HIMALAYAN TSUNAMI AND ITS DEVASTATING EFFECTS(June 15th-16th 2013 )

In June 2013, a multiday 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.

From 14 to 17 June 2013, the Indian state of Uttarakhandand adjoining area received heavy rainfall, which was about 375 percent more than the benchmark rainfall during a normal monsoon.This caused the melting of ChorabariGlacierat the height of 3800 metres , and eruption of theMandakini River which led to heavy floods near Gobindghat, KedarDome, Rudraprayagdistrict, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Western Nepal, and acute rainfall in other nearby regions of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Tibet.

500 people dead while 60, 000 stranded as per International Media.

Wettest rain in five decades.

Worst floods in NW India in 60 years.375% above normal rain in Uttarakhand.

Following are the key features of 2013 North India Tsunami:

CLOUDBURST WAY OF EXCESSIVE FLOODS144% SURPLUS RAIN HITS UTTARAKHANDGOVERNMENT NEGLIGENCEINFRASRUCTURE

CAUSES

Human impact-580 dead and over 3000 still missing

Worst affected Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi and TehriGarhwal.districts are Initial assessments suggest 300,000 people have been affected, 50,000 displaced and roughly 10,000 injured in the affected region.

EFFECTS

Many villages in the interior of the hilly state remain cut off due to landslides and getting food,

Kedarnath Valley – one of the worst affected areas – is only accessible by helicopters.

Bad weather could also disrupt the restoration of infrastructure and cause roads that have been cleared to become choked again.

EFFECTS

Although the temple withstood the severity of the floods, the temple complex and surrounding areas were destroyed by the flood, resulting in the death of several thousands of pilgrims and local people. All the shops and hotels were destroyed and all roads were broken. Number of people took shelter inside the temple for hours together , until Indian army airlifted them to safer places.

Kedarnath Temple

Kedarnath Temple

DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF THE TSUNAMI IN UTTARAKHAND

The terrible magnitude of nature's fury in Uttarakhand unfolded on

Wednesday as the death toll rose to 150 with fears that it may go up

substantially as large parts remained under water while hundreds of

houses and buildings lay in ruins.

Massive devastation at Uttarakhand

At present the area is only accessible by air and establishing the narrow roads and the foot bridges will be crucial. Also barring the temple everything around remains in shambles which needs restoration work and as hinted by the Uttarakhand CM will take at least 2 years, during which no yatra is possible at all.

Major Challenge

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel have so far rescued 32,772 people from different areas of Uttarakhand following landslides and floods, Of the 32,772, including pilgrims and residents, 26,538 were rescued by ITBP while 6,234 were evacuated by NDRF personnel till Monday afternoon.

RESCUE OPERATION

Defending its role in the rescue operations in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, ISRO had played its role in the largest rescue operations in the country, saving thousands of lives.

Uttarakhand floods: ISRO defends role in rescue operations

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