 1.

Uttarakhand Disaster Relief & Rehabilitation Initiative - An Update (as on 18 July

2013) The continuous rains from 14 -17 June 2013 accompanied by cloubdburts caused grave
natural disaster in the hills of Uttarakhand impacting five districts - Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag
(which also has the Kedarnath Valley), Chamoli, Tehri and Pithoragarh. The tradegy having
struck at the time of the Char Dham yatra, both the locals and visiting piligrims were impacted
by the calamity. More than 1 lakh people were rescued in the ensuing rescue effort. As per
official estimates as on date, 580 people have been declared dead and 5748 are missing. In
addition to the immense loss of precious lives and damage to property & infrastructure, the
disaster has also caused loss of livelihoods, the economy of Garhwal hills depending primarily
upon the Char Dham yatra for sustenance. The rebuilding effort required is massive and at
least medium term Flood affected areas NATURE’S FURY Photographs taken by CII Team

 2. CII is carrying out relief and rehabilitation under the aegis of the CII Foundation.
PHASE 1 - Relief camps to be organized at each of the Tehsils of district Rudraprayag -
Jakholi, Rudraprayag, Ukhimath. In Chamoli camp to be organized at Narayanbagar in Pinder
Valley PHASE 2 - Rehabilitation in district Rudraprayag - Broad Focus (The specific
intervention area and plan will be finalized in consultation with the State Government) CII
team spent 5 days visiting Rudraprayag & Chamoli districts. from 29 June - 3 July 2013,
interacting with the villagers to understand their requirements. The team also met with District
Magistrate Chamoli, Deputy District Magistrate Rudraprayag, SDM Rudraprayag, Tehsildars,
Members of Gram Panchayats & Patwaris. Tehsil Jakholi - Camps held at Sumadi & Chaka on
16 July 2013. 100 families from 10 villages reached out. Narayanbagar - Camp held on 17
July 2013, 150 families from 30 villages reached out. Material distributed: Waterpurifiers,
Solar Lanterns with mobile charging facility, Cots, Mattresses, Quilts, Blankets, Hygiene
items & Torches. Agastmuni—Distribution held over 3 days 20 to 22 July 2013, 143 families
from 21 villages reached out. In addition to the above relief material Temporary shelters and
medicines were also provided. Next camp planned at: Tehsil Ukhimath - Camp dates yet to be
finalized. • House Building (Pre fab houses) • School & Community Centres • Making clean
drinking water available • Explore Livelihoods for locals • Explore special projects with
NGOs • Facilitating Backhoe loaders for road repairs from member companies - 3 provided by
JCB India Ltd, another 3 being provided by Tractors India Pvt Ltd • Medicines handed over to
CMO District Rudraprayag.
 3. Mantosh Sondhi Centre 23 Institutional Area, Lodhi Road New Delhi (India) -
110003 Ph: 011-24629994-7 Fax: 011-24682229 CII Uttarakhand State Office 30/1, Rajpur
Road, Nepal House Dehradun (Uttarakhand) - 248001 Ph: 0135.2745120 Fax: 0135-2745121
We have also received contributions from CII Staff & Staff of Member companies For making
a contribution please contact following CII Staff: Rajesh Gopinathan (NCR) - 98180 95427 /
Vijay Thakur (Chandigarh) - 98153 53521 / Vibha Malhotra (Uttarakhand) - 99970 30901 Dr
Lalit Mishra, SDM Agastmuni Mr Md Aslam, DDO, Narayanbagar Mr Rajendra Nautiyal,
Social Worker Rudraprayag Mr Avtar Singh Rana, Social Worker Agastmuni Mr H S Rawat,
Social Worker Chamoli Mr Puran Lal, Patwari, Chaka Mr Asadu Lal, Patwari, Kotbangar Mr
Y S Rana, Patwari, Agastmuni Mr S P Bhatt, Patwari, Turetha, Jakholi Jamna Lal Bajaj
Foundation DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd TIL Welfare Trust SRF Welfare Trust Jubilant
Lifesciences Ltd & Its Employees Aertex Electrovoice Corp Akums Drugs & Pharmaceuticals
Ltd Ambica Steels Ltd Anup Industries Ltd Associated Soapstone Distributing Company
Astra Microwave Avaneetha Textiles Pvt Ltd Avond Mold Plast Pvt Ltd Beeam Industries Pvt
Ltd Bengal Tools Ltd Bosch Limited BRK Commodity India Ltd Capitol Nonwovens
Chemtura Chemicals India Pvt Ltd Cholayil Pvt Ltd Colgate Palmolive (India) Ltd Cooper
Bussmann India Pvt. Ltd Daya Krishna Vidyawati Charity Trust Defence Equippers Deki
Electronics Ltd Diamond International Pvt Ltd Drish Shoes Ltd Dr Sabharwal’s
Manufacturing Labs Eagle Burgmann India Pvt Ltd ED&S India Elin Appliances Pvt Ltd
Essel Propack Ltd Eveready Industries India Ltd Everest Industries Fairfield Manufacturing
Company Flora o Foods Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd Godrej Consumer
Products Limited Gravita India Ltd Grundfos Pumps India Pvt Ltd & Its Employees Guru
Nanak Auto Enterprises Ltd Great Value Hotels HIIPL Unitech Trade Centre Hi - Tech Gears
Ltd Honeywell & Its Employees Hotel Padmini Nivas, Mussoorie IDS Infotech Ltd & Its
Employees Integra Software Jaipur Rugs Co Pvt Ltd Janatics JCB India Ltd Johnson &
Johnson Ltd Jindal Steels JVS Foods Pvt Ltd Kalpa Industries KHS Machinery Pvt Ltd
Kusalava International Ltd KVS Group & Its Employees Linaks Pressings Maco Private
Limited Maini Group Mark Exhaust Systems Ltd Mastek Ltd Mayur Leather Products Ltd
Mayur Uniquoters Limited Mercedes - Benz India Pvt Ltd Micromatic Grinding Technologies
Ltd Minda Corporation Ltd & Its Employees More Pen Laboratories Mrs Bector’s Food
Specialties Ltd National Engineering Industries Ltd Neptune Life sciences Pvt Ltd NIMH
Technolinks North Shore Technologies Pvt Ltd On The Go Overlikon Balzers Coating
Overlikon Textiles Overlikon Leybold Vacuum Pranjape Auto Cast Pvt Ltd Phoenix
Conveyor Belt PMS Flashmatics Pvt Ltd Promed Exports Pvt Ltd PTC Industries Limited
Quantum School of Technology Ralson (India) Limited RHI Clasil Limited RMSI Pvt Ltd &
Its Employees Rotary International District 3140 Safexpress Pvt Ltd Sandhar Technologies
Ltd Shivam Autotech Ltd Sidharth Engineering SKM Egg Products Export (India) Ltd SRSL
International Pvt Ltd Steel Cast Ltd Taylor Rubber Pvt Ltd Techno Centre (India) Pvt Ltd
Terex India Pvt Limited Terminal Technologies (I) Pvt Ltd TVS E Servicetec Ltd TVS
Electronics Ltd TVS Investments Ltd Uttarakhand Teleglobal Pvt Ltd Vedhavalli Murli
Iyengar Vidhata Industries Pvt Ltd Wartsila India Ltd Yi Bhopal Yi Coimbatore (List as on 24
July 2013)

What really happened in Uttarakhand

Author(s): Jyotsna Singh @singh_jyotsna 
Date:Jul 3, 2013

Latest theory suggests combination of rain and landslides caused the disaster

1. Small lake formed during the rains, 2. Breached boundary of the lake, 3. The rock
that got removed giving way to new stream, 4. The new stream
The extreme rains of June 16 this year lead to a disaster of unprecedented proportions
in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Many theories and explanations for the
disaster have surfaced in the aftermath of the floods in the state. Now clearer satellite
images of the upstream and downstream areas of the Kedar valley that have emerged
are enabling a clearer understanding of the scientific and environmental reasons for
the tragedy in the state.

A powerful landslide

It is believed that a massive landslide occurred upstream in the north-east region of

the Kedar valley. Heavy rainfall occurred at the same time formed a small lake in the
north-west of the valley. The debris from the landslide and water from the lake
travelled down the slope, channelled into the glacier, and came down to Kedarnath
town. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is yet to come up with a
detailed analysis but agrees with this possiblity.

The theory has been proposed by Dave Petley, professor, Department of Geography at
Durham University, United Kingdom, and reported on his blog. According to Petley,
high resolution images from ISRO's geographic information system (GIS) platform,
Bhuvan, show that the flow of the landslide eroded a large amount of material. He has
estimated rough parameters using images of the landslide retrieved from Google
Earth.

  See also The difference in height between the crown of the landslide
 
and the channel below was about 500 metres, and the length
Early rains and glacial melt
  was about 1,200 metres. Petley puts the scar width at about
Movement of monsoon winds 75 metres, considered a large landslide. As the downside of

A temporary lake the landslide was active and prone to erosions, it created a
further accumulation of debris downstream. The amount and
flow of debris was so high, that the boulders did not stop at
Kedarnath and were carried to Rambara village and beyond.

Heavy rainfall that occurred in the area at the same time formed a small lake in the
north-west of the valley. Under normal circumstances, the water would have flowed
away. But a block formed by debris led to the accumulation of water. When extreme
pressure caused a breach in the boundary of the lake, a large amount of water gushed
out, forcing another rock to flow away. This created a new stream, in addition to the
two streams that existed already. The amount of water, moraines and debris was high
enough to increase the level of the biggest stream in the west, create a new stream in
between, and increase water level substantially in the eastern stream.
ISRO believes that the disaster in Uttarakhand was aggravated by the large number of
landslides in the area between June16 and 17. Though a landslide inventory is still
being prepared, preliminary data shows that a total of 745 landslides occurred along
the river valleys of Mandakini, Mandani, Kali and Madhyamaheshwar. The debris
created by these landslides was carried along with the flood water and added to the
destruction.

Theories abound in India

Eyewitness accounts report the appearance of ‘a wall of water’. It was rumoured that a
glacial lake had burst because of the rains ¬¬¬– a phenomenon called glacial lake
outburst flood (GLOF). However, it is now confirmed that the disaster was not caused
by GLOF, but indeed by a combination of factors,namely early rainfall, movement of
southwest monsoon winds, and the formation of a temporary lake.
 

Early rains and glacial melt

Uttarakhand received rain early this year. The monsoon reached the state almost two
weeks in advance. These early rains coupled with other factors were responsible for
the disaster that ensued. Rivers in the region already have heavier flow in June than at
other times of the year because of the seasonal melting of glaciers. When water falls
on ice, it melts faster; and as it rained on the glaciers of the state, the massive run-off
began to swell the rivers.

 An analysis of rainfall data for the past five years, available on the website of the
India Meteorological Department, points to changes in rainfall trends in India, with a
greater number of incidents of excess rain in Uttarakhand in June. The trends in
rainfall do not indicate the kind of disastrous rainfall the state received this year, but it
does point to the necessity for a robust disaster management programme, which as of
now does not exist in the state.

The areas of Uttarakhand affected by the recent floods, particularly Uttarkashi, have
experienced excess rains in June for the past several years. Last year, there was a
rainfall deficit in the same month across the state. But data for the preceding five
years indicates a trend towards excess rainfall in June.

District-wise rainfall trends in Uttarakhand from 2008 to 2012

  Chamoli Rudraprayag Uttarkashi
 % departure % departure % departure
  R/F* R/F* R/F*
from LPA# from LPA# from LPA#
             
200 163.
59 148.9 -30 298.3 98
8 8
200
32.2 -69 17.8 -92 197.3 31
9
201 121.
18 166.6 -21 189.9 26
0 8
201 170.
57 369.6 70 363.7 146
1 5
201
41.1 -62 95.4 -56 45.6 -69
2
*Rainfall
#Long Period Average

In 2011, Uttarkashi received 146 per cent excess rainfall compared to the long period
average (LPA). The corresponding figures for 2010, 2009 and 2008 are 26 per cent,
31 per cent and 98 per cent. Chamoli received 57 per cent excess rainfall in June in
2011, 18 per cent in 2010 and 59 per cent in 2008.Rudraprayag also received a deficit
rainfall in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012, but the year 2011 witnessed excess rainfall of
70 per cent.

Movement of monsoon winds

The monsoon winds arrived early in India, and were another factor in the events that
led to the Uttarakhand floods. "Monsoon has hit the entire nation early by one month.
It is by July 15 that all parts of India receive rains. This year that day came as early as
June 15," said Shailesh Nayak, secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences. He said
multiplicity of conditions have together created such a situation. "This year several
things synchronised to lead to early monsoons," he said.

In the initial phase, called the onset phase, monsoon hit Andaman and Kerala
following the normal time and trend. "However, after that the combination of lower
pressure in north-western region and movement of three types of winds led to
monsoons hitting other parts of the country way before their normal time," said an
official in the Met department. Usually, monsoon sets in by June 1, while this time it
arrived in the last week of May. It moved fast towards the north, without taking its
characteristic break before hitting one region after the other.
Low pressure over east Rajasthan attracted south-westerly winds from the Arabian
sea, laden with moisture. At the same time, easterly winds from Bay of Bengal came
along the foothills of Himalayas. The westerlies also crossed Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,
creating a trough. The mountains of the north created orographic effect (it occurs
when an air mass approaches a mountain range and is rapidly forced upward, causing
any moisture to cool and fall as rains).

The officials said that once the monsoon has set in, it will continue for the entire
season, which normally ends in late September.

A temporary lake

Eyewitnesses describe how a sudden gush of water engulfed the centuries-old

Kedarnath temple, and washed away everything in its vicinity in a matter of minutes.
Down to Earth spoke to Anil Kulkarni, glaciologist and distinguished visiting
scientist, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, about the events that unfolded. In his
initial analysis, Kulkarni found that a small lake formed briefly during the rains,
eventually releasing a huge amount of water.  Excerpts from an interview:

What exactly took place on the night of June 16?

There was rainfall of 120 mm in 24 hours before the flash flood of June 16 at
Kedarnath. The town and the glacier above are 3 km apart. As there is no automatic
weather station there, the data has been collected from satellite. There is evidence that
a small lake was formed during the rains above Kedarnath town. The lake must have
lasted for a short duration. It was a 100 square hectare lake which contained 10
million litre of water. The water that collected in the lake came down along with the
water from the glacier. The lake burst due to a breach in the blockade that formed its
boundary. Coupled with heavy rain in the area, this caused flash floods. It is because
of the lake that there was excessive stream run-off and a third channel was formed.

How did you come to this conclusion?

Water bodies have their own geomorphological features – a typical shape and texture.
Water leaves specific marks behind. We interpreted these features of the area from
satellite images and concluded that there was a lake. I examined satellite images of the
area before the event. Recent images as well as those as old as 2007 do not show the
lake. But if the data shows the presence of the lake in the post-event scenario, we can
conclude it was created during the rain and all the water was finished in the same
event. We do not have continuous images; this is the best we can do.

How did the Chorabari automatic weather station work?

 Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology at Dehradun monitors the automatic weather
station (AWS) at Chorabari. The last information it received from the station was at 8
pm on June 15. It seems the instrument got washed away after this. This indicates
there was heavy rainfall in the glacier region on the evening of June 15.

We can say there were three reasons that led to the devastating flash floods: one,
heavy rain, even though it is not unusual; two, rain on the glacier; and three, snow and
glacier run-off along with the newly formed lake. Snow and ice melt faster when they
come in contact with water. Rains on the glacier increased the melting rate of glacier
above the Kedarnath temple.

Post Comment | Print this article | Email to a friend

Very detailed article on the causes of the calamity in Uttarakhand. CSE and Down To
Earth brought out many facts on this calamity. In fact I commented on many articles
and send copies to Government,NGOs ,Policy makers etc. Down To Earth is the only
Environmental Journal which reports things which are forthright and with foresight.
Congratulations Down To Earth and CSE.
Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India

 reply

4 July 2013
Posted by 
Dr.A.Jagadeesh

Wonderful analysis but for whom? People have lost their lives due to one or the othe
reasons so it is important to find out the steps to be taken so that such calamities are
not repeated. To my mind i is important to monitor in real time the existing lakes
created by landslides and thoses created during heavy rains by landslides so that in
case they are large enough, they need to be opened up immediately as accumulated
water released sudenly is the mauin cause of down stream destruction.Second point
which road engineers must lear and folow, avoi old lanslide prone areas and i
necesary take water draining measuresby using appropriate techniques so that pore
oressure is not built up during rains and sepage.
Simple methods will go a long way in avoiding such ncients if nature is not disturbed.
 reply

14 July 2013
Posted by 
Brij

Very informative article . It highlights the reasons of Uttrakhand tragedy. Such type of
article are very useful for the students those are studying Environment related subjects
& for researchers.

 reply

18 June 2014
Posted by 
Anonymousgur