FLASH FLOODS IN UTTARAKHAND Anjana Alex . Hari j . Jinu jeeva .

Lakshmi B S . Rebecca M
THE FURY OF THE GANGES
 INTRODUCTION
Triggered by the very heavy rainfall and
cloudburst,
Uttarakhand faced the most devastating
flash flood on 16-17 June 2013. This
affected 12 out of the 13 districts
in Uttarakhand.
Due to Continuous Rain the Chorabari
Glacier melted and this triggered the
Glacier melted and this triggered the
flooding of the Mandakini riverflooding of
the Mandakini river
Which led to heavy floods near
Gobindghat, Kedar Dome, Rudraprayag
district.
HOW FLASH FLOODS OCCUR
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS CULMINATING INTO THE
JUNE 2013 DISASTER
Heavy precipitation in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand (15th17thJune)
Bursting of glacial lakes increased debris laden discharge in streams
Rising of water level upto 5-7 m
Heavy toe erosion and flooding
Fresh landsliding along steep river banks & slopes
Loss of properties and lives & road links
 CAUSES
1. Melting of glaciers, because of global warming has
been of the reasons. Pollution and global warming
accounted for the melting of glaciers.
2. Violation of environmental laws and deforestation has
also accounted for floods.
3. Building of hydro electricity plants and increase in the
infrastructural facilities have weaken the mountain
causing land slides.
4. Unchecked growth of tourism,
 CAUSES
1. Unchecked Rapid increase of roads, hotels, shops
and multi-storey housing in ecologically fragile
areas
2. Currently 70 dams exist in the Char dham area
alone.The dam constructions involve blasting of hills
which increase the risk of land slides.
3. 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.
 NATURAL CAUSES
Heavy Rainfall / Flash floods
Water of Heavy rainfall concentrates and flows quickly through urban paved area and impounded in to low lying area
raising the water level. It creates more havoc when a main drain or a river passing through the area over-flows or
breaches
Lack of Lakes
Lakes can store the excess water and regulate the flow of water.When lakes become smaller, their ability to regulate
the flow become less and hence flooding.
Silting
The drains carry large amounts of sediments and deposited in the lower courses making beds shallower thus channel
capacity is reduced. When there is heavy rain, these silted drains cant carry full discharge and result in flooding
 HUMAN CAUSES
Population pressure

Because of large amount of people, more materials are needed, like wood, land, food, etc. This aggravates overgrazing, over cultivation and soil
erosion which increases the risk of flooding.

Deforestation

Large areas of forests near the rivers/catchment of cities are used tomake rooms for settlements, roads and farmlands and is being cleared due to
which soil is quickly lost to drains. This raises the drain bed causing overflow and in turn urban flooding.

Trespassing on water storm drains

The areas which were essentially created by the storm water drains to let their flood waters pass freely being tress-passed for developmental
purposes result in obstruction of water flow and thus contributed immensely to the fury of floods.

Urbanisation

It leads to paving of surfaces which decreases ground absorption and increases the speed and amount of surface flow. The water rushes down
suddenly into the streams from their catchment areas leading to a sudden rise in water level and flash floods. Unplanned urbanisation is the key
cause of urban flooding. Various kinds of depression and low lying areas near or around the cities which were act as cushions and flood absorbers
are gradually filled up and built upon due to urbanisation pressure. This results in inadequate channel capacity causing urban flooding.
 FACTORS
Unplanned development is destroying the ecology of the mountains
Insufficient resources
Absence of tourism management
Non-existent governing authority
No crowd management
Reduction in forest cover
Inaccurate and incomplete prediction by the Met department
INACCURATE AND INCOMPLETE PREDICTION &
LACK OF ACTION PLANS.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahugun said that
the Disaster Management Committee in the state
had not met for six years and they were not at all
prepared to handle such a huge catastrophe.
The National Disaster Communication Network and
the National Disaster Management Informatics
System are still in the planning stage, seven years
after conceptualization.
FACTORS THAT HELP IN FORECASTING
Magnitude, efficiency, and direction of runoff
Stream flow conditions
Size of the drainage basin
Precipitation intensity
Precipitation duration
Storm location, movement, and evolution with
respect to the basin
FACTORS THAT HELP IN FORECASTING
Soil type, soil depth, and antecedent soil moisture conditions
Amount and type of vegetation covering the soil
Land use characteristics including urbanization and deforestation
General topography and slope of the land 4 Time of year (season)
Red region shows predicted affected area due to severe rainfall.

Major Cities affected :

1. BARKOT
2. KIRTINAGAR
3. MUNIKIRETI
4. NARENDRANAGAR
5. PAURI
6. RAIWALA
7. RISHIKESH
8. RUDRAPRAYAG
9. SRINAGAR
10. TEHRI
11. UTTARKASHI
 WARNING SYSTEMS
The Uttarakhand state does not have automatic weather stations on pilgrimage routes or now casting
system despite its vulnerability to rains and flash floods.
The 24 hour advance prediction of rather heavy rains on the first two days changed to heavy rains (64.5-
124.4mm) on June 15 by the meteorological centre in Delhi. However the Dept warned them only when the
showers were close to its peak.
The centre issued warning for extremely heavy rains for June 16 and 17. But the state did not swing into
action despite the warnings.

Between 15 and 18 June, Uttarakhand got 261cm of rain. It typically gets only 16cm in the whole of June
and 123cm through the whole monsoon season from June to September.
It was only at 5pm on June 16 that the government issued a disaster warning, informing people about the
blocked and open roads to the pilgrimage centers.
The rescue operations were started only on June 17, morning which clearly shows the state governments
mere reaction to the situation.
Reconstruction and Retrofitting
PHASE 1
The government has devised a two-pronged strategy
to restore the Kedarnath temple area. In the first
phase, the government would construct protection
walls behind the 800 year old Lord Shiva temple, re-
channelizing Mandakini and Saraswati rivers and
taking flood control measures at Kedarnath area. The
restoration work of the Kedarnath shrine will only be
done by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
PHASE 2
In the second phase, the government
would develop a new township at
Lyncholi near Kedarnath and also a
ropeway from Lyncholi to Kedarnath. All
those buildings that have been declared
unsafe at Kedarpuri will be demolished.
The work for the stabilization of slopes will
also begin.

For this massive reconstruction

and rehabilitation plan, the state
government would seek an additional Rs
4,000 crore from the centre. This will be in
addition to the Rs 7,500 crore package
announced by the previous UPA
government.
 RECONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES, ROADS &
COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE:
Reconstruction of damaged houses and
public buildings, and road and
communication infrastructure is one of the
top-priorities where the aim should be to
reduce the vulnerability to different kinds
of hazards (especially earthquake, flood,
landslides and forest fires) and restore
access to basic amenities and services of
governance. Any reconstruction activity of
houses and public buildings should be
taken up only at safer and
environmentally suitable places and as far
as possible close to the original locations.
Uttarakhand is prone to frequent natural and man-made/induced hazards like- flash-floods,
landslides, forest fires, earthquakes, Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) and avalanche.

Land degradation processes, particularly soil erosion, are other major concern as they have
adverse impact on the productivity and environment in the long-term.

Climate change with accompanied environmental degradation poses further threat as it will
potentially increase the vulnerability of the society to natural hazards in future. Therefore,
relatively safe places for human settlements, new tourist sites, and infrastructure should be
identified based on scientific analysis of available spatial and non-spatial data.

The multi-hazard risk zoning and land suitability analysis form the key for reconstruction activities
and optimal land use planning. Geographical Information System (GIS), rainfall-runoff and flash
flood modelling, debris flow modelling, are some of the approaches that could be used for
comprehensive risk assessment and identifying safer and environmentally sustainable zones for
reconstruction.
RETROFITTING
Conservation of Natural Resources and Environment:

About 6.6% area of the state is constituted by culturable wasteland and

permanent fallow lands. About 11.6% area of the state comes under degraded
land, most part of this constituted by the wastelands and permanent fallow lands.
Although about 61% of the geographical area is under forest but a considerable
portion of it is under degraded forest cover.
STRENGTHENING SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONAL
NETWORK:
Himalayan region is data scarce and, therefore, a strong network of instrumented
observatories is required to improve the quality and availability of scientific data
on land, water and air. These data are needed essentially for two purposes:
(1) early warning for natural hazards
(2) monitoring and evaluating (before, during and after) the developmental
activities, projects and programmes and even the disasters.
Strengthening institutional capacity and linkage:
An efficient emergency response and planning process depends on the timeliness
of many actions based on real-time, simulated as well as ancillary spatial and
non-spatial information. There is an urgent need to strengthen the institutional
capacity of the state government departments (e.g. State Emergency Operation
Centre (SEOC), Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC),
Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC), Uttarakhand Council of Science &
Technology (UCOST), Geology and Mining Unit) in terms of technical expertise
(including number of staff) and facility 11 augmentation.
CAPACITY BUILDING
A systematic approach was followed for the capacity building of the complete
disaster damage assessment. Capacity building of local people, mainly
postgraduate students, has been carried out by organising two training courses,
each of three days duration. The first programme was attended by participants
from KU and WIHG, while the second programme was mainly attended by the
participants from HNBGU and a few participants from WIHG. A total of 149
participants (130 students and 19 faculty/scientists) participated in the two training
programmes
The participants were trained on all the aspects of the post- disaster data
collection methods. They were taken to a prototype field area and were trained
on various kinds of damages that can occur during a natural disaster. Extensive
hands-on training was conducted on mobile app using smart phone.
Apart from it they were also trained on theoretical aspect of the natural disaster
management using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The topics were divided
into 3 days so that the participants get clear understanding of the process.
 COMMUNITY BASED DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
PLAN
Preparedness to face disasters is required at all levels right from the Household to the state Government to
minimize the impact of Disasters.
.The community is the first responder of any disaster and develops some traditional coping mechanisms to
reduce their vulnerabilities. The participation of the community is vital .

What is a cbd?
Community Based Disaster Preparedness Plans (CBDP) is a list of activities a community decides to follow to
prevent loss of life, livelihoods and property in case of a disaster. It also identifies well in advance, actions to
be taken by individuals in the community so that each one is aware of his/ her responsibilities when an
emergency warning is received. The plans involve providing training to the community people to make
them aware and responsible to protect themselves during and post disasters
CBDP IN UTTARAKHAND
Uttrakhand did not have a community based planning or forcasting system.
Weather alert not heeded: State officials have claimed that they could not take timely disaster
mitigation action because they did not have adequate or specific advance warning, said Dr. Anand
Sharma, Director, Meteorological Centre, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

One approach that needs to be implemented is the community based development preparedness.
PREPERATION OF FINAL PLAN DOCUMENT ON A
STANDARD BASE
The final plan document for all communities should include the following
1. Report in a written format of final analysis
2. Resource map & vulnerability map
3. Community disaster risk management map
a. Resource map
b. Evacuation plan
4. List of Task Forces
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
On 23 December 2005, the Government of India (GOl) took a defining step by enacting the
Disaster Management Act, 2005, (here in after referred to as the Act) which envisaged the
creation of the
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister,
State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by the Chief Ministers,
District Disaster management Authorities (DDMAs) headed by the District Collector or District
Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner
To adopt a holistic and integrated approach to DM.
INSTITUTION / AGENCIES
LOCAL BODIES
National Executive Committee
NEC will be responsible for preparing the national plan, getting it approved by the NDMA and
then operationalising it. The NEC will also require any department or agency of the government
to make available such men or material resources for the purposes of handling threatening
disasters, emergency response, rescue and relief, as required by the NDMA. It will coordinate the
response in the event of any threatening disaster situation or disaster. It will also perform such
other functions as the NDMA may require it to perform
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)

Other agencies
The Central Flood Control Board
Ganga Flood Control Commission
EXTERNAL LINKAGES AND FOREIGN ASSISTANCE
The Government of India is a member of various international organisations in the
field ofdisaster response and relief. Main linkages exist with the following organisations:
a) UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), which has been
made responsible by UN General Assembly mandate for all international disaster
response.
b) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), responsible for mitigation and
preventionbaspects of disaster management.
c) UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) System.
EXTERNAL LINKAGES AND FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

In case of Uttarakand flash floods, the World Bank provided a loan of $250 million for its
post-disaster recovery plans,to build disaster resilient roads and houses as well as to
strengthen its capacity for disaster risk management.
The loan helped to construct about 3,600 km of roads and close to 2,500 permanent
houses in Uttarakhand.
The government also received a loan of Rs 3000 crore from Asian Development Bank
which was utilized in re-developing and re-building infrastructure like roads, drinking
water projects, irrigation, power
 EXTERNAL LINKAGES AND FOREIGN ASSISTANCE
International Federation of Red Cross and Red crescent socities

. The Indian Red Cross responded to the Uttarakhand disaster by mobilising the National
disaster response team (NDRT), Regional disaster response team (RDRT) and National disaster
watsan response team (NDWRT) members who were alerted for possible deployment.
The Indian Red Cross Society, supported by the IFRC, assisted in the response since the
flooding began. Over 100 volunteer emergency first medical responders were providing first
aid to those affected by the disaster. The organization worked closely with the local
authorities, helping in evacuation and rescue efforts as well as setting up relief camps,
providing
The suppliesAssociation
International and establishing the restoring
for Human Valuesfamily
and links service
Art of Living Foundation
The International Association for Human Values and Art of Living Foundation
IAHV, in partnership with AOLF established a disaster relief fund to provide humanitarian
assistance to the victims of the floods in Uttarakhand. Volunteers were on the ground providing
emergency relief including food, medicine and trauma relief to the victims of the disaster.
EXTERNAL LINKAGES AND FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

IAHV - ART OF LIVING ACTIVITIES

1.Emergency Response Task Force Training (ERFT)
2. Distribution of Kripal sheets for construction of temperory
sheds inUttarakashi
3. Construction of Bridges
UN
A Rapid Needs Assessment was undertaken by a
UNICEF team. The assessment, prepared by the UN
agency along with the government, covered a range of
issues including health, nutrition, livelihood and
shelter.
 EXTERNAL LINKAGES AND FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

In response to the devastating floods in Uttarakhand, the UNDMT provided technical support to the
state government in the transition to recovery.
Subsequent to this assessment, planning and coordinated was phased for the future
with the government playing a major role as an enabler. The UN on its part coordinated and
supported the government in monitoring implementation. In addition, it formulated plans for capacity
building efforts in social sectors at the district level.