India & Natural Disaster Management

[Bade]

swamyg, this one was published just last month. How prophetic. http://world.time.com/2013/05/27/fears- ... iers-melt/

Will post in Disaster thread too as it is a keeper.

[Bade]

http://world.time.com/2013/05/27/fears- ... iers-melt/

Glacial-lake outbursts, as they’re known, are not new. They occur every time the natural dams of ice or accumulated rocky deposits that hold back glacial lakes give way because of seismic activity, erosion or simple water pressure. Millions of cubic meters of meltwater can be released as a result, sometimes over the course of a few days or — far more frighteningly — in a matter of minutes. During the past century, at least 50 glacial-lake outbursts were recorded in the Himalayas, according to data maintained by the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). But what is new is that the lakes are forming and growing much more quickly because the glaciers are melting faster than ever.

The potential of a Himalayan tsunami is a hazard of global warming that has yet to be given much attention by outsiders, but it is a daily preoccupation of ICIMOD program coordinator Pradeep Mool. He told TIME that there were some 20,000 glacial lakes in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, extending from Afghanistan to Burma. In some parts of the Himalayas, like the Dudh Koshi area in eastern Nepal, the melt rate is alarmingly high.

“Almost all the glaciers [in Dudh Koshi] are retreating at rates of 10 to 59 m annually,” Mool says, “but the rate for some has accelerated during the last half-decade to 74 m annually.” He explained that this had created 24 new glacial lakes in the area, which now had a total of 34 such bodies of water. At least 10 of them are considered dangerous.

Research by a team from the University of Milan, released this month, found that in the past 50 years glaciers in the Everest region had shrunk by 13% and the snow line was now seen about 180 m higher up. Sudeep Thakuri, a researcher with the team, says the melting was most likely caused by warming temperatures and was certain to continue. Since 1992, premonsoon and winter temperatures in the Everest region have increased by 0.6ºC.

Earthquakes also add to the risk. “Earthquakes could act as major triggers for glacial-lake outbursts,” Mool says. He feels that much better monitoring of the lakes is needed to get a proper assessment of the dangers.

Read more: http://world.time.com/2013/05/27/fears- ... z2XBkBIuh1

[SaiK]

After the Tsunamies, our reactive setup planned for Tsunami warning system (not sure on the status of it), every time nowadays, I only hear khan tsunami warnings ahead. May be Indian system has higher threshold for what is a warning level indicators.

I don't see any planning for the glaciers, especially the himalayas. The destruction in the near future from himalayas will wipe out 1/2 a billion of NI, including the capital. This is not my wish, but a risk projection. I hope some heads think straight, and look for infrastructure that helps enable at least few of those millions can survive.

By usual India reactionary way, hope we don't say, we have billion, so few million perish, it does not matter for us. Is this our long term disaster mgmt plan? where are the big time engineers, white colors, and dakku bhais yuppies going?

[SriKumar]

Confirmed that the Shiva idol in Rishikesh was washed away:

Picture from https://www.facebook.com/IndiaPictures


It is not clear what the statue is made of, but it is anchored to the base with steel rods, the base is made of brick, cement; . See at 1:33 in this video
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video ... g.cnn.html

[Bade]

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0 ... 16,00.html This one from Leh a low cost way for irrigation by adapting to nature.

[Yayavar]

....Well, we heeded the advise and move out towards the temple which is situated at an elevation from the river bank. And within 20 minutes, lo and behold, we saw this massive column of water moving down in full fury.

There's a youtube video of exactly this kind of an event in India.....a group went for a picnic to a to a river/waterfall; water flow was barely existent. And one small group of people went to the middle of the stream. Suddenly water level started rising, some ran to the bank immediately. Others who were in the center of the stream did not and were swept down..... did not watch all the way. The flow went from benign to scary in barely 1 minute. Turns out there were heavy rains upstream and this lead to a flash flood. (video was posted in nukkad many moons ago).

One of the earliest memories is walking through the khudd when going to our ancestral home. These dry beds were filled with round rocks. Later when I was a bit older I recall being told about flash floods - though we were there in the season when there was no such danger. In later years there were no stones - all quarried away and I could see bare mountain sides and brown earth.

[member_23651]

So why are there dry river beds? I can understand in some places in TN. In Himalayas? Are the glaciers truly receding? Clean and drinking Water will be the greatest challenge/problem for India. Next environment degradation.

Because they are seasonal. They are active only during Monsoons, rest all year, water just trickles in them. I was talking about Himalayan foothills or Kandi area.

[Singha]

say a prayer for the souls of departed.

mass funeral planned today for 100s of decomposing bodies in and around kedernath temple. lot of wood and ghee is being airlifted in stages to the spot. after photo, video and dna samples of the dead are collected there will be funeral.

navy has sent a team of divers to try and search for any bodies suspected underwater along the rivers.

[SwamyG]

10.26 pm: CM Bahuguna defends decision to return choppers

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna defended his decision to return some rescue choppers by saying that bad weather was hampering rescue effort.

“We have 44 choppers at our disposal, but because of bad weather we are running only 14 or 15,” Bahuguna told Times Now.

He said that though relief is pouring in from all states, because the roads have been washed away he cannot send them to areas higher up in altitude.

“We are storing all relief material in Haridwar. I am unable to send everything higher up. If I am hungry I cannot eat 500 rotis at one go. I need time to distribute relief,” Bahuguna said.

He requested all states to call up his officers before they send in relief material. “I need help from all states, but please give me liberty to control my relief work,” he said.

http://www.firstpost.com/india/uttarakh ... 99735.html

[rohitvats]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-i ... /1133435/0

In the register of daring rescue operations the armed forces have undertaken so far in Uttarakhand, the evacuation of about 1,500 pilgrims from a narrow valley in Jungle Chatti stands out. Not just for the perfect coordination between the army and the air force but also the extraordinary risks involved.

The pilgrims had been stranded in Jungle Chatti — a steep stretch of path between Gaurikund and Ram Bada set in a mountainside looming over a raging river and prone to landslides — for five days without food or water.

The first flash flood hit the valley of Kedarnath on the night of June 15, when it was teeming with pilgrims to and from the shrine.

The flood cut down the footpath on either side and carried away dozens of pilgrims. So wide are the landslides on both sides that an alternate path would be required to climb up to the shrine.

Since the pilgrims at Jungle Chatti had more reaction time to get out of the way given that it is downstream both of the worst-affected Ram Bada and Kedarnath Temple, many of them managed to climb up the mountain.

But as the area lies in a narrow valley without any means of communication and out of the visual range of most aerial sorties, it took search teams four days to find a large number of people stranded on a small stretch of land. Soon after a passing helicopter located a few people in the area, efforts were made to airdrop essential supplies to them. "The valley is so narrow and the gradient of the mountains so steep that all efforts to drop food and water were unsuccessful. The supplies went down in the river," said Lt Gen N S Bawa, GoC of Uttar Bharat.

Then, the armed forces tried to land a helicopter on the narrow ledge — which is all that is left of Jungle Chatti — but the efforts came to nought, as did the attempts to slither troops because of strong winds and the limited space available. "The narrow valley made Jungle Chatti the toughest place to fly in," said Col Suneet Sohal, who is leading the Army Aviation's rescue work.

The army men had only one option left. They jumped down from a Cheetah helicopter on the ledge. It was as dangerous a move as it could get — one misstep could have sent them rolling down into the raging river below. They, however, managed to stand firm and quickly set up a makeshift helipad. The first helicopter landed soon.

"The first meal that most had was after five days when a chopper landed at Jungle Chatti. The number of sick and hungry kept on swelling as many came down from the mountains after seeing a chopper land," an army officer said.

Then began perhaps the most intense air evacuation operation in Uttarakhand so far. The air force and the army moved at a blistering pace to airlift the pilgrims out to Gaurikund, from where bigger Mi-17 helicopter could operate, because even a slight dip in the weather would have made flying impossible in the valley.

Dozens of seven-minute sorties evacuated 390 people from Jungle Chatti in a matter of hours on June 22, the fifth day since the flood.

The next day, with bad weather looming, an even bigger air effort was set in motion to get out 540 pilgrims. About 200 more able-bodied pilgrims were moved out on foot by adventurous army men who managed to cut a steep path out.

"If this was a war effort, several pilots and soldiers would be in for some heavy-duty gallantry awards. Jungle Chatti, as of now, is completely evacuated. The people who will go there now are reconstruction teams but that will be another story," an army officer summed up the operation.

[Singha]

looting and pillage of dead bodies and abandoned homes is on....yday a dozen people dressed as sadhus were nabbed with cash and jewels worth 1 crore. today we see video of man using a pliers to cut jewelry off the dead.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/uttarakhand- ... 3-243.html

[krishnan]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 754612.cms?

The reporter should be shot

So what was it like for a Muslim to be one of the first to come to the aid of Hindu pilgrims? Yunus laughs out loud before giving a quick answer. "In the Air Force we are taught only one religion - to be Indian. That is what IAF pilots are trained to be. Had it not been for such tragic circumstances, I would have been grateful and happy to see the holy shrine."

[jamwal]

Jamwal Ji this the true state in all the Hill states. Rivers Beds sands and stones have been quarried away. Illegal Farms and then settlements have come near "Khads" or seasonal river which are known to flood banks. Green conver has simply given way to stumps and bushes. Heck in Punjab and Himachal if you go, you would be surprised that dang in the middle of the dry river beds they have planted poplar trees!!!

I know. It's happening in Jammu too. Last year the heavy rains did fair amount of damage. A lot of roads and properties which were made on these dry khadds were heavily damaged. These khadds act drainage systems during heavy rains. When people start building on them, they are sure to get hurt sooner or later.
This earth can't support this much population. We need to get the numbers down.

[Murugan]

Deforestation and haphazard damming of rivers are major reasons for dry rivers.

Trees increase water retention and discharge water in a river headwaters/system.

Trees Increase Water Retention and Quality

Trees have been shown to influence the flow of water. Trees reduce topsoil erosion by catching precipitation with their leaf canopies. This lessens the force of storms and slows down water runoff which in turn ensures that our groundwater supplies are continually being replenished. Research has indicated that 100 mature trees intercept approximately 100,000 gallons of rainfall per year and for every 5 percent of tree cover added to a community, storm water runoff is reduced by approximately 2 percent. Along with breaking the fall of rainwater, tree roots remove nutrients that are harmful to water ecology and quality. Leaves that have fallen from the trees and begun to decay form an organic layer that allows water to percolate into the soil which also aids in the reduction of runoff and soil erosion. All of this also helps reduce street flooding and sedimentation in streams.

http://urbanforestrynetwork.org/benefits/water.htm

All other measures are groping in the dark and waste of money, resources and energy. Reforest India to pre-british level, as a first step.

Post 1970 uttarakhand, himachal and UP (whole of India, IIRC) have seen disappearance of perennial rivers.

Gir forest is in semi-arid region. Rivers flowing out of this forests were perennial till 1980s. The cut forest in unprecedented scale that in 30 years (1950 to 1980) gir forest shrinked by at least 30-40 kms from all sides.


***

A gora initiative to restore river system in Arizona by afforestation/reforestation

http://uc-ciee.org/downloads/AZ_Santa_Cruz_riparian.pdf

[Murugan]

Research has indicated that 100 mature trees intercept approximately 100,000 gallons of rainfall per year.. also aids in the reduction of runoff and soil erosion. All of this also helps reduce street flooding and sedimentation in streams.

This is the only long term solution to avoid land slides and reduce the force of rains during cloudburst.

[kmkraoind]

@ShivAroor 1m BREAKING: IAF Mi-17 V5 chopper crashes in Gaurikund, #Uttarakhand. Was on a relief mission. Details awaited.

[Yayavar]

apart from the main rivers, the Himalayas have many smaller ones including rivulets called as Khads (in Himachal).

I think called Khads across Shivaliks - at least in Punjab side too but then the area borders Himachal.

[Singha]

5 iaf officers and 3 civilians killed.

[chaanakya]

apart from the main rivers, the Himalayas have many smaller ones including rivulets called as Khads (in Himachal).

I think called Khads across Shivaliks - at least in Punjab side too but then the area borders Himachal.

Khad is called new alluvial soil which is brought by rivers. Khader is ravines caused by rivulets in new alluvial soil and most of the lower himalayas have these features in tarai regions.. Its is a geographiucal terms if one studies in Hindi.

For olde alluvial soil the term used is Bhanger and that is found in plains, yamuna gangetic alluvial plains.

[chaanakya]

This heli accident shows how difficult is the conditions and weather is extremely bad. Kudos to Jawans and Airmen who operate in such conditions in the face of such personal danger.

I pray for those brave souls.

[Theo_Fidel]

Yes. Sad to lose these folks. The heros are still out there far from the cameras. Hope the nation does not lose interest...

[shaardula]

wow all this discussion in nukkad. if there is one nukkad thread that ought to be archived it should be this.

aside, based on further reading of accounts i was wrong. it was not flood that washed away the top layer, but apparently actual boulders from uphill that rolled down.

another point to note is the gushing water from the glacier behind the temple, split into two and flowed along the two edges of the valley. that seems to be the natural low points and hence the drainage path. perhaps, when they rebuild they could create a moat behind the temple and run it along the sides, and reshape the floor of the valley to slope towards the edges.

other places we dont even know.

[Pratyush]

We already have DDM speculating on the fact the choper was forced th fly beyond gaurikund.

[merlin]

Reforest India to pre-british level, as a first step.

This is impossible. The amount of deforestation that has taken place once the British arrived is too massive even to contemplate. I think it will be impossible to even stop on-going deforestation, forget about taking baby steps towards reforestation.

[shaardula]

btw did anybody see the spectacle of a news reporter sitting on some poor hapless guy's shoulder and reporting? the idiot even said something like, the suffering of these people... while pointing to the guy whose shoulders he was riding on.

even the heavens are picky about who they want an expedited return service on, and looks like this guy was not on that list, and alkananda had no standing instructions to return such defective goods back. sometimes you have to wonder, enron or gods, who is more vile.

[Murugan]

Reforest India to pre-british level, as a first step.

This is impossible. The amount of deforestation that has taken place once the British arrived is too massive even to contemplate. I think it will be impossible to even stop on-going deforestation, forget about taking baby steps towards reforestation.

Merlinji- aap aur impossible sir.
Nothing is impossible sir. It is possible.

You must be knowing that it did not snow in mussoorie for 17 years. Now read, what such efforts on coordinated and patronised scale can bring back

The Army has played a vital role in reviving the degraded ecology by massive plantation on the vast stretches of the Shivalik hills. This has helped in restoring snowfall in Mussoorie and added to its pristine beauty.

The idea of employing the Army in the ecological construction work was crystallized in the form of 127 Infantry Batallion (Territorial Army) Ecological Unit – a dedicated unit for environment and ecological protection of Shivalik Hills and Garhwal Himalayas. Raised in 1982 at the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre, Lansdowne in Uttaranchal, it was the first experiment of its kind in the world.

The Unit was affiliated to the Garhwal Rifles as a Territorial Army Unit and the ex-servicemen of Uttaranchal hills were enrolled for the assignment. The Unit was entrusted with the task of restoration of the degrading ecology of the Shivalik Hills and the Garhwal Himalayas through afforestation and soil conservation techniques.

...

...

The Unit was initially assigned the task of afforestation in Shahjahanpur ranges near Mohand in 1982. Apart from afforestation, the Unit had carried out soil conservation also. During the period from 1982 to 1984 the Unit covered an area of 700 hectares by planting 3,18,000 saplings.

In 1985, 127 Infantry Battalion (TA) Ecological Unit was shifted to the southern parts of Mussoorie hills which had lost it lustre and pristine beauty due to unscientific mining and deforestation by large scale cutting of trees. The Unit was assigned the task of treatment and reclamation of mines, soil conservation and afforestatin under Kyarkuli Micro Catchment Development Project. The gigantic task involved fencing, filling of pits, collection of humus, raising grass plants, weeding of plants, local cutting and watering of saplings on the difficult hilly terrain at a height ranging from 5,000 feet to 6,000 feet above sea level.

With limited resources and a strength of 200 ex-servicemen, the Unit rejuvenated an area of 3,400 hectares by planting 27 lakh trees and reclaiming 26 mines by 1994. The efforts of the Unit proved fruitful and Mussoorie had its first snowfall in 1997 after a gap of 17 years. Not only this, Dehradun too started experiencing improved rainfall. The Unit accomplished the task in 9 years, which was to be completed in 13 years.

Let us not lose heart...

[Murugan]

Ramdev Baba has started his own Disaster Relief Cell

By now he has collected 2 crore rupees, out of it, 51 lac from Rahul Bajaj

Balakrishna Maharaj personally involved in relief work. No Foreign Paid Media cares to report. Patanjali ayurved has virtually spread over the disaster affected villages and local people.

Tasty patanjali bicuits and other snacks are freely distributed to all and sundry to travellers.

[chaanakya]

Only Gujrat, TN and Puducherry Cm showed concern for citizens from their states. Other CMs were either sleeping or refused to meet even relatives of victims, forget about organising any help.

UK CM refuses Heli offer giving some inane excuses. His administration fails entirely and Army had to take matters in their hand to provide relief.

Bihar CM NiKumma is giving TV interview as to what is the best way of thanking congoons in saving his govt. He entirely forgets to make any reference to UK tragedy. How many Biharis are stuck of dead is not his concern . What help??

MB in WB is in her own slumber and Patnaik is itellectually moronic. None have made as much as a little squeak about this.
UP minister ridicules UK admin but forgets about providing any relief.

It is a known fact that Pilgrims from all over the country visit Badrinath and Kedarnath , more so from these mentioned state.

Except Tn , I have not heard anything in Newspaper/TV from CM of southern states.

Something from Assam and Rajasthan and Haryana and Punjab.

Pappu comes back from Spain to relieve pain of UK and does a sorti and photo op. Congis go gaga over this

Make your own investigation as to who is better.

[Murugan]

Total 17 tonns of material supplied so far by Ramdev's Patanjali Trust.

Now they are coming to real issue.
Balakrishna Maharaj is now arranging for foodgrains and other necessary supply so that village people can start their daily routine as soon as possible and can eat fresh food for at least a week/fortnight.

Biscuits/snacks are only temporary. This is the right step forward, Maharaj. Aap ki jai ho!

During mumbai deluge, my employer did the same thing. They supplied utensils to start cooking, four sets of dishes/vati/spoons/glasses, chorsa (solapur chaddars), grains, pulses and other necessary masal that can at least last for 15 days. Once you do this, relief provider can move ahead and dont have to revisit the places often. Good going, now.

They are also supplying Patanjali Ayurved medicines. Udar Rog Har Churna is good for all sort of stomach infection and is provided in every supply.

NDR people are also doing very good job. Guys are doing all the things required. Very dedicated bunch.

[shaardula]

actually murugan, i was impressed by swaroopanda saraswathi's sensing of a health issue and yielding to common sense.
it was interesting to see a govt that was otherwise grappling in the dark, worried about religious norms, even while addressing a critical public health issue. it was also swaroopananda saraswathi to have sensed the health issue and yielded to common sense. post-death procedures in hindusim are prolly one of the most complicated issues of hindu life. birth as celebrated as it is, is still subject to only a minimum of 3 days of quarantine (mostly for hygiene purposes). death on the other hand apart from quarantine, is a long elongated complicated process, from cremation to subsequent wake rituals that stretches over 12 days. but more importantly is severely constrained by strictly regimented protocols. in this context, SS' weighing in on the relative significance of the cremation to the overall hindu mourning process is significant, especially when you consider the details & complications involved even in cremating. my guess is SS weighed in on the commonsense.

its not just SS, something else bigger is afoot. recently a friend of mine died. the circumstances of her death and life were complicated. in any case, the priests listened to her story and cameback with a very humane rational solution. these types of parihaaraas were difficult even 20 years ago.

[krisna]

Ramdev Baba has started his own Disaster Relief Cell

By now he has collected 2 crore rupees, out of it, 51 lac from Rahul Bajaj

Balakrishna Maharaj personally involved in relief work. No Foreign Paid Media cares to report. Patanjali ayurved has virtually spread over the disaster affected villages and local people.

Tasty patanjali bicuits and other snacks are freely distributed to all and sundry to travellers.

per twitter,
congis have stopped and or preventing BRD from opening camps saying that congis will do them.
look like more fear of bad name and BRD will take their votes instead of relief to the injured and sick.
sick mentality.

[shaardula]

forget everything else. if it was somebody else from my own family, how willing would i be to accept anonymous ashes? to deal with this a certain size of heart and a level of practical headedness is required.

[chaanakya]

First Pictures of destroyed SSB academy in Srinagar, UK on Times Now Tv. Earlier reports had suggested about 150 casualty. Not yet confirmed though. Sad.

[chaanakya]

Landsat-8 imagery of the Kedarnath Area , before and after the disaster.

Whole Mountanside seems to have been wiped-out. See the flattened town. had no chance against such fury from both east and west valley channels.

http://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2013 ... kedarnath/


juxtaposed side by side , old one on left.

[SwamyG]

UP minister ridicules UK admin but forgets about providing any relief.

Correct me if I am wrong (or blame the media), I thought UP had announced the largest donation Rs25cr from any single state.

[chaanakya]

UP minister ridicules UK admin but forgets about providing any relief.

Correct me if I am wrong (or blame the media), I thought UP had announced the largest donation Rs25cr from any single state.

I heard the minister ridicluing UK govt. and yes there are news reports about donation and CM also mentioned about officials being sent.

Not confirmed by UK govt. Generally thanks is given in media or press release. May be bahuguna forgot about this.I did check UK govt website before i donated to cm relief fund noted in my earlier post. May be he will confirm later.

btw CM relief fund showed only about Rs 7 lakh for current year. There was no Rs 25 cr in there. May be it has gone elsewhere.

[SaiK]

I think the himalayas only sneezed this time.

[Murugan]

Himalays (they say it is still very yong, kachcha pahad) is going thru' sea change in terms of destruction in the name of development. this is like naak me ungli kiya, and himalaya sneezed. Caution.

[Murugan]

Yes Ramdev and others are being prevented from running relief camps. It is also learnt that the helicopters sent by various non-congi govt were not allowed to fly by this new dhongis uttarakhand have recently elected.

Satyanash ho raha hai. dil dukh raha hai. such a useless buffons bharat mata has also produced.

[SaiK]

The only way I think to ordain people to have a cultural mission critical statement given out to public by the following:

Lord Shiva is Angry at people!

I am sure, we can sway some brainless and stupid industrialists and corrupted business people off the valley, by some other policy measures and strict adherence to procedures and inspection raaj.