EVS PROJECT

ON

From 14 to 17 June 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 meters, and
eruption of the Mandakini
River which led to heavy
floods near Gobindghat,
Kedar Dham, Rudraprayag
district, Uttarakhand,
Himachal Pradesh and
Western Nepal, and acute
rainfall in other nearby
regions of Delhi, Haryana,
Uttar Pradesh and some
parts of Tibet.

DISASTER HAPPENED IN
UTTRAKHAND 2013

SUBMITTED BY:SHUBHAM AGRAWAL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We, SHUBHAM AGRAWAL and PRIYANSHU RAWAT of
B.Tech-CCVT under enrollment number R110213023,
R110213053 respectively, are highly grateful to Dr. Aarti
Jain for his untiring help and encouragement during the
course of project titled DISASTER HAPPENED IN
UTTRAKHAND 2013. I highly acknowledge, with deepest
sense of gratitude and indebtedness, his great
coordination and support throughout the course of work.

CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Origin
3. Death and Damage
4. Damage at Kedarnath town
5. Rescue operations
6. Aftermath
7. Relief Funds
8. Environmental issue
9. Scientific Analysis
10. Bibliography

Introduction
In June 2013, a multi-day cloudburst centered on the North Indian state
of Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and landslides in the
country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami. Though parts
of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in India, some
regions of Western Nepal, and some parts of Western Tibet also
experienced heavy rainfall, over 95% of the casualties occurred in
Uttarakhand. As of 16 July 2013, according to figures provided by the
Uttarakhand government, more than 5,700 people were "presumed
dead." This total included 934 local residents.

Destruction of bridges and roads left about 100,000 pilgrims and

tourists trapped in the valleys leading to three of the four Hindu Chota
Char Dham pilgrimage sites. The Indian Air Force, the Indian Army, and
paramilitary troops evacuated more than 110,000 people from the flood
ravaged area.

Origin
From 14 to 17 June 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 meters, and eruption
of the Mandakini River which led to heavy floods near Gobindghat,
Kedar Dome, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and
Western Nepal, and acute rainfall in other nearby regions of Delhi,
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Tibet.

The upper Himalayan territories of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand

are full of forests and snow-covered mountains and thus remain
relatively inaccessible. They are home to several major and historic
Hindu and Sikh pilgrimage sites besides several tourist spots and
trekking trails. Heavy rainfall for four consecutive days as well as
melting snow aggravated the floods. Warnings by the India

Meteorological Department predicting heavy rains were not given wide

publicity beforehand, causing thousands of people to be caught
unaware, resulting in huge loss of life and property. In the city of Dehra
Dun, capital of Uttarakhand, this was the wettest June day for over five
decades.

Death and Damage

Landslides, due to the floods, damaged several houses and structures,

killing those who were trapped. The heavy rains in large flashfloods and
massive landslides. Entire villages and settlements such as Gaurikund
and the market town of Ram Bada, a transition point to Kedarnath,
have been obliterated, while the market town of Sonprayag suffered
heavy damage and loss of lives. Pilgrimage centers in the region,
including Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, the hallowed
Hindu Chardham (four sites) pilgrimage centers, are visited by
thousands of devotees, especially after the month of May onwards.
Over 70,000 people were stuck in various regions because of damaged
or blocked roads. People in other important locations like the Valley of
flowers, Roopkund and the Sikh pilgrimage centre Hemkund were
stranded for more than three days. National Highway 58, an important
artery connecting the region was also washed away near Jyotirmath
and in many other places. Because summers have more number of
tourists, the number of people impacted is substantial. For more than

three days, stranded pilgrims and tourists were without rations or

survived on little food. The roads were seriously damaged at more than
450 places, resulting in huge traffic jams, and the floods caused many
cars and other vehicles to be washed away. On June 18, more than
12,000 pilgrims were stranded at Badrinath, the popular pilgrimage
center located on the banks of the Alaknanda River. Rescuers at the
Hindu pilgrimage town of Haridwar on the river Ganga recovered bodies
of 40 victims washed down by the flooded rivers as of June 21 2013.
Bodies of people washed away in Uttarakhand were found in distant
places like Bijnor, Allahabad and Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh.

Damage at Kedarnath town

A temple building made in stone and ice capped mountains seen in
background. Situated in the Himalayan ranges, the town that grew
around the Kedarnath Temple one of the famous temples of Shiva in
India and part of the Char Dham yatra, was damaged by the floods and
landslides caused by heavy rain.

Although the Kedarnath Temple itself had not been damaged, its base
was inundated with water, mud and boulders from the landslide,
damaging its perimeter. Many hotels, rest houses and shops around the
temple in Kedarnath Township were destroyed, resulting in several
casualties. Most of the destruction at Kedarnath was caused by a
sudden rapid melting of ice and snow on the Kedarnath Mountain, 6 km
(3.7 mi) from the temple, which flooded the Charbari Lake (upstream)

and then Kedarnath. Temple was flooded with water resulting in several
deaths due to drowning and panic-driven stampede. The Uttarakhand
Government announced that due to the extensive damage to the
infrastructure, the temple will be temporarily closed to regular pilgrims
and tourists for a year or two, but the temple rituals will still be
maintained by priests. Even after a week, dead bodies had not been
removed from Kedarnath town, resulting in water contamination in the
Kedarnath valley and villagers who depend on spring water suffered
various types of health problems like fever, diarrhea. When the flood
receded, satellite images showed one new stream at Kedarnath town.

Rescue operations
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 are also involved
in the rescue and management of relief centres.The national highway
and other important roads were closed to regular traffic. Helicopters
were used to rescue people, but due to the rough terrain, heavy fog and
rainfall, maneuvering them was a challenge. 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 43 aircraft including 36
helicopters. From 17 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.

On June 25, one of 3 IAF Mil Mi-17 rescue helicopters returning from
Kedarnath, carrying 5 Air Force Officers, 9 of the NDRF, and 6 of the
ITBP crashed on a mountainous slope near Gauri Kund, killing all on
board. The deceased soldiers were given a ceremonial Guard of honour
by Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde at a function organized by the
Uttarakhand State Government.

Aftermath
Prime Minister of India undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas
and announced INR1000 crore (US$170 million) aid package for disaster
relief efforts in the state. Several state governments announced
financial assistance, with Uttar Pradesh Government pledging INR25
crore (US$4.2 million), the governments of Haryana, Maharashtra and
Delhi INR10 crore (US$1.7 million) each, the governments of Tamil
Nadu, Odisha, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh INR5 crore
(US$850,000) each. The US Ambassador to India extended a financial
help of USD $150,000 through the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) to the NGOs working in the area.
And announced that the US will provide further financial aid of USD
$75,000.
The Government of India also cancelled 9 batches, or half the annual
batches of the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra, a Hindu pilgrimage. The
Chardham Yatra pilgrimage, covering Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath
and Badrinath was cancelled for 2 years to repair damaged roads and
infrastructure, according to the Uttarakhand Government.
Government agencies and priests of Kedarnath temple were planning
mass cremation of the hundreds of victims, after one week of tragedy.
Local youths from several affected villages near Gangotri helped
stranded tourists and pilgrims, by sending messages to their places and
by providing food. Rescuers also retrieved approximately INR1 crore
(US$170,000) and other jewellery from local persons, including some
sadhu babas (or religious men), who reportedly collected it from a
destroyed building of a Bank and damaged shops

Relief Funds
After the disastrous floods, many of the natives were now living without
shelter. Therefore, to help and fund these people, the government and
many other NGO's have decided to lead donation campaigns. One of
such campaigns is known as Goonj. Many newspapers and magazines
have published articles about these campaigns so that the common
people of India can donate some amount of money in order to help
these people.

Environmental issue
Unprecedented destruction by the rainfall witnessed in Uttarakhand
state was attributed, by environmentalists, to unscientific
developmental activities undertaken in recent decades contributing to
high level of loss of property and lives. Roads constructed in haphazard
style, new resorts and hotels built on fragile river banks and more than
70 hydroelectric projects in the watersheds of the state led to a
"disaster waiting to happen" as termed by certain environmentalists.
The environmental experts reported that the tunnels built and blasts
undertaken for the 70 hydroelectric projects contributed to the
ecological imbalance in the state, with flows of river water restricted
and the streamside development activity contributing to a higher
number of landslides and more flooding.

A scientific analysis of the reasons for the disaster that

struck Uttarakhand, particularly the temple town.
By R. RAMACHANDRAN

THE primary trigger for the Uttarakhand disaster following the very
heavy rain during June 16-18 was the extremely unusual behavior of the
monsoon this year over north India. The incessant, heavy rainfall over
three days, perhaps accompanied by a few cloudburst-type events
(which cannot be confirmed), resulted in flash floods and associated
landslides. The devastation all round in their wake has been huge but
the largest impact has been at the temple town of Kedarnath, which
was in the midst of the annual pilgrimage season, with tens of
thousands of people thronging the town and the downstream region
along the Mandakini river .

Rainfall measurements for June 16 and 17 at the Dehradun station, of

220 millimeters and 370 mm respectively, indicate the severity of the
rain during these days in the region. Haridwar received 107 mm and
218 mm of rainfall on the two days. Uttarkashi received 122 mm and
207 mm. While Mukteshwar (altitude over 2,000 meters) received 237
mm and 183 mm respectively on June 17 and 18, Nainital on the same
days received 176 mm and 170 mm. Though rainfall over a 24-hour
period in different parts of Uttarakhand has greatly exceeded these
figures in the past (on many occasions above 450-500 mm and once
even 900 mm at Rajpur near Dehradun), prolonged heavy rainfall for
nearly three days over a large area is perhaps unprecedented, and the
cumulative effect, compounded by geophysical, meteorological and
environmental factors, may be the reason for the enormity of the
disaster.
More pertinently, these numbers do not give the actual quantitative
picture of the very heavy rainfall in the higher reaches of the Himalayas
(above 3,000 m) in Uttarakhand, where Kedarnath, Gangotri and
Badrinath are located and where the impact has been most severe. This
is because the rain gauge stations of the India Meteorological
Department (IMD) are all located largely in the lower Himalayan
reaches (below 2,000 m) and there are no stations in the higher reaches
(above 3000 m). This is probably because snowfall data is regarded as
more important than detailed rainfall data in these regions. As a result,
there is no proper estimate of the rainfall in the affected regions

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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