{"id":13930,"date":"2021-02-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/09-02-2021\/flash-floods-in-uttarakhand\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T17:59:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:29:32","slug":"flash-floods-in-uttarakhand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/09-02-2021\/flash-floods-in-uttarakhand","title":{"rendered":"Flash Floods in Uttarakhand"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In News: <\/strong>Recently, a <strong>glacial burst on Nanda Devi<\/strong> has triggered an <strong>avalanche <\/strong>and caused <strong>flash floods<\/strong> in the\u00a0<strong>Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers<\/strong> in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Major Points:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It washed away at least <strong>two hydroelectric power projects<\/strong>, the <strong>13.2 MW Rishiganga hydroelectric power project<\/strong> and the\u00a0<strong>520 MW NTPC Tapovan-Vishnugad project<\/strong> (also known as Rishi Ganga Project) on the Dhauliganga river, a tributary of the Alakananda.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Possible Causes:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>part of the Nanda Devi glacier<\/strong>, which<strong> broke off and collapsed <\/strong>in the lake, surprisingly <strong>occurred at the edge of the winter season<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Satellite and Google Earth images do not show a glacial lake near the region, but there is a possibility that there may be a water pocket in the region.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Water pockets<\/strong> are lakes inside the glaciers, which may have erupted leading to this event.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Environmental experts have attributed the <strong>glacial melt to global warming<\/strong> and <strong>climate change<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Climate change has driven erratic weather patterns like increased snowfall and rainfall, warmer winters have led to the melting of a lot of snow.<\/li>\n<li>The thermal profile of ice has been increasing. Earlier, the temperature of ice ranged from -6\u00b0C to -20\u00b0C and now it is -2\u00b0C, making it more susceptible to melting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>average temperature<\/strong> in the <strong>northwestern Himalaya<\/strong> has<strong> risen by 0.66\u00b0C since 1991<\/strong> (an increase much higher than the global average).\n<ul>\n<li>The higher Himalaya became even warmer on average in the same period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cfstatic.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/file_library\/mix_content\/515823597181862340_image.png\" style=\"height:333px; width:745px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>(Image Courtesy: The Wire)<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Concerns:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>According to the <strong>UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/strong> (IPCC), <strong>glacier retreat and permafrost thaw <\/strong>are projected to <strong>decrease the stability of mountain slopes<\/strong> and <strong>increase the number and area of glacier lakes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Also, the <strong>number and area of glacier lakes will continue to increase<\/strong> in most regions in the coming decades.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Climate change<\/strong> occurring in most parts of the Hindu Kush Himalaya has <strong>given rise to the formation of numerous new glacial lakes<\/strong>, which are the major cause of GLOFs.<\/li>\n<li>Since glaciers in the Himalayas are in a <strong>retreating phase<\/strong>, <strong>glacial lakes are growing<\/strong> and <strong>pose a potentially large risk<\/strong> to downstream infrastructure and life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Environmentalists have always <strong>warned against the construction of dams<\/strong> as there is always a <strong>chance of flooding in the eco-sensitive Himalayan region<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Unlike earthen dams, the <strong>weak structure of the moraine dam<\/strong> leads to the <strong>abrupt failure of the dam<\/strong> on top of the glacial lake, which holds a large volume of water.\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>moraine<\/strong> is <strong>materials<\/strong>, mainly soil and rock,<strong> left behind by a moving glacier<\/strong>. Glaciers transport all sorts of dirt and boulders that build up to form moraines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Glacial Burst:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>These are also known as the <strong>Glacial Lake Outburst Flood<\/strong> <strong>(GLOF)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>When glaciers retreat, they leave a space which becomes a glacial lake being filled with water. When <strong>such a lake breaches<\/strong>, it is <strong>known as GLOF<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It can occur for a number of reasons like erosion, a <strong>build-up of water pressure<\/strong>, an <strong>avalanche<\/strong> of snow or rocks, and also an <strong>earthquake<\/strong> under the ice. It can also be triggered by the <strong>massive displacement of water<\/strong> in a glacial lake when a large portion of an adjacent glacier collapses into it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>GLOFs have three main features:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Involve sudden (and sometimes cyclic) releases of water.<\/li>\n<li>Tend to be rapid events, lasting hours to days.<\/li>\n<li>Result in large downstream river discharges (which often increase by an order of magnitude).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Risk Reduction Measures:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>National Disaster Management Authority<\/strong> (NDMA) has issued <strong>detailed guidelines on how to reduce and deal<\/strong> with GLOFs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Identification<\/strong> of potentially dangerous lakes based on field observations, records of past events, geomorphologic and geotechnical characteristics of the lake\/dam, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Use of <strong>Synthetic-Aperture Radar imagery<\/strong> to automatically detect changes in water bodies, including new lake formations, during the monsoon months.<\/li>\n<li>Development of methods and protocols to allow<strong> remote monitoring<\/strong> of lake bodies from space.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reduction of the volume of water <\/strong>with methods such as controlled breathing, pumping or siphoning out water, and making a tunnel through the moraine barrier or under an ice dam.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prohibition of construction <\/strong>of any habitation in the high hazard zone and <strong>relocation<\/strong> of existing buildings are to be relocated to a safer nearby region. New infrastructures in the medium hazard zone have to be accompanied by specific protection measures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>India\u2019s Preparedness:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Some work on the identification of such lakes has been done by the <strong>Central Water Commission<\/strong> (CWC).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Work in progress:<\/strong> A robust early warning system, a broad framework for infrastructure development, construction and excavation in vulnerable zones.<\/li>\n<li>In contrast to other countries, there are <strong>no uniform codes for excavation, construction and grading codes<\/strong> in India.<\/li>\n<li>For land-use planning in the GLOF\/LLOF prone areas, there are no widely accepted procedures or regulation in India.<\/li>\n<li>The number of<strong> implemented and operational<\/strong> GLOF <strong>Early Warning Systems <\/strong>(EWS) is still<strong> very small<\/strong>, <strong>even at the global scale<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rescue Guidelines Suggestions:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Apart from specialised forces such as the <strong>National Disaster Response Force<\/strong> (NDRF), <strong>Indo-Tibetan Border Police <\/strong>(ITBP) and the <strong>Army<\/strong>, there is a need for trained local manpower.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Over 80 per cent of search and rescue is carried out by the local community<\/strong> before the intervention of the state machinery and specialised search and rescue teams.<\/li>\n<li>Local teams will also <strong>assist in planning and setting up emergency shelters<\/strong>, distributing relief packages, identifying missing people, and addressing the needs for food, healthcare, water supply, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>There is a need for <strong>comprehensive alarm systems<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Besides classical alarming infrastructure consisting of acoustic alarms by sirens, modern communication technology including cell and smartphones can help or replace the existing structure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>NDMA has asked for <strong>provision of heavy earthmoving<\/strong> and <strong>search and rescue<\/strong> <strong>equipment<\/strong>, as well as motor launches, country boats, inflatable rubber boats, life jackets, etc.\n<ul>\n<li>NDMA recommends innovative methods using locally available natural resources, which are more suitable to be carried in the mountains in a disassembled form.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>For <strong>emergency medical response<\/strong>, Quick Reaction Medical Teams, mobile field hospitals, Accident Relief Medical Vans, and heli-ambulances in areas inaccessible by roads, can be deployed.\n<ul>\n<li>The guidelines also call for <strong>psychological counselling<\/strong> of victims, apart from the dissemination of accurate information through press conferences and mass media.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:745px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"background-color:#fff2cc; width:467.25pt\">\n<p><strong>Avalanche:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An avalanche is <strong>falling masses of snow and ice <\/strong>which gathers pace as it comes down the slope.<\/li>\n<li>These occur <strong>naturally <\/strong>as well as due to <strong>anthropogenic<\/strong> factors.\n<ul>\n<li>Underlying snowpack, overloaded by a quick deluge of snow, can cause a weak layer beneath the overlying snow slab to fracture naturally. <strong>Earthquakes <\/strong>can also trigger strong avalanches.<\/li>\n<li>Human-triggered avalanches start when <strong>somebody walks or rides over a slab<\/strong> with an underlying weak layer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Flash Floods:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Flash Floods are <strong>highly localized events of short duration<\/strong> with a very high peak and usually have less than six hours between the occurrence of the rainfall and peak flood.<\/li>\n<li>The flood situation <strong>worsens in the presence of choked drainage lines<\/strong> or <strong>encroachments<\/strong> obstructing the natural flow of water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Nanda Devi Glacier:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It forms <strong>part of the second-highest mountain in India<\/strong>, the Nanda Devi mountain.\n<ul>\n<li>While it is the second-highest after Kangchenjunga, it is the <strong>highest mountain located entirely within the country<\/strong> as Kangchenjunga lies on the border of India and Nepal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>On the northern side of the Nanda Devi lies the Uttari Nanda Devi Glacier and to the southwest lies the Dakkhini Nanda Devi Glacier.<strong> All of these glaciers drain west into the Rishiganga.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Dhauliganga and Rishiganga:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dhauliganga is one of the important tributaries of Alaknanda<\/strong>, the other being the Nandakini, Pindar, Mandakini and Bhagirathi.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dhauliganga is joined by Rishiganga river at Raini<\/strong> where the disaster at the power project dam took place.\n<ul>\n<li>Raini was <strong>one of the principal sites<\/strong> of the iconic <strong>Chipko Movement in the 1970s<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>According to the <strong>South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People<\/strong> (a think tank) under construction <strong>hydroelectric power projects threaten about 50% of the Dhauliganga\u2019s length<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Major Natural Disasters in the Region:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cfstatic.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/file_library\/mix_content\/135771463423881440_image.png\" style=\"height:303px; width:611px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>(Image Courtesy: The Hindu)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/other-states\/uttarakhand-glacier-burst-experts-point-to-climate-change-impact\/article33775313.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News: Recently, a glacial burst on Nanda Devi has triggered an avalanche and caused flash floods in the\u00a0Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Major Points: It washed away at least two hydroelectric power projects, the 13.2 MW Rishiganga hydroelectric power project and the\u00a0520 MW NTPC Tapovan-Vishnugad project (also known as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/5528171current-affairs (2).jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13930"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60243,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13930\/revisions\/60243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}