Wrath of Shiva

…the deluge that engulfed Uttrakhand

INTRODUCTION Uttarakhand has a total

area of 53,484  km² of which 93% is mountainous and 64% is covered by forest.

  Most of the Uttarakhand

part of the state is covered by high Himalayan peaks and glaciers.

 Two of India's largest rivers, the Ganges and the Yamuna, originate in the glaciers of Uttarakhand

These two pilgrimage, Badrinath and Kedarnath form the Chota Char Dham lies in uttrakhand

 It is well know as the "Land of the Gods"

Uttrakhand is well known for his chota char dham:-• Kedarnath• Badrinath• Gangotri• Yamunotri

Uttrakhand is considered as one of the most beautiful state

BADRINATH TEMPLE

KEDARNATH TEMPLE

GANGOTRI TEMPLE

YAMUNOTRI TEMPLE

And Also……..

GAURIKUND TEMPLE

HEMKUND SAHIB GURUDWARA

JYOTIRMATH ROOPKUND

THISMONSOON

DESTROYED

Uttrakhand

How it Started…....

From 14 to 17 June 2013, Uttarakhand and adjoining areas 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 three rivers Yamuna, and Ganga and its tributaries which led to heavy floods.

Though some 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" after more than a month of search. This total included 934 local residents, and over 300 foreigners.

Destruction of bridges and roads left about 100,000 pilgrims and tourists trapped in the valleys leading to three of the four Hindu Char Dham pilgrimage sites.

Exact figures are still not known – whether dead or missing – of the locals, the pilgrims, the tourists, and the foreigners, and government officials fear that this exact number shall never be known.

The Indian Air force, the Indian Army, and paramilitary troops evacuated more than 110,000 people from the flood ravaged areas.

Environmentalists describe the death and damages as a man-made disaster, while geologists say the extent of destruction could have been lesser if strict regulations were in place for all the human activities there, and if authorities had been adequately equipped to deal with the situation .

It is not the first time that India has faced a tragedy at a religious site. With a large number of devotees spread across faiths, congregating at pilgrimage sites during peak seasons, these places become extremely vulnerable. The largest impact appears to have occurred at Kedarnath, which at this time of year (June-July) is an important pilgrimage destination.

Some blame is hence pointing towards improper, haphazard and inefficient management or mismanagement of these pilgrimage tours.

ReasonsUnplanned development is destroying

the ecology of the mountains.None of the environmental laws are properly implemented in these ecologically fragile areas, and development is going unabated. Construction of roads and dams are the main reason for the plight of Himalayan ecosystem.

Forest encroachmentThe forest cover in Uttarakhand in 1970 was 84.9%. This got reduced to 75.4% in 2000.

A total forest area of 5391.17 Ha or

13,321.83 Acres were diverted for Hydel projects. An year wise analysis shows that after the year 1987, when maximum diversion of forest had been done due to Tehri Dam, year 2002 has witnessed largest forest diversion, but the first 6 months of 2013 has witnessed the third largest forest diversion for hydel projects in Uttarakhand till date.

Dams or Destruction ? Almost all hydropower projects

of Uttarakhand involve deforestation. Deforestation directly increases the potential of erosion, landslides and floods since water now just runs off to the rivers.

All run of the river projects involve building of a dam, diversion structure, de-silting mechanism, as also roads, townships, mining, among other components.

Early monsoon:

"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.

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. There is evidence that a small lake was formed during the rains above Kedarnath town.

The lake burst due to a breach in the blockade that formed its boundary. Coupled with heavy rain in the area, this caused flash flood, excessive stream run-off and a third channel

was formed.

Climate

Inaccurate and incomplete prediction & lack of action plans.

Monitoring, forecasting, and early-warning systems in the Met department are very poor in the whole of India and Uttarakhand specifically. The warning given by Met dept. in Delhi was ignored. Only eight states have prepared emergency action plans for 192 dams as against 4,728 dams in 29 states, and inflow forecasts critical to mitigate risks from floods are available for only 28 reservoirs.

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 cloudburst could not be forecast or sighted because the Doppler Weather Radars bought for surveillance of severe and weather system is not operational.

A Report By News Channel

The toll on us...

LandslidesLandslides due to the floods, damaged

several houses and structures, killing those

who were trapped. The heavy rains

resulted in large flash floods and massive

landslides. Environment engineer and

Ganga crusader, G D Aggarwal, says that

construction along the Ganga has certainly

cost a lot more if one includes the cost of

damage to environment. People have

completely destroyed the ecology of the

mountains. “We see more landslides

nowadays because of unplanned

development in the hills,” he says.

Death & Destruction

95% of the casualties occurred in Uttarakhand.

90 per cent of cash crops, particularly the apple crop, has been completely destroyed by the floods.

Loss to the public and private property estimate around Rs 2,575 crores as mentioned by the government, June 30, 2013. Insurance companies are looking at claims worth more than Rs 1,000 crore

Hundreds of porters and over 2,000 ponies are still untraceable. A total of 2145 animal loss and 185 animal owners have been affected.

Rescue

&

Response

A big salute to the Indian Army and Police for their tireless service to those in need.

OPINIONS, COMMENTS, EFFORTS, agenda

Conclusion...

Green Development: We need to concentrate on areas like water-shed development and afforestation.

Green development is far more sustainable and equitable than profit driven development.

Lastly, these calamities and destruction may primarily be caused by nature but they are man-made too.

→ Global warming, greenhouse effect, melting of glaciers, deforestation etc., to begin with.

We don't realise the extent of the circumstances of our own activities.

Thank You

By – Simranpreet, Tina, Vansh, Varun, Vishal