of 27,039 MW. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) notification, implementation of the integrated geospatial platform, You may republish Mongabay content in your publication at no cost, The story of Jakkur lake sets an example for inclusive rejuvenation projects, Welcome to Tsomgo lake: Please don’t litter, Managing waste to save the wetlands of Himachal Pradesh, The monks who protect the Bhagajang wetland. According to government records, about 6,000 people were killed, found missing or presumed dead, 4,200 villages were affected, 9,200 cattle/livestock were lost and 3,320 houses were fully damaged. Due to a cloudburst resulting in heavy rains on 14 June 2013, the banks of the lake Chorbaria Tal (Ghandi-Sarovar) situated above Kendarnath village burst causing flash floods and landslides and washing away villages downstream. Rules are not followed in such projects and in many cases government collude with these private corporations.
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