RMD SINHGAD TECHNICAL INSTITUTES CAMPUS, PUNE

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

2014-2015

SEMINAR – I

ON

Rehabilitation Issues And Case Study Of Kedarnath Landslide

SUBITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF PUNE,

IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE

MASTER OF ENGINEERING (CIVIL)

SUBMITTED BY

VIKAS TYAGI

EXAMINATION NO. – ME13785

UNDER GUIDANCE OF

MR. V.C. SHINDE

PROFESSOR & HEAD

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

SINHGAD EDUCATION SOCIETY’S TECHNICAL

RMD SINHGAD TECHNICAL INSTITUTES

CAMPUS, PUNE

CERTIFICATE This is certify that Mr. Vikas Tyagi has successfully completed the Seminar work entitled “Rehabilitation Issues And Case Study Of Kedarnath Landslide” in the partial fulfilment of ME (Civil Engineering), University of Pune.

DATE :

PLACE :

Mr. V.C. Shinde

(Guide)

Dr. J.R.Patil Dr. P.M.Patil

(Head of Civil Engineering) (Principal)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I consider it is a privilege to express through the pages of this report, a few words of gratitude and respect to all those distinguished personalities who guided and inspired us in the completion of Seminar.

I express my deep sense of gratitude to my Seminar guide Mr. V.C. Shinde Professor and Head Department of Civil RMDSSOE, Warje, Pune for providing me the necessary guidance and support throughout the course of Seminar.

I am thankful for the help and encouragement of our PG coordinator Dr. J.R.Patil, Professor Department of Civil.

- Mr. Vikas Tyagi

Abstract

Sometime due to major accident and leakage the situation become worst for the nearby peoples. Kedarnath is a town located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and has gained importance because of Kedarnath Temple located at the latitude of 30.73 and the longitude of 79.06. This region is seismically and ecologically very sensitive and delicate, even a minute changes (anthropogenic or natural) can create a dangerous disaster. A natural hazardous has been happened in Kedarnath valley due to torrential rainfall during 16 and 17 June 2013. After viewing this disaster due to torrential rainfall an attempt has been made to utilize the high resolution satellite data of before and after the incident of the recent devastation in Kedarnath of Rudrapratap District, Uttarakhand. The objective of this study is to fundamentally focus the intercession of human being in nature and their consequences in terms of human's life. In our article we tried to focus the impact of this natural hazardous over the region of Kedarnath.

Introduction

Kedarnath is one of the ancient and famous pilgrims place situated in Uttarakhand, India. It is located in the snow cover area of Himalayan region at the height of approx 3,583 meter above sea level in the Mandakini valley of Rudraprayag District, Uttarakhand. Due to very decisive weather condition it is not possible to visit this Holy place for all of the years so only from May to October it is safe to visit there. The race between tourism industries, population growth, several hydroelectric projects are in the fast track in Uttarakhand district. After the constitution of Uttarakhand as State there is an increment of approx. 141% in population of Uttarakhand. Now a day's lots of residents and villagers have started to live near the temple and commercialize this holy region by building different hotels, shops and markets in this valley. It is clear that there is tremendous growth in infrastructure during last few decades and proportionally the number of pilgrimages has been increased to a greater extent. This region is seismically and ecologically very sensitive and delicate even a minute changes (anthropogenic or natural) can create a dangerous disaster. The fragile nature of oldest crystalline basement of the Himalayan is very sensitive in case of landslides and any disaster. Basically the frequency and magnitude of landslides depend on the underlying structures, physiographic setting, type and condition of vegetation and anthropogenic pressure of the location. Mehraj Pandit, one of the environmentalists of Delhi University said that the elevated use of concrete and cement in place of wood and stone the temperature of the local area has started to increase during the night time. Instead of this, huge number of infrastructure development has been taken there to fulfil the need of the tourists. The development of hotels has been done at the place of river which was left after the flood or some times by changing the path of the rivers. Currently there are 558 hydroelectric power projects are in pipe line those will affect to Bhagirathi (80%) and Alaknanda (65%), as per the statement of Sunita Narayan, Director, Centre for Science and Environment. Due to development of roads and Dam in between mountain, the incident of landslides has been inclined. The Rudraprayag district where Kedarnath is situated has already faced the problem of natural disasters 8 times for last 34 years. During 1953-1980, 764.48 milion peoples have been suffered only due to flood and natural disaster. The population of Uttarakahnd can be examining by the increasing number (700%) of car registration from 2001 to 2012. The problems become more provoked during monsoon period (mid-June to mid-September).

Uttarkashi town, Chamoli to Badrinath road sector, Narainbagad, Mandakini Valleys etc are the critical areas in terms of landslides1-7. Since early 1970's, satellite remote sensing techniques are an important approach for detecting and analyzing temporal changes and dynamic phenomena on the earth's surface. Due to lack of advance techniques and limitation of the spatial resolution of satellite data, it was critical to map individual landslides and quantify the damage at the desirable scale. Remote sensing technology in managing the natural hazard has two significant functions, like real time monitoring and mapping the changes or the dynamics of the process. There are a number of practices that can be used for mapping perilous zones. The preference of methods depends mainly on the type of hazard, parameters to be studied and the extent of mapping8-9. In year of 2012 Okhimath area of Rudrapratap as also witnessed unprecedented damage to the life and property, infrastructure and landscape during September 13 to 16 due to torrential rainfall and cloud burst accident. Kedarnath is situated on a glacial outwash plain bordered by impenetrable green forest, with a waterfall nearby, the tiny village of Rambara. Rambara which is the most popular resting place for devotees, trekking to Kedarnath from Gaurikund. As per the different news agencies it was reported that nothing is left there, just nothing. The entire area, which housed around 100-150 shops and five hotels, to serve the needs of the ever swelling number of pilgrims, was completely washed away leaving no trace of the once lively rural community situated at an altitude of 2591 metres halfway on the 14 km long track Kedarnath The vulnerable nature of global tourism is one of the major concerns for contingency management. Disaster management is an important aspect for any tourism destination (especially in the face of a crisis). The specific contingencies such as war, terrorism, crime waves, epidemic and natural disasters have devastating impacts on any community, region, state or nation. Any potential destination is exposed to one or more of the above threats, which can question the safety of residents, tourists and can hamper the market perception of that destination. Consequently, it is crucial for all destination stakeholders to analyze and develop contingency plans to respond to varying levels of threats. Either a specific episode or a series of those may create a change in the perceptions towards a destination. There are a number of factors which can question the safety and security image of tourist destinations and result in a destination crisis. Some of them are: international war / prolonged demonstrations of internal conflict; terrorism which can affect the tourism sector of the state; crime wave, especially when tourists are targeted (murder, sexual exploitation, theft etc); natural disasters, such as an earthquake, storm or floods, causing damage to urban areas or the natural environment and consequently impacting on the tourism infrastructure and health concerns related to epidemics and diseases; these may be diseases which impact on humans directly or diseases affecting animals, which create constraints for tourism. These events can cause massive aftermaths, individually or in combination, to create a negative image on the safety, security or desirability of tourist destinations. Thereby, it poses challenges for the concerned authorities and local communities to examine the ingredients of disaster management strategies. The degrees to which emergency service is initiated to face crisis can always be critically examined when crisis overrules. Certainly, those factors do not represent the totality of issues which can impact negatively the destination image. However, the concern can extend to analyze how a destination and its tourism industry conduct a marketing campaign to restore its image and recover its market from the damage caused by these events (Varghese, 2012). This study envisages on the repercussions of Uttarakhand as a destination in the plight of a disaster and provides the various steps that make an effective disaster management plan and it seeks to provide a means of disaster recovery through a

systematic approach which will help restoring the destinations success, the paper also goes a step ahead in discussing the marketing strategies and campaigns so as to restore the destinations image which would be tainted due to the devastation and finally recommends the importance if destination management by implementation of Destination Management Organizations(DMOs).

The Kedarnath Temple (C, foreground) is pictured amid flood destruction in Kedarnath, located in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand.

At the peak of the monsoon season the northern state of Uttarakhand was face to face with floods caused due to the cloud burst that hit three of the four famous Char Dham pilgrim sites, “2013 North India floods” (n.d.) leaving tens and thousands of inhabitants as well as pilgrims stranded or swept away due to the floods, and not to mention the damage cause to life, property and business. The famous Char Dham pilgrimage is now discontinued for three years for repair and restoration ("Plan ahead", 2013).The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), in one of its first reports on the Uttarakhand floods, has blamed climatic conditions combined with haphazard human intervention” in the hills for the disaster (“Down To Earth”, 2013, para.1). Besides the natural disaster various other factors have contributed to the downfall of this famous religious/ tourist site. Uttarakhand’s huge potential in tourism lead to the state in tapping its potential towards becoming a major tourist and pilgrim destination, also has a hand in this disaster. The uncontrolled rise of tourism inflow into the sate of Uttarakhand, took a toll on the ecology of the state. With Uttarakhand’s proximity to the national capital, the weekend revelers soon found Uttarakhand to be the destination to beat the heat. Plus, the religious tourists found it much easier to travel to-not-so accessible Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and other shrines, all this lead to an unsustainable rise in the number of people traveling to Uttarakhand (Bisht, 2013). As stated by Jacob (2013) during a live television interview on CNN-IBN that, “the number of 'pilgrims' has been steadily increasing, with people from the plains interested in a quick

guided tour of the hills in a vehicle...the local authorities have ignored the carrying capacity and cumulative impact of dams and illegal construction on the fragile Himalayas” (para.8). This steady rise in tourist inflow resulted in other detrimental issues such as heavy traffic and roadblocks, with tourists routinely complaining about the bad roads and how it affected their travel time, the government resorted to widen the roads so as to accommodate the tourist’s inflow. Considering the fragility of these mountains, Himalayas being the youngest of the mountain ranges in the world with very poor soil stability the roads would routinely cave in or get washed away during monsoons (Bisht, 2013). The rising tourism industry lured the land sharks and they erected multi-storied hotels, flouting all environmental norms.

This figure shows most affected districts and landslide prone areas in uttarakhand.

Thousands of such resorts and hotels have mushroomed in this eco-sensitive zone in the last few years. Some of these hotels were built on banks of several small and big rivers just to give the tourist a bird’s eye view of the pristine river flowing through the valley . The number of hotels has also seen a similar rise in the recent past. For example, Kedarnath Valley has hundreds of such hotels that were vulnerable to these natural calamities. So, when flash floods struck the valley, many of these hotels got swept away and so did the people staying in them (Bisht, 2013). As addressed by Jacob (2013), that “rampant illegal construction of buildings by locals had also contributed to the problems and made a bad situation worse. On top of it all, traffic in the hills has increased hugely, with the number of vehicles registered in the hills going up sharply. Remember the hills are delicate and unstable, so it takes little to set off landslides. More infrastructure has in fact worsened the situation since much of it is poorly made and constructed by people who have no idea of building in the hills”(para.3). All the above factors has had a crucial role to play in the disaster, but as the report provisioned by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) showed that not only was the disaster aggravated due to rise tourism but also blame lands in the faults of the State Disaster Management Authority which was formed in 2007, but never was a meeting convened nor were there any rules, regulations, policies or guidelines framed,

"the state disaster management plan was under preparation and actionable programmes were not prepared forvarious disasters," the report says. Going to show that the state was unprepared to face a sudden crisis, furthermore as Varma (2013) stated, “citing examples of the mismanagement by the Uttarakhand government, the CAG said that although the Geological Survey of India had identified 101 villages as 'vulnerable' in June 2008, the state government did not take any measures for their rehabilitation till date”. Besides this there are also allegations against the government based on the construction of several dams along the river, which is as good as handing out an invitation to disasters, as Jacob (2013) reflects on the same, “illegal construction - of buildings a dams...the government has sanctioned an absurd number of hydro electric power projects that actually overlap with each other” (para.6). All this only goes to show the state and in turn the nation’s lack of competency, lack of planning and absences of political accountability is evidently seen through this extensive damage. To highlight the main factors that aggravated the disaster are as follows: the unregulated tourist inflow; the absence of an early warning mechanism as the CAG report mentions “The communication system was inadequate.”(As cited in "Plan ahead", 2013, p.10); a lack of trained medical staff at hospitals; the climatic conditions the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued advance warnings predicting extreme weather conditions in Uttarakhand before the flash-floods though no appropriate action was taken ("Warning had been," 2013) and finally the fact that the state had no action plan in case a disaster struck. "Plan ahead" (2013), states that “Disasters are not learning processes. The authorities will have to do all they can to ensure against such recurrences...the starting point is for the State Disaster Management Authority to put place a disaster management plan” (p.10).Thus, unforeseen disasters calls for having an effective disaster management plan in place and for the State Disaster Management Authority to prepare actionable programmes to deal with disasters. One such action plan is as suggested below, will help in restoring the destinations success. Facts And Plausible Causes

Recent climate changes have had significant impact on high-mountain glacial environment. Rapid melting of snow/ice and heavy rainfall has resulted in the formation and expansion of moraine-dammed lakes, creating a potential danger from dammed lake outburst floods1. On 16 and 17 June 2013, heavy rains together with moraine dammed lake (Chorabari Lake) burst caused flooding of Saraswati and Mandakini Rivers in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand (Figure 1a).Prolonged heavy down pour on 16 and 17 June 2013 resembled ‘cloud burst’(except for amount of precipitation of 100mm/h) type event in the Kedarnath valley and surrounding areas that damaged the banks of River Mandakini for 18km between Kedarnath and Sonprayag, and completely washed away Gaurikund (1990masl), Rambara (2740masl) and Kedarnath (3546masl) towns. The roads and footpath between Gaurikund and Kedarnath were also damaged. There are reports of loss of large number of human lives and damage to the property and livestock. The Chorabari Lake(3960masl) also known as Gandhi Sarovar Lake, is a snow melt and rain fed lake, located about 2km upstream of Kedarnath town which is approximately 400m long, 200m wide having a depth of 15–20m. The bursting of this lake led to its complete draining within 5–10min as reported by the watch and ward staff of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), who were present in WIHG camp at Chorabari Glacier on 16 June and early morning of 17 June 2013. The heavy rainfall together with melting of snow in the surrounding Chorabari Lake washed

off both the banks of the Mandakini River causing massive devastation to the Kedarnath town. The WIHG meteorological observatory at Chorabari Glacier camp (3820masl) recorded 210mm rainfall in 12 hours between 15 June  (5:00 p.m.) and 16 June (5:00a.m.) 2013. On 16 June 2013 alone from 5:00a.m.to 5:00p.m.), 115 mm rainfall was recorded, causing 325 mm rain in 24 hours. The WIHG has another rain gauge installed at its geophysical facility (MPGO) at Kopardhar near Ghuttu (30.53N, 78.74E; 1836masl),which is approximately 38km (aerial distance) from Kedarnath. The Ghuttu rain gauge recorded 58mm on 15 June, 121mm on 16 June and 93mm on 17 June with no rainfall on 18 June (Figure 2). The surface atmospheric pressure began to decrease on 15 June reaching a low (832.4mB) on 17 June (Figure 2). During 15–17 June 2013, the heavy rains also caused devastation in other regions  of Uttarakhand, Himachal and Nepal.

Figure 1. a, Satellite view of Kedarnath area, showing drainage system, glaciers, lake and township4; b, TheIndia Meterological Department image (17 June 2013) suggested that the heavy rainfall on the higher Uttarakhand, Himachal and Nepal Himalaya caused the collision of the monsoon and westerly disturbance. Arrows (red colour) on the map indicate the moisture sources of the area. (Source: Figure 1 b:)

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) linked heavy to very heavy rain-fall on the higher Uttarakhand, Himachal and Nepal Himalaya to the convergence  of the Southwest Monsoon trough and westerly disturbances, which led to the formation of dense cloud over the Uttarakhand Himalaya (Figure 1 b).

Figure 2. Rainfall and atmospheric pressure recorded at Kopardhar observatory near Ghuttu (WIHG), which is approximately 38 km (aerial distance) from Kedarnath.

The Kedarnath temple town is located in the western extremity of the Central Himalaya (30446.7N; 79041E) in the Mandakini River valley which has a total catchment area of ~67 km2 (up to Rambara), out of which 23% area is covered by glaciers2. The catchment area is situated in the glacier modified U-shaped valley; the altitude ranges from 2740 to 6578 masl. Such a variation in the altitude provides diverse landscape. Bhart Khunta (6578 m), Kedarnath (6940 m), Mahalaya peak (5970 m) and Hanuman top (5320 m) are few well known peaks in the area. Mandakini River originates from the Chorabari Glacier (3895 m) near Chorabari Lake (Figures 1 and 3) and joins Saraswati River which originates from Companion glacier at Kedarnath (Figure 3), passing through Rambara and Gaurikund. The Madhu Ganga and Dudh Ganga are the main tributaries that merge into the Mandakini River at Kedarnath town. Another equally important tributary of Mandakini River is Son Ganga which originates from Vasuki Lake (4040 masl) and has a confluence with Mandakini River at Sonprayag (1709 masl) which finally merges with Alaknanda River at Rudraprayag. Geologically, the area north of the Pindari Thrust comprises calc-silicate, biotite  gneisses, schist and granite pegmatite apatite veins belonging to the PindariFormation3. Above 3800masl altitudes, glacial processes dominate and between3800 and 2800 masl glaciofluvial processes are dominant; below 2800 masl mainly the fluvial processes are active. Geomorphologically, Mandakini valley was formed by the erosional and deposional processes of glaciofluvial origin. The Kedarnath town is situated on the out wash plane of Chorabari and Companion glaciers (Figure 3). The channels of Mandakini and  Saraswati Rivers encircles this outwash plane and meet near the Kedarnath town where the outwash plane ends. These streams cut their banks every year. Overcrowding of the people near the temple led to a change in the course of Sarswati River which now flows just behind the Kedarnath town (Figure 3).

Figure 3.Geomorphological setup of the Kedarnath area and view of settlement of the Kedar-nath town along the river bank of Mandakini (May 2012 photo).

Rainfall data from an automatic weather station (installed near the Chorabari snout) indicates that the Indian Summer Monsoon is the major source of precipitation (rainfall) in the study area with partial contribution from western disturbances during winter. Winter precipitation generally occurs between December and March when the western disturbances are dominant in the area as they move eastward over northern India. Total summer (JJAS) rainfall for each observation periods between 2007 and 2012 were 1685mm, 1513mm, 734mm, 1662mm, 1348mm and 1115mm for respective years. Based on the available rainfall data from our observatory at Chorabari glacier, the area received maximum precipitation during the rainy season, i.e. July and August(Figure 4).

Figure 4.Histogram of summer rainfall pattern of the Kedarnath area during the period 2007 to 2012 AD. Maximum precipitation occurred during the rainy season from July and August5

The preliminary results suggest that the following two events caused devastation in the Kedarnath area of the Mandakini River basin.

Figure 5. a, The Landsat (8) satellite image (23 June 2013; after disaster), sowing the, lake burst (1), Gulleys erosion/cloud burst events (2) and circle (3) indicate the site of maximum devastation (http://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/). b, The panoramic view of Chorabari Lake and Gla-cier, the red circle indicate the weak zone of the lake, where the lake was burst. c, The photograph showing the maximum devastation in Kedar-nath town (Photo: Internet). d, Cartosat image (Bhuwan) of post disaster of the Kedarnath and surrounding areas and clearly indicating Chorabari Lake outburst. The red circle indicates the breaching point of the Lake.

Event 1On 16 June2013, at 5:15p.m., the torrential rains flooded the Saraswati River and Dudh Ganga catchment area, resulting in excessive flow across all the channels. Following this very active erosion began in all the other gulleys causing excessive water and sediment accumulation in the major rivers (Figure 5a). As a result, large volumes of water struck the town which simultaneously picked huge amount of loose sediment enroute. The voluminous water studded with debris from the surrounding regions and glacial moraines moved towards Kedarnath town, washing off upper part of the city (Sankaracharya samadhi, Jalnigam guest house, Bharat Seva Sangh Ashram,etc.) and leading to the biggest ever devastation we have seen in the region. Our meteorological stations near Chorabari glacier recorded 325mm rainfall at the base of the glaciers in two days on 15 and 16 June 2013. Due to heavy downpour, the town of Rambara was completely washed away on 16 June evening.

Event 2The second event occurred on 17 June2013 at 6:45a.m., after overflow and collapse of the moraine dammed Chorabari Lake (Figure 5a and b) which released large volume of water that caused another lash flood in the Kedarnath town leading to heavy devastation downstream (Gaurikund, Sonprayag, Phata, etc.). Our study shows that the main cause of the

Chorabari Lake collapse was torrential rains that the area received between 15 and 17 June 2013. Due to heavy rainfall the right lateral basin of the glacier, which is thickly covered by snow (>7 feet thick near the upper part of lake during field work on 4 June 2013) rapidly melted due to rain-water allowing large amount of water accumulation in the Gandhi Sarovar lake (Figure 5b). There were no outlets in the lake, the water was simply released through narrow passage sat the bottom of the lake. Suddenly millions of gallons of water accumulated in the moraine dammed lake within 3 days, which increased their potential energy and reduced the shear strength of the dam. Ultimately the loose-moraine dam breached causing an enormous devastation in the Kedarnath valley (Figure 5a). Recently, the risk of natural disasters has increased in the area as a result of increasing anthropogenic activities(Figure 3). This trend is likely to increase in future as the activities like pilgrimage, tourism, etc. will increase. The natural flow paths of the channels get obstructed due to the construction of man-made structures that results in deviation of the flow from its natural course. Apprehending the tendency of increasing urbanization due to increase in the number of pilgrims, tourists and other developmental activities in the area, selection of safe land-use locations would be a formidable task to accomplish. However, the Government has to take care of these issues in future rebuilding of the devastated area, though the task of rehabilitation of the displaced population is enormous.

Cloudburst & Flood Disaster

Garhwal Himalaya is considered adobe of Gods: this beautiful and difficult terrain hasnumerous majestic peaks like Shivling, Bhagirathi, Thalay Sagar, Nanda Devi, and spiritual sites like Tapovan. Hindus from all corners of India visit four very important holy pilgrimage sites: Gangotri (origin of river Ganga/Bhagirathi), Yamunotri (origin of river Yamuna),Badrinath (God Vishnu’s temple at banks of Alaknanda river), and Kedarnath (God Shiva’s temple at banks of Mandakini river and northernmost of 12 Jyotirlingas). This journey is popularly known as Chota Char Dham yatra, literally translated as “minor four God’s adobe pilgrimage circuit” (it draws its name from original Char Dham yatra consisting of Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram temples in four corners of India). June is peak month of Chota Char Dham pilgrimage for two reasons: it is summer vacation time in most of north India, and rain starts in Garhwal by end of June or early July. During the peak pilgrimage season, from 14 – 17 June 2013 (peaking on 16th), the region received unexpectedly heavy rain, about 375% more than normal, causing unprecedented magnitude of death and destruction, especially in Kedarnath (site of Destroyer God Shiva) due to cloud burst causing a glacial lake burst and flash flood downstream. In this still unfolding tragedy, more than thousand people died, many thousands still missing, several villages completely destroyed, hundreds of villages rendered inaccessible, Crores of rupees worth of infrastructure and property lost. As it is now monsoon season in the region, it will not only make rehabilitation difficult, but also cause its own annual quota of destruction and loss of life. I think the real toll of Kedarnath disaster / tragedy will be known only after monsoon ends, and hopefully rehabilitation/reconstruction will be completed before winter sets in Garhwal, Uttarakhand. I

have trekked in Gangotri and Kedarnath region a few times and have seen it being transformed quite a bit, for better or worse, in last 8 years. It has been painful for me to read and watch the news. Tragic loss of life and destruction was saddening and the magnitude was shocking. My plan to 10-days trek to Satopanth Tal and Swargarohini near Badrinath starting 10th June had fizzled out due to organization troubles (before flood news broke). So in a way I felt lucky, but thought that I would have been definitely among those stuck or might have been hurt and even perished was sobering, making it not some distant tragedy but rather something too close for comfort. I was hooked to news: reading and watching whatever being dished out. TV coverage was 24×7, and sadly it was mostly sensational, designed to grab eyeballs for high TRP. Politicians of all colors and hues were busy with their controversies and blame game. I was tired of sensational breaking news and typical blaming the government. I wished for something meaningful and more informative. I looked for explanations about what actually happened that caused something of such magnitude. Thankfully now at least some explanations are out there on internet. In this blog post, I attempt to put it all together: what I felt and thought as news and visuals poured in, explanation that I have learned, and my opinion on development vs. environment debate. I completed my trek and returned to Bangalore on 3 July. By that time, stories of traumatizing horrifying  ordeals that survivors endured were starting to come out. I also found couple ofblog posts by Dave Petley, Geography professor at Durham University, UK, reconstructing events based on satellite data and eyewitness accounts (also a news report based on those blog posts).Mandakini originates from Chorabari glacier, which recorded 315mm rainfall on 15-16 June (not yet clear if it was a sudden cloud burst). That kind of rain usually happens at the peak of monsoon in July/August and not in mid June, when there is still snow melting on the ground. Heavy rainfall and melting snow are known to cause landslides. Several shallow landslides are visible in photos and satellite images, but there was a major landslide above the glacier (with 1200m length, 75m width and an altitude difference of 500m from crown to channel). That landslide quickly accumulated sediment and water, and highly energetic debris flow ran along the margin of the glacier and swept into the temple town around 6:15pm on 16th June. Velocities were so high that it went on to strike Rambada almost instantly. Another serious trouble was developing over the night at the Chorabari Lake (actually a Tarn) at the western snout of the Charobari Glacier. In the morning of 17th June, rainfall and snowmelt caused catastrophic burst in the terminal moraine barrier releasing all of the impounded water. This water along with moraine and glacial sediments including large boulders swept down and picked debris on the way. This very energetic and large debris flow hit Kedarnath with hill-load of boulders and lake-ful of ice cold water. Both these high velocity waves of water and debris caused unbelievable devastation and heart wrenching deaths. I think no matter how much I try, it will never sink into me. This is absolutely unbelievable, unimaginable horror.

Climate Change and the Indian MonsoonThe ‘unpredictability’ factor associated with India’s summer monsoon is not a new phenomenon; however, it is the scale of unpredictability with rising temperatures that has now become a major concern. A World Bank report prepared by the Potsdam Institute of Climate Research and Climate Analytics suggests that an extreme wet monsoon that was estimated to occur only once in 100 years, is now projected to happen every ten years by the end of this century. Due to increase in moisture availability, an increase in annual mean precipitation has been predicted. Variability in the monsoon system including intra-seasonal variability in precipitation and extreme precipitation events will undoubtedly increase the risk of flooding and droughts (114-116). Another study by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in 2006 also states that while there was an increasing trend in the frequency and intensity of heavy and very heavy rain events between 1951 and 2000, the frequency of moderate events during the period were on the decline (Goswami, et al. 1442-1444). Such variations in the rainfall pattern are capable of causing flash floods, mudslides, large-scale crop failure and loss of life and property.

The government, however, has denied linkages between climate change and extreme precipitation events, even in the case of heavy rainfall witnessed by North India in 2013. Despite the fact that studies have revealed that heavy precipitation events have resulted in many severely damaging floods in India in the past few years, the government sources suggest that there was “nothing unusual” about the heavy rainfall events and that those were just “isolated events” that had nothing to do with climate change or extreme weather events as reported by Bose. At the same time, it has to be noted that the scientific and environmental causes for the Uttarakhand disaster are not restricted to climate change only as analyzed by Singh. Initially thought of as a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), reports now claim that a multitude of factors led to the ‘Himalayan Tsunami’. A small lake is said to have formed due to a huge landslide coupled with heavy rainfall upstream. A breach in the boundary of the lake resulted in a large amount of water surging as well as in another rock to flow away, thus creating a new stream in addition to the existing two streams. The monsoon had reached Uttarakhand almost two weeks in advance due to “low pressure in north-western region” (Rajasthan), “easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal that came along the foothills of Himalayas” and “westerly winds that crossed Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, creating a trough”. Moreover, rains had hit Uttarakhand when the rivers already had a heavier flow due to seasonal glacial melting. As a result, the rivers swelled up further. When water falls on ice in general or glaciers, it melts faster. It might not be possible to prevent such an unpredictable sequence of events although early warning systems and timely and precise meteorological data could have salvaged many lives that were lost in the disaster. This was not the first time a disaster of such a massive scale had struck the nation. Cities such as Mumbai and Kolkata are among the top ten most vulnerable cities in the world in the climate change vulnerable index of Maplecroft – Global Risks Analytics as given in “Cities of Dhaka”. They could be affected severely by long-term changes in temperature and rainfall patterns. As a case in point, in July, 2005, in a single day, Mumbai received 28.9 inches of rain in the city center and 37.2 inches in the surrounding suburban areas. The entire city came to a standstill with telecommunications, transportation, power and financial services coming to a halt (Stecko and Nicole 3). The Mumbai floods brought to light the country’s vulnerabilities and several gaping holes in its urban planning and most importantly disaster management policies.

The State of Disaster Management in India

The four-phase approach towards “modern disaster management” involves the following (Coppola, 9-10):

1. Mitigation: Reducing or eliminating the likelihood or the consequences of a hazard, or both. Mitigation seeks to “treat” the hazard such that it impacts society to a lesser degree.

2. Preparedness: Equipping people who may be impacted by a disaster or who may be able to help those impacted with the tools to increase their chance of survival and to minimize their financial and other losses.

3. Response: Taking action to reduce or eliminate the impact of disasters that have occurred or currently occurring, in order to prevent further suffering, financial loss, or a combination of both. Relief, a term commonly used in international disaster management, is one component of response.

4. Recovery: Returning victims’ lives back to a normal state following the impact of disaster consequences. The recovery phase generally begins after the immediate response has ended, and can persist for months or years thereafter.

Similarly, India’s National Policy on Disaster Management lays down seven elements that constitute disaster management: prevention, mitigation and preparedness (pre-disaster phase); and response, rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery (post-disaster phase) (National Policy on Disaster Management, 7). However, despite the fact that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was formed in 2006 to carry out the above-mentioned tasks, the disaster management policies and strategies of India have been largely defunct. The authority was constituted under the Disaster Management Act of 2005 in the light of the various earthquakes, cyclones, tsunami and floods among other disasters that India had suffered in recent years. It established a three-tiered disaster management construct that is at the national, state and district levels. However, the authority has been hampered by a host of inadequacies and loopholes.

A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on “Performance Audit of Disaster Preparedness in India” criticizes the NDMA for its lack of information and control as well as for failing to implement several projects. It exposed the following details (vi-ix):

• The National Executive Committee had not met after May 2008, although the country faced many disasters since that date. This had affected the evaluation of the disaster preparedness at all levels of government. • The National Plan for Disaster Management had not been formulated even after six years of the enactment of the Disaster Management Act. • None of the major projects taken up by NDMA was completed. Due to improper planning, either the projects were abandoned midway or were still incomplete after lapse of a considerable period.

• The National Disaster Mitigation Fund was yet to be established.• The National Database for Emergency Management, which was to be completed by August 2011, was yet to be operationalized. • Effectiveness of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was hampered by a shortage of trained manpower, absence of required training facilities, infrastructure and

equipment. India’s Disaster Resource Network project, to build an organized information system of specialist equipment and expertise for disaster response, was operational only on ad-hoc basis. • As of September 2011, Only eight states had prepared Emergency Action Plans for 192 large dams against the targeted 4278 dams in 29 states.

In short, the country’s disaster management mechanisms require drastic refurbishment and consolidation. The roles of the NDMA, state disaster management authorities, district disaster management authorities and other local authorities need to be defined clearly to avoid duplication and overlaps. Although the Disaster Management Act 2005, as well as the National Policy on Disaster Management, gives an exhaustive description of the various agencies involved in disaster management and their specific roles and functions, it is very clear that there is a lack of coordination and cooperation between different agencies until the disaster actually strikes or even just after. There must be more clarity on whether the NDMA could legally issue directions to the state authorities (e.g., would that lead to a violation of the federal structure?).

In fact, in Uttarakhand, a state that has confronted regular floods in the past has a state disaster management authority that is relief-centric rather than focusing on preparedness. Instead of a proactive approach, the Indian disaster management agencies have been practicing a more-or-less reactive approach. Also, the bane of bureaucracy seems to be affecting the disaster management machinery of India as well. There is a need to integrate various sectors of the society, including non-governmental organizations and the civil society at large.

The immediate reaction of the NDMA in the aftermath of the Uttarakhand disaster was to pass the buck to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) for not providing accurate weather warning as reported by Menon. The blame game continued when the IMD claimed that it had issued a warning, to which the NDMA reacted by stating that no special forecast was issued to the NDMA and therefore, it was caught unaware by the sudden heavy rainfall. No agency was prepared and no efforts were made to evacuate the people. More importantly, pilgrims constituted a large part of the victims; an early warning to not flock to the pilgrim spots/sites in Uttarakhand could have saved their lives. Unfortunately, the Central Water Commission (CWC) that forecasts floods in India has no forecasting station in Uttarakhand. Despite sanctioning of funds for installing Doppler radars -- which can detect precipitation intensity, wind direction and speed in Uttarakhand -- no action has been taken. The Doppler radar would have helped in issuing advance and accurate warnings of heavy rainfall. Raju reports that a proposal to modernize IMD has been forwarded by the NDMA in which heavy emphasis has been laid on procuring “various weather radars, micro-rain radars, GPS-based upper air system, surface observation equipment and lightning detection system” besides a “heliport automated weather observation system” which is in the pipeline. The paucity of a robust communication network along with ill-functioning or outdated equipment has been heavily impeding the efforts of the NDRF on the ground. Empowering the NDRF with the latest technologies and logistical support is crucial for all four phases of disaster management. It is also important to sensitize them to the local surroundings and communities of the region affected by disasters, for appropriate rehabilitation. Instead of calling upon the armed forces every time, the NDRF -- constituted specifically for disaster management -- should be given a boost by imparting requisite training.

Death and Damages

822were deaths occurred in flood(official estimates). 2232were missing persons. 2232 has fully damaged houses 154 bridges get damaged. 1520 roads get damaged. 4200 villages were affected. Over 70,000 people were stuck in various regions because of damaged or blocked roads. National highway 58, an important artery near region jyotirmath was also washed away. Rescue Operation

The future of those rescued from the villages and hamlets of flood ravaged Uttarakhand seems to be bleak indeed. No less than 561 villages across the state devastated by natural causes in the past are yet to be relocated and rehabilitated by Geological Survey of India (GSI). With more than 200 villages added to the GSI list recently, the body is all ready to give up.  A February 2013 meeting of GSI, Geology and Mining Unit (GMU), Ministry of Mines, Uttarakhand government and Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC) at Dehradun, had survey officials saying they are unable to rehabilitate such a "large" number of disaster-hit villages. Minutes of the meeting, headed by GSI officials, say, "The Uttarakhand Unit of GSI has received a list from DMMC and state administration, government of Uttarakhand of some 561 villages, affected by natural disasters, to be investigated by GSI. "It has been impressed upon by GSI that such a huge assignment cannot be completed by GSI alone, due to manpower shortage in Dehradun office"The recent landslides in Uttarakhand have the understaffed GSI overwhelmed; the number of total villages in dire need of rehabilitation may go up to a thousand by the end of the

monsoon season. "The list of villages may go up to 1,000 because the scenario is really bad after this disaster. 2Major areas the villages fall into are Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar Nath district as these are central Himalayas. "We have been warning the state government of landslides in these areas because these are young mountains, weak and insta- CHANDRAPURI Palli, a small village in Rudraprayag district, remained cut off from the mainland for nearly two weeks due to flood devastation.Finally, on Sunday, a group of individuals operating adventure sports companies in Rishikesh provided its residents some sort of connectivity, and moreRural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday announced that apart from a package of Rs1,000 crore declared by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for reconstruction and rebuilding efforts, Rs2,500 to 3,000 crore more is expected from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for the purpose. In view of the present circumstances, it has been decided to give Rs50,000 to Rs1 lakh to small kiosks and dhabas damaged in the deluge and Rs2 lakh to hotels completely demolished, Uttarakhand Chief Minister said.In case of damages worth Rs2 lakh to 10 lakh to commercial establishments, 30 per cent of the damage will be compensated, while 20 per cent of the total losses will be reimbursed in case of damages worth Rs10 to 20 lakh and 10 per cent for losses totalling over Rs20 lakh, he said.Villagers had been struggling for ration and essential commodities after the flash floods washed away the only suspension bridge on the Mandakini river in the area on June 17. The volunteers used their adventure sports skills to connect the village with the mainland on Sunday, and also delivered essential supplies there.  "The village is located on right ble slopes. Villages in these areas are vulnerable to disaster," says PVS Rawat, superintending geologist. GSI studies landslide hazards before a settlement is allowed.  For villages that need to be relocated or rehabilitated after a natural disaster, it carries out detailed analyses of landslides. "In order to take up village instability and rehabilitation assignments, there has to be selection and identification of villages on priority by the state government and the same could be divided judiciously between GMU and GSI. The GMU, however, informed us that they are facing manpower shortage and before taking up this assignment fresh recruitment of geologists should be done by the government of Uttarakhand," minutes say. A comprehensive analysis by GSI found that there are few sites left in Uttarakhand to relocate the villages. "Uttarakhand's Himalayan terrain is grappling with encroachment. There are few places left for rehabilitation like barren lands and some forest stretches," says Rawat.  Rehabilitation activities tell upon economic status also because major cultivation is to be removed to relocate villages. The GSI says it can analyse a few villages but a big number is difficult to handle. "This issue is beyond the purview of GSI - it has to be sorted out by the GMU, DMMC or Uttarakhand government.National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) personnel have so far rescued 32,772 peoples 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 NDRF personnel. 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. Several thousand soldiers were deployed for the rescue missions. ITBP Jawans distribute medicines to stranded pilgrims during Uttarakhand

rescue operations. The Army, Air Force, Navy, Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP), Border

Security Force, National Disaster Response Force(NDRF), Public Works Department and

local administrations worked together for quick rescue operations. Helicopters were used to rescue people.Local people distribute food to rescued pilgrims near IAF base camp in dara's. By 21 June 2013 the army had deployed 10,000 soldiers and 11 helicopters.The Navy had sent 45 naval divers, and the Air force had deployed 43 aircraft including 36 helicopters.

Figure;Image of kedarnath before and after.

Rehabilitation StrategiesUttarakhand is home to rich natural resources and wildlife habitats. It is a land of natural beauty, comprising of 93% mountainous and 64% forest cover. Its geographical location, the climate and the vegetation on the region are vary greatly with the elevation and is an eco-sensitive zone. With a very fragile terrain that is prone to natural disasters, the state of Uttarakhand falls within Zone IV and Zone V of seismicity. The state of Uttarakhand is also prone to massive natural calamities, such as rains, cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides, floods, hailstorms and water logging events. The recent disaster that struck Uttarakhand in June 2013 while was largely due to natural causes such as peculiar monsoon and melting of the glaciers due to climate change, but was also aggravated due to the unplanned development in the region. Various developmental activities pursue over the years could not meet the requirements of the ecology and topology of the region. The huge deforestation, high intensity blasting across the hills, unregulated haphazard construction of houses even in the river terrace region, have led to the destruction of the natural ecosystem and distressed the ecosystem, endangering the local ecology and human life. Himalaya is one of the least observed regions on the globe. As a result, there is a corresponding knowledge gap in our understanding of this extensive domain of unusually high gradients in topography, temperature, precipitation, biota and the radiative balance. Focused observations on meteorology, snow, ice and glaciers are required to understand the interaction of cryosphere with atmosphere and geosphere. This understanding is a prerequisite for the development of the capabilities to forecast the extreme weather events, and to understand the changes in the mass balance of glaciers. More importantly, monitoring of glaciers is integral to observing and understanding both the climate change and its attendant implications for water security.

The role of ecosystem in the Himalayan region on the present and future regional climate needs to be examined such that the capabilities for now casting for expeditions, pilgrimage, tourism, etc. can be developed. While the relief in terms of food grain and financial assistance were meant for most immediate requirement, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and restoration of normal life have become major challenges before the state government. This is not only requires help and collaborative efforts from various national and international agencies, but more importantly it calls for scientifically sound planning so that the vulnerabilities to natural hazards are reduced to minimum and developmental activities are sustainable in long term.

1. S&T vision, mission and objectives for reconstruction

1.1: Vision Provide sustainable development plan for post disaster reconstruction and

rehabilitation of Uttarakhand through scientifically designed programmes and build a disaster resilient community in the State.

1.2: Mission To carry out damage assessment, identify multi-hazards risk elements, augment

observing system, identify new communication technologies; strengthen Information systems, leverage GIS technology, establishment of critical infrastructure, set up a proper consultative mechanism and build human and knowledge capacities etc.

To integrate the hazard mitigation processes with sustainable practices along with developing strong early warning systems and preparedness strategies.

1.3: Objectives Map the neighbourhood of Uttarakhand Map fragile and disaster prone areas of Uttarakhand Use Geographical System (GIS) to map critical resources and geographical data of the

state. Prepare spatial databases on different themes, viz. land use/ land cover, land

degradation, geomorphology, ground water prospects and biodiversity characterization using satellite imagery

Focus observations on meteorology, snow, ice and glaciers to understand interaction of cryosphere with atmosphere and geosphere which is prerequisite for the development of capabilities to forecast the extreme weather events

Network existing institutions in the region for coordinating technical knowhow for developing infrastructure in a sustainable manner in the Himalayan hill region

Identify a set of reliable, new and effective technologies to cater to the situations created in a disaster

Provide knowledge base in diverse areas and unique S&T interventions in rebuilding of Uttarakhand

Establish viable models of rural bio-resource complexes / hubs and rural technological innovation & application centre

Support R&D component for refinement and validation of technology for addressing the problems of affected groups

Apart from national mission projects and pilot projects, undertake training & education and research programmes

Promote use of biotechnological processes and tools for Socio economic up-liftment of affected community in Uttarakhand

Preservation of food and agro products by radiation processing and address the water quality issues using indigenously developed technology.

1. Assessment of current situation:

2.1: Quantitative impact of disaster The disaster occurred on the June 15th in upper reaches of Uttarakhand. This was predicated due to the results of global warming and unprecedented 72 hours rain across the Himalayas. The worst hit zone was Rudraprayag district (Kedarnath Valley) of Uttarakhand. Official records revealed that more than 5000 pilgrims and locals lost their lives. Besides, many villages almost washed away, many bridges collapsed, building and huts also succumbed to damage. Due to the worst disaster loss of property and lives are amounting to billions. About 20000 hectares of agricultural land have also been washed away. 2.1: Expectations of Stakeholders During a disaster, the requirement includes quick assessment of the ground situation on the extent and magnitude of the disaster. The Government authorities need information to take steps to mitigate the risks. Though the State machinery has resources to deploy the rescue operations, they should know where to act, and how much resources have to be allocated. The State & District administrators expect information in an understandable format rather than huge sets of data. Towards this the data from various sources are to be converted into information for decision making and provided to the administrators. The following are the expectations from the stake holders:

The local level administrators and the common people expect clear directions from the State.

Laid down policies and Standard Operating procedures on the responsibilities of the stake holders will be useful in ensuring the inter-agency coordination and fast response.

Construction and renovation of their houses and farm land. Reconstruction of roads and bridges Necessary infrastructure facility for electrification, sanitation, health care and

education etc. Regaining loss of livelihood and new avenues as an alternative livelihood Create opportunities for self-employment and reduce migration

1. S&T Strategy for Reconstruction

3.1: Short-term strategy Multi-hazard risk zoning : The state being prone to multi-hazards, reconstruction must be based on scientifically sound planning to prevent/reduce recurrence of disaster losses in future. Spatial zoning based on multi-hazards risks using the scientific data and methods is therefore an immediate requirement for regulating the construction activities. While doing

this, all risk elements including dynamic occupants in the building, vehicular traffic etc. need to be considered. Flash-floods, landslides and forest fires being the common recurrent hazards affecting the mankind and ecosystem must be given priority for multi-hazard risk zoning. Additionally, reserve forests/ parks, high biological richness areas, wildlife corridors and other protected areas should also be considered for avoiding (as far as possible) the human interference. Initial zoning to delineate hot spots for natural hazards can be carried out based on existing scientific datasets on various aspects through a multi-institutional effort. Construction activities in the high and very high risk zones identified through this process need to be regulated through legislation by the government. However, such zones can still be used for other land use practices based on land suitability. Legislation based on such a scientific approach will bring a lot of advantage not only in safeguarding the people and infrastructure from exposure to natural hazards but also conserving the natural environment. These zones can be subject to revision at some regular intervals based on additional scientific data and knowledge.Landslide inventory: During the recent disaster, many new landslides have taken places and many of the old landslides have been reactivated. Therefore, landslide mapping is needed immediate using the latest (post-disaster) satellite images. NRSC has used post-disaster images to map landslides using a semi-automated method in parts of Char-Dham and Pindar valley; the work is in progress in the remaining part. However, ground truthing of these landslides is needed for detailed characterisation. Geological Survey of India (GSI) has been entrusted with the responsibility of carrying out detailed inventory of landslides. The MANU initiative will also help in this endeavour.Identifying safer zones for reconstruction: Uttarakhand is prone to frequent natural and man-made/induced hazards which have the potential to cause extensive damage to life, property, infrastructure and natural resources. The common and potential hazards of immediate concern to human kind living in this region are flash-floods, landslides, forest fires, earthquakes, Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) and avalanche. Land degradation processes, particularly soil erosion, are other major concern as they have adverse impact on the productivity and environment in the long-term.Climate change with accompanied environmental degradation poses further threat as it will potentially increase the vulnerability of the society to natural hazards in future. Therefore, relatively safe places for human settlements, new tourist sites, and infrastructure should be identified based on scientific analysis of available spatial and non-spatial data. The multi-hazard risk zoning and land suitability analysis form the key for reconstruction activities and optimal land use planning. Geographical Information System (GIS), rainfall-runoff and flash flood modelling, debris flow modelling, are some of the approaches that could be used for comprehensive risk assessment and identifying safer and environmentally sustainable zones for reconstruction.The tourist sites and supporting infrastructure including the camping sites (which are often located at the banks of the rivers) need to be evaluated for multi-hazard risks. Wherever needed/feasible, they may be relocated at safer places based on scientific planning. The tourist influx to famous places (particularly Char-Dham) needs to be regulated based on the carrying capacity. Early warning systems and the infrastructure to disseminate the warnings to the tourists needs to be strengthened.Reconstruction of houses, roads & communication infrastructure: Reconstruction of damaged houses and public buildings, and road and communication infrastructure is one of the top-priorities where the aim should be to reduce the vulnerability to different kinds of

hazards (especially earthquake, flood, landslides and forest fires) and restore access to basic amenities and services of governance. Any reconstruction activity of houses and public buildings should be taken up only at safer and environmentally suitable places and as far as possible close to the original locations.

3.2: Medium-term strategy

Optimal land use planning: Land use planning around the new and old settlements should be based on land suitability and the local knowledge/ wisdom for optimum returns.Strengthening emergency communication systems: Communication plays a vital role in early warning and emergency response. As most part of Uttarakhand is characterised with rugged and inaccessible terrain, a strong network of space-based communication system needs to be established to ensure the availability of communication link even during the disaster. ISRO/DOS has developed Satcom-based early warning and emergency communication systems, such as portable satellite phones (MSS Type-D terminals), DTH-based system, Satellite based Virtual Private Network (DMS-VPN), etc. which can be deployed in critical areas of the state to make satellite communication an integral part of the disaster management. During the recent disaster, ISRO has deployed satellite phones and DMS-VPN user nodes through extended C band 1.8m VSAT antennas in disaster-affected areas which were very useful in supporting rescue and relief operations when the terrestrial links failed.Strict scrutiny and implementation mechanism for EIA and EMP: Environmental impact assessment (EIA) carried out for hydropower, industrial and other infrastructure projects must be based on scientifically sound data and methods and should be subject to strict scrutiny before granting clearances. Further, effective implementation of environmental management plans (EMP) in developmental projects must be enforced through a monitoring and regulatory mechanism.Tourism sector: The vulnerable tourist sites/ places and supporting infrastructure need to be relocated to safer places based on scientific planning. New sites should be identified and developed.Enhancing Livelihood Opportunities for Rural Population: Migration of people from rural areas to towns/ cities in search of employment is a serious issue in the state. The main reason for this is small and scattered land-holdings coupled with low agricultural productivity. New ways to enhance the income of farmers need to be promoted to enhance the livelihood opportunities. These could be: improvement in productivity by adopting high-yield varieties of seed, crop diversification, change from conventional crops to high-value crops, providing marketing support, promoting the self-employment generating schemes, involving people in national schemes like MNREGS and IWMP, etc.Establish few viable models of Rural Bio-resource Complexes / hubs in the flood affected regions, which can sustain regular livelihood for the community by adoption of integrated model of farming system including agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture, post-harvest and value addition. This would involve the participation of large number of farming community to provide them tangible benefits with creation of rural entrepreneurship among the youth, SHGs and cooperatives. The models would also have technology driven with the establishment of resource centre and village knowledge centre to promote rural innovation according to the need of hour.

3.3: Long-term strategy

Conservation of Natural Resources and Environment: About 6.6% area of the state is constituted by culturable wasteland and permanent fallow lands. About 11.6% area of the state comes under degraded land, most part of this constituted by the wastelands and permanent fallow lands. Although about 61% of the geographical area is under forest but a considerable portion of it is under degraded forest cover. Similarly, although there is a large potential of water resources but water crisis prevails across the hilly region. These facts point out that there is a lot of scope for conservation of the natural resources and enhance the productivity by adopting scientific, technically viable and environmentally sustainable methods and approaches that are also acceptable to local people.The sectors which need the attention include: (1) forest and biodiversity; (2) soil and agriculture; and (3) water, including hydropower. The spatial databases on forest types, biodiversity and biological richness, geomorphology, soil (some parts), groundwater, glaciers, land degradation, land use/ land cover, etc. prepared by ISRO/DOS in association with State Remote Sensing Centres and other institutions using satellite imagery with limited field checks can be used for this purpose.There is a strong need to involve the local people and use indigenous knowledge in protection and conservation of natural resources. Community-based land and water resource development plan and governance need to be formulated and implemented to sustain the developmental programmes and schemes of the government. The concept of generating the assets inventory and other baseline information through community including school/ college level students should also be promoted using the latest tools and technologies.Strengthening scientific observational network: Himalayan region is data scarce and, therefore, a strong network of instrumented observatories is required to improve the quality and availability of scientific data on land, water and air. These data are needed essentially for two purposes: (1) early warning for natural hazards, and (2) monitoring and evaluating (before, during and after) the developmental activities, projects and programmes and even the disasters.

Cloudburst and associated flash floods, and landslides which are generally triggered by heavy rain are recurring events in the Himalayan region. This warrants a strong network of meteorological instruments, viz. automatic weather stations (AWS), rain gauges, radars including Doppler weather radar (DWR), etc. for improving the weather forecasts through numerical weather prediction (NWP) models that will be extremely useful in early warning of meteorology related hazards. Many organisations such as IMD, ISRO, dam authorities, Central Water Commission (CWC), universities, research organisations and state government departments have installed AWS, automated rain gauges (ARG), and traditional rain gauges at various locations. Attempt should be made to integrate all such systems and share the data for various purposes. Based on the inventory of such systems, additional instruments must be installed in gap areas as the accurate meteorological data are necessary in flood modelling/ forecasts and also early warning of landslides. As the cost of AWS/ARGs instruments are low and there is an improved GSM network in the State, attempts should be made to install such instruments and collect data at a centralised server for faster dissemination and usage related to modelling, prediction/ forecast and decision making. However, in view of paucity of instrumental precipitation data, satellite-based

precipitation data available from different sources (e.g. TRMM, NOAA CPC) also need to be analysed in addition to ground-based measurements to assess precipitation pattern in spatio-temporal domain.Recently, TROPMET-2012 Symposium on "Frontiers of Meteorology with Special Reference to the Himalaya" held at IIRS, Dehradun in November 2012 has strongly recommended strengthening the meteorological observation network realising the fact that the research, observations and operational requirements in the Himalayan region are quite different from the rest of the country. It has even recommended the need for a dedicated institute for Himalayan Meteorology by the Govt. of India. The observational datasets will also help understanding the climate variability and change in the Himalayan region and its impact on different sectors, viz. water resources, agriculture, biodiversity, etc.River flow discharge is one of the most important parameters for developing flood forecast models. There should be a mechanism to share the information being collected by various dam authorities as well as CWC. Such data should be collected on priority at all places where higher order tributaries meet the main river, such as Mandakini, Alkananda, Yamuna, Bhagirathi, Pindar, Kali and other major rivers.The region being prone to seismicity, the existing network of seismograph and GNSS-CORS (Global Navigation Satellite System - Continuously Operating Reference Stations) needs to be strengthened in the gap areas. These measurements can also be supported with satellite-based measurements.Apart from above, measurements on land, water and other air quality parameters are also critical in understanding the changes not only at specific places but also as a network across the state and even the Himalayan region, so that preventive/ mitigation measures can be taken in time.Strengthening institutional capacity and linkage: An efficient emergency response and planning process depends on the timeliness of many actions based on real-time, simulated as well as ancillary spatial and non-spatial information. There is an urgent need to strengthen the institutional capacity of the state government departments (e.g. State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC), Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC), Uttarakhand Council of Science & Technology (UCOST), Geology and Mining Unit) in terms of technical expertise (including number of staff) and facilityaugmentation. State needs to invest heavily in S&T to enable it effectively analyse and utilise scientific inputs coming from various agencies. Suitable scientific staff with research background (PhDs) well versed with ground realities, domain expertise and well versed with modern tools such as remote sensing and GIS should be recruited. Technical expertise is prerequisite for synthesis of various spatial and non-spatial inputs which keep flowing prior to disaster during golden hours of disaster management from various agencies and field workers/first responders. A policy framework for appropriate utilisation of remote sensing and GIS data may also be needed.Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), a capacity building institute of ISRO/DOS, can support in providing short-term/ customised and long-term training to the manpower of the stakeholder departments.The linkage among the state government departments must be strengthened to share the data and exchange of the technical expertise. The linkage between state and central government departments and centres of excellence also needs to be strengthened.Capacity building of community and local bodies of governance: Generating awareness amongst the people and capacity building of Panchayati Raj Institutions are of paramount

importance in conserving and optimal utilisation of the natural resources in a sustainable manner. Watershed management, awareness of the technological advancements and innovation for increasing the agricultural and livestock productivity, use of local products for income generation, understanding of the disaster risks and safe construction for building disaster resilience community are some of the priority sectors for human capacity development. Young generation, especially students/ children, should be the focus for generating awareness so that sustainable management of natural resources becomes a culture in long run and vulnerabilities to natural and man-made/induced hazards are minimised while adaptive capacity of the society is enhanced.The long term prospective will be to realize the affected problems and to give emphasis on R&D to address various environmental and ecological issues to take measures from future calamities. The development should be promoted by considering the environmental issues. Establishment of bio-clusters with end to end approach on farm to market concept by actively involving the Local Community, Government Institutions, Private Partners including Social Agencies through PPP mode.

3.4: S&T intervention in building knowledge capabilities:

Create Farm Science Centre and Village Knowledge Centre to get updation on technology front and adoption of sustainable models by the community

Introduce a technology popularization magazine in a local language for the benefit of the local community and for the school going students and youths

4 Detailed Implementation Plan of Central S&T Ministry/ Departments:

4.1 Department of Science & TechnologyDepartment of Science & Technology has developed a comprehensive scientific plan for 8-10 month time. During this period, the action plan for mapping damage to National wealth will be drawn. The whole programme of DST designated as “Map the Neighbourhood in Uttarakhand (MANU)”. Under this programme, financial support will be provided to R&D projects submitted by the following Universities and R&D organization to undertake detailed data collection and analysis to draw a sound scientific action plan.SOI will undertake Air-borne Photographic Data acquisition for 8000 sq km area for Uttarakhand which will cover all the Char Dham areas which got maximum damaged. The output of this project would be in the form of High Resolution Digital Elevation Model with 20cm accuracy and generation of 1:10K scale maps which will be utilized as base map for integration of all the data to be collected by different groups and it will help in drawing a comprehensive scientific reconstruction and relocation plan in the State.Garwal University, Srinagar will carry out the damage assessment mapping of Alaknanda and Mandakini valley in Uttarakhand and give the details of the infrastructure damaged during the high floods and suggest alternative development plan.Department of Geography, Kumaon University, Nainital will focus on preparing the damaged assessment maps of the Pinder Valley in Kumaun Himalaya and also collect data on the objects which got damaged during the event and draw a comprehensive scientific plan for reconstruction and relocation of infrastructure.

University of Kashmir, Srinagar will focus on Assessment of Glacial Lake outburst in Kedarnath valley and draw a comprehensive, quantified action plan for monitoring the Glacial Lake which would be important for further planning. Another project of the University is to synthesize and integrate all the data sets being collected by all participating agencies. It would draw a comprehensive and scientific action plan for reconstruction and relocation of infrastructure facilities in Uttarakhand.Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun will carry out damaged assessment mapping of Baghirathi and Yamunotri valleys in Uttarakhand and draw a comprehensive action plan for reconstruction and relocation of the infrastructure facilities which got damaged during the event.Deptt. of Geology, Delhi University will focus on the study of two highly vulnerable landslide sites in Char Dham area and collect the data and related information about the causes of landslide and based on the detailed analysis, develop a suitable scientific preventive measures to restore the unstable areas.IIRS, Dehradun will concentrate on imparting training to the students and train them for collection of data and use the data for analysis and draw a comprehensive scientific reconstruction and relocation plan using advance technologies like GPS and Mobile Mapping etc. Further all the information collected will be uploaded at Bhuvan portal for wider use by the scientific community as well as other concerned stakeholders

4.2 Department of Biotechnology

Department of Biotechnology will promote use of biotechnological processes and tools for Socio economic upliftment of affected community in Uttarakhand, establish viable models of rural bio-resource complexes / hubs and rural technological innovation & application centre, Support R&D component for refinement and validation of technology which can be housed from any other source in Uttarakhand for addressing the problems of affected groups and create entrepreneurship development among the youths.In the short term, DBT will support State Educational Institutions including Agriculture Universities and labs for undertaking projects in various disciplines of biotechnology. These projects can be supported with inter-disciplinary involving autonomous institutions, Government Departments and social mobilizing agencies with end to end approach. Support will also be provided for interventions for livelihood generation, health, environment and sanitation, value addition and post-harvest processing including marketing using proven and field tested technologies. This activity can be supported as an income and employment generation programme for a period of 1-3 years.In Medium Term, few viable models of Rural Bio-resource Complexes / hubs in the flood affected regions, which can sustain regular livelihood for the community by adoption of integrated model of farming system including agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture, post-harvest and value addition. This would involve the participation of large number of farming community to provide them tangible benefits with creation of rural entrepreneurship among the youth, SHGs and cooperatives will be established. The models would also have technology driven with the establishment of resource centre and village knowledge centre to promote rural innovation according to the need of hour.To realize the affected problems, DBT, in Long Term, will give emphasis on R&D to address various environmental and ecological issues to take measures from future calamities.

Further, bio-clusters with end to end approach on farm to market concept by actively involving the Local Community, Government Institutions, Private Partners including Social Agencies through PPP mode will be established.In order to build knowledge capabilities, local R&D institutions and their knowledge dissemination centres would be linked with the Science communicators for propagating awareness on technological know-how on biotechnological interventions. Farm Science Centre and Village Knowledge Centre will be created to get updation on technology front and adoption of sustainable models by the community and also introduce a technology popularization magazine in a local language for the benefit of the local community and for the school going students and youths.Department of Biotechnology has been supporting a Biotechnology Information System Network to bridge the gap between bio-informaticians and experimental biologist by bringing their expertise together through inter-disciplinary project and creating a newer generation of Scientist and researchers. This facility is also supports to handle massive data bases on various bio-resources and the scientific research aspects which can be extended to Uttarakhand in implementation of various R&D and extension nature of projects.Biotechnology Information System Network of DBT will be extended to Uttarakhand to handle massive data bases on various bio-resources and the scientific research aspects which can be in implementation of various R&D and extension nature of projects.

4.3 Ministry of Earth SciencesFocused observations on meteorology, snow, ice and glaciers are required to understand the interaction of cryosphere with atmosphere and geosphere. There is therefore a need to enhance the base of essential observing systems so as to assimilate more and more local scale observations in to our meso-scale forecast models. MoES has taken up an initiative to augment the observing and forecast systems in a phased manner covering hilly regions and particularly the Char Dham Yatra Route in Uttarakhand and other routes of religious/tourism importance in adjoining states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir with state-of-the-art infrastructure.At the same time, investment in human resource is highly essential with the due sanction of additional scientific posts on a continuous basis with annually staggered recruitments.MoES has proposed an augmentation of Observing System over Uttarakhand which includes: 3 Nos. of Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs) at Mussorrie/Dehradun; Uttarkashi and Nainital, 4 Nos. of Compact Severe Weather Detection DWRs at Chamoli; Rudraprayag; Bageshwar; Almorah, 5 Nos. of Micro-Rain Radars (MRRs) at Kedarnath; Badrinath; Dehradun; Paudi; Pithoragarh, 3 Nos. of Heliport Aviation Weather Observing Systems at Kedarnath; Badrinath; Phata, 2 GPS based Upper Air Meteorological Data observing stations and 75 Nos. of Additional Automatic Weather Stations (AWS)/ Automatic Rain Gauges (ARG)/ Snow Gauges (SG) [46 AWS and ARG stations are functional currently]

4.4 Department of SpaceThe vision and Mission of Department of Space are to harness the advancement of Science and Technology in building a disaster resilient community in the State of Uttarakhand and develop a model that can be replicated in other disaster prone areas in the country and rebuild Uttarakhand State sustainably, so that the further impact of disasters on people and livelihood is minimal.

An accurate assessment of impact in disaster-affected areas, especially Char-Dham and Pindar valley areas, is of paramount importance to take up the reconstruction activities in Uttarakhand. This can be done in three stages: (1) analysis of post-disaster high resolution satellite images taking the pre-disaster images as reference; (2) ground truthing in the damaged areas mapped through satellite imagery; and (3) collating the satellite imagery and field data to assess the extent and spatial pattern of damage. National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) has carried out damage assessment in and around Kedarnath and in upper reaches of Mandakini and Alaknanda valleys using satellite images and the results are available in ISRO's Bhuvan geoportal. Towards ground truthing for detailed assessment of extent of damage, a multi-institutional initiative on “Map the Neighbourhood in Uttarakhand” (MANU) has been initiated by DST, Govt. of India. In this initiative, field data will be collected through crowdsourcing by the students and teacher community of the universities/ institutes located in the state. Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) in association with NRSC and Survey of India (SOI) has trained 149 students and teachers/ scientists from HNB Garhwal University, Kumaun University, and Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), on using the latest geospatial tools and technologies for field data collection and uploading the same on Bhuvan geoportal in near real-time using GPS-enabled mobile application, GAGAN SBAS receiver and other field instruments. The field data collection process is envisaged to be completed in about two months’ time (October and November 2013). Then the satellite image results and field data along with ancillary data can be collated to assess the extent of damage and also to understand the spatial pattern of damage. This assessment and understanding will be vital in carrying out risk zonation to natural hazards in the area.It is very important to assess the vulnerability of biologically rich areas to natural hazards and interference due to development. Environmental monitoring and protection of biological richness should be one of the top priorities and remote sensing and GIS can help in this direction.The baseline data/information on different aspects of the natural resources, environment and biodiversity captured through satellite imagery or field-based instrumental measurements prior to, during and after the project can be used for this purpose. The spatial databases at medium (e.g. 1:50,000) and large (e.g. 1:10,000) scales prepared/ being prepared by ISRO/DOS in collaboration with State Remote Sensing Centre and other institutions using the satellite imagery under different national mapping missions, or that available from any other organisations/ line departments, can be used as the base data.The biological richness maps prepared by Indian Institute of remote Sensing (IIRS) /ISRO will be of great value while undertaking any developmental activities related to reconstruction and rehabilitation and also for environmental monitoring. The instrumental data collected by conventional means form the other important sources of data. While it is obvious that satellite imagery can play a great role in monitoring and evaluating the developmental activities and even for post-disaster damage/ impact assessment, a strong network of instrumented scientific measurement observatories is also necessary for not only validating the satellite-based observations but also for making the measurements which are not yet operational through space inputs.It has been reported that there are about 127 glacier lakes in Yamuna, Bhagirathi, Alkananda and Kali valley. The Chorabari glacier lake breach during the recent Kedarnath tragedy has highlighted the fact that all glacial lakes and potential sites of snow melt accumulation zones

need to be mapped and monitored to assess their breaching probability and downstream flooding.ISRO/DOS is engaged in monitoring of areal extent of the snow covered region; At the behest of Central water Commission (CWC), ISRO is carrying out inventory of glacial lakes/water bodies of spatial extent greater than 10ha in the Himalayan region of Indian River basins using satellite data. Monitoring the spatial extent changes of the lakes/water bodies of more than 50ha is also being carried out on monthly basis during June to October months. Satellite-based monitoring aided by aerial and ground survey will aid in the assessment of such lakes. Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) and flash flood modelling are required for estimating peak discharge/ flood levels, inundation areas in the downstream, etc. It can also help in scenario generation to generate awareness among stakeholders.

4.5 Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), known for its cutting edge R&D knowledgebase in diverse S&T areas can contribute significantly to the efforts in rebuilding the state of Uttarakhand. CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP) situated in Dehradun, Uttarakhand can be a nodal laboratory for facilitating the required collaboration of the following sister CSIR laboratories towards development and deployment of the desired S&T interventions for rebuilding of Uttarakhand.

4.6 Department of Electronics and Information Technology

DEitY has the following plan for post disaster construction of Uttarakhand.

New Communication Technologies: One of the prime concerns during disasters is failure of communication channels which acts as a major impediment in delivery of relief and support and in dissemination of critical information to the citizens. Even mobile networks are rendered dysfunctional and thus ineffective. As a result, in the current scenario, authorities had to resort to technologies like Satellite phones and VSATs. This has necessitated the need to identify a set of reliable, new and effective technologies which would cater to the situations created in a disaster and further compounded by difficult terrains in a state like Uttarakhand.Information Systems: It is understood that NIC Uttarakhand, as a part of reconstruction measures, has designed and implemented a portal to provide information on post-disaster relief and support. Although failure of mobile networks during a disaster may render mobile phones to be of limited help for a short period, it can play a substantial role in disseminating information especially early warnings and alerts to citizens and rescue related details to the relatives. Mobile solutions based on SMS – push and pull, IVRS, mobile applications, USSD etc. can play a vital role. NDMA and DeitY are already engaged in discussions on how to leverage Mobile Seva for providing advance warning/alerts and other services related to disaster management through mobile. Mobile enablement of its services available on the portal can also be undertaken as a part of enhancing the information systems. Also emphasis should be made on dedicated modules to manage the entire supply chain of relief and support measures as they throw huge challenges in managing donations, civic supplies, efficient and timely delivery of the supplies, storage of the supplies accounting etc.

Leveraging GIS Technology: Utilization of Geographic Information System (GIS) to map critical resources and geographical date of the state in a manner which is suitable to identify disaster prone areas, mitigate disasters in these areas, reduce the impact and manage post-disaster activities by proper resource mobilization. NIC has undertaken GIS development at the national level which can be refined and customized for implementation in Uttarakhand in the medium/long –term. Currently, NIC’s GIS is at 50,000 scale and work is under progress to make it to 10,000 scale.While implementing GIS, few issues of importance are integration of GIS with MIS, addressing the challenges in collection of data sets from various sources, standardization of these data sets etc. This will necessitate a close interaction with various state agencies and DeitY would like to hold such consultations in near future.Support infrastructure: Implementation of a large scale initiative for disaster management proper support in terms of infrastructure like data centres, last mile networking till sub-district level is required. While establishment of such a critical infrastructure has already been initiated under NeGP, it would require strengthening after undertaking necessary requirement analysis.Building-in-Sustainability into the System: Any initiative for disaster management tends to fade away with time and reusability of the capacity built during a disaster is very limited. This also leads to reinventing the wheel with each disaster. As a measure to make the efforts sustainable, it would be essential that the disaster management solutions and the infrastructure created be included in the workflow of the regular solutions of the administration with a capability to scale up during contingencies. Moreover, the solutions need to be replicable at both national level and by other states.Prioritizing efforts in Fragile and Disaster prone Areas: In the short-term, priority could be given to the upper hilly areas of Uttarakhand like the districts of Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Rudra Prayag which are fragile and more prone to disasters. These areas have been under a recurrent wrath of disasters and majority of the disasters in Uttarakhand happen in these areas. Even while implementing GIS technologies these areas should be mapped first.Stakeholder consultation: Developing a strategy for reconstruction as well as managing the disasters in future in a scientific and sustainable manner require involvement of multiple stakeholders and setting up of a proper consultative mechanism. All state agencies concerned need to be engaged in a dialogue in the near future and should be starting point of development of such strategy.In addition, Department of Telecom suggested providing more than 100 satellite phones to the sites to facilitate rescue and relief operations. All district magistrates and Superintendent of Police may be provided portable satellite phones on regular basis in Uttarakhand with the permission of MHA. The cost towards this may be borne by State Government or the NDMA. Further, the provision of VSAT may be made to provide alternate redundant backhaul and establishment of an early warning system through SMS from mobile tower. The cost of such VSAT connectivity is Rs. 2.00 lakh per mobile tower may be borne by service provider, in addition to the usage cost.

4.7 Department of Atomic Energy

Department of Atomic Energy has developed techniques for radiation aided mutant crops which is helpful in enhancing the yield and quality of certain crops and/or their resistance to salinity or drought and diseases and in dealing with biotic and abiotic stresses affecting

agriculture; Radiation processing of various foods and food-products for killing pathogens and insect lavae or for decelerating delaying the biochemical processes that lead of sprouting or ripening and thus enhancing shelf-life of the (radiation) treated food products, Water Purification Technologies such as Nuclear Desalination, online domestic water purifier technology using spiral membrane elements and this has already been commercially exploited, Indigenous development and production of the required quality of membranes for Water purification cartridge systems for removal of fluoride, iron, arsenic as well as uranium contaminants from water and Isotopic techniques which are useful in water resources management particularly for identifying sources of ground water salinization, ground water recharge, inter-connection between water bodies, seepage in dams and reservoirs etc.Department of Atomic Energy will provide technical inputs and expertise to the specific request of the State Government on the above techniques developed by the department.

5. Identification and Management of Cross-Cutting Technology Issues

As hazard, vulnerability and risk assessment requires several spatial inputs, remote sensing and GIS can play a very important role. Many of the IT application deployments, including GIS and other information systems are dependent on and make use of diverse technologies and products, each of which is emerging and evolving at a rapid pace. Attempt should be made to use GIS system as a decision making system that will allow assessing all information related to disasters and also helping to prioritise reconstruction activities and manage overall implementation and progress. In this scenario, many crosscutting technology issues are bound to surface and it is necessary to identify and manage them for effective utilization and exploitation of benefits offered by the technology advances.5.1. GIS Technology and Information Systems: GIS technology and its usage represents a combination and integration of multiple technologies, right from space-based/ aerial-based remote sensing data analysis, computing systems hardware & software, input & output peripheral devices & GPS to server-based/ web-based GIS and geospatial functionalities based on algorithms contributed from computer science & domain-specific research efforts.In terms of systems infrastructure, GIS technology has long since moved from powerful, expensive multi-user monolithic workstations to client-server & web technology based deployments. GIS desktop client softwares are now invariably deployed on commodity desktop PC systems. However, server-based softwares supporting Enterprise GIS, Web GIS and Map servers have become mainstream requirements and have become realizable due to the technology advances happening in the field of server & storage consolidation in data centres. These data centres house the requisite high-end load balanced servers/ server farms, network & security devices, network mass storage systems (SAN/ NAS), RDBMS engines, web applications & services, etc. Some of the major influencing factors for developments in GIS technology.5.1.1 BHUVAN Geoportal: Bhuvan (Sanskrit for Earth) is a Geoportal of ISRO (http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in), allowing host of services covering visualization, free data download, thematic map display and analysis, timely information on disaster and project specific GIS applications since August 2009 and available in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. More than 17 TB data consisting of multi-resolution, temporal, sensor raster data, multi-thematic data of various scales and Point of Interest data along with user added content are organized as ‘Land Services, Weather Services, Ocean Services, Disaster Services and

Collaboration Services’ and served with standard cartographic representation towards societal good.Bhuvan is also offering a platform to create, visualize, share, analyze Geospatial data products and services as Spatial Mashups for various user agencies. Thus users can visualise the High resolution datasets (2.5m) uniformly across the country in 2D and 3D domain. This ortho-corrected products with online shape file creation utility enables the users to map/ delineate the feature in their area of interest even with multi-temporal data for various resources mapping ranging from small scale to large scale which nullifies the data cost and software cost for processing the satellite data and creation of both spatial (vector & raster) and non-spatial data.Current development environment for Bhuvan is mainly on open source (PHP, Mapserver and Geoserver, Postgre/ PostGIS, and Apache) and having the flexibility to customize and meet the user requirements as per the demands of the project. Thus the initial cost of procuring the software and annual maintenance of the software is also nullified.5.1.2 Online processing: A wide variety of thematic datasets organized in central server enable the user to consume these services as OGC Web Services on their system for further usage towards interoperability. This nullifies the redundant or duplicate efforts in creating datasets and in focusing information management. Query shells present in the thematic datasets provide on-the-fly generation of statistics of any area of interest or administrative boundary with graphical display besides having provision to run the query and get the output based on SQL, along with print option.5.1.3 Crowd sourcing: Crowd sourcing is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community. Bhuvan enables crowd sourcing/ collaborative mapping from different methods like add point of interest data, sharing GIS layers, mobile applications, creating spatial datasets etc. towards enriching location based services. It will also provide the facility to overlay the imagery / vector / ground data including photographs from the user system to value add to the existing layers in Bhuvan to derive better plans. Mapping the Neighbourhood in Uttarakhand (MANU) programme is the best example of crowd sourcing. With the prevalence of feature-rich smart phones, a comprehensive application has been developed for field data collection, transfer, organization and management. The developed solution facilitates (a) collecting field data with location information, photographs and application-specific parameters, (b) transmitting the collected data to the server in near-real-time or deferred mode, (c) organizing the received data in central database on Bhuvan servers (d) querying and visualizing the data using Bhuvan viewer applications. The configurable design allows numerous application-specific field data collection solutions to be quickly configured and deployed on a variety of devices as well as uniformly handled on Bhuvan servers by appropriate database schemas and server programs. All the server-side databases and programs are integrated, deployed and maintained on Bhuvan servers in operational mode. The application has been customized, configured and implemented to support the reconstruction and rehabilitation needs contemplated under the Map the Neighbourhood in Uttarakhand (MANU) project. The application enables collection of various categories of field data - damage to buildings, roads, bridges/ culverts & other infrastructures, landslide, river bank erosion and land cover & natural resources. The application is also facilitates collection of Points of Interest (POI) data.5.1.4 Free / Open EO Data: NRSC/ ISRO has taken new initiative to provide the free/ open Earth Observation (EO) data and products coarser than 24 m through Bhuvan-NOEDA

(which nullify the data cost) to the public through Bhuvan to facilitate the students/ researchers/ users for various engineering applications, natural resources mapping and management. More than 160000 downloads have been recorded in last 2 years.

Development Strategy for the Hill Districts of Uttarakhand

1.1 Background

Uttarakhand State was carved out of the state of Uttar Pradesh on November 9, 2000 It is divided into two broad regions--Garhwal and Kumaon. The state is comprised of 13 districts, namely, Chamoli, Pauri, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Dehradun, Haridwar and Rudraprayag in the Garhwal region and Nainital, Almora, Pithoragarh, Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat and Bageshwar in the Kumaon region. Of these 13 districts, four districts (Nainital, Haridwar, Dehradun and Udham Singh Nagar) have large areas in the plains, whereas the other nine districts comprise the hill region of the state. The state is further split into sub-divisions and development blocks (Appendix 1). The formation of the new state had to fulfill the high expectations of the local people related to development and better living standards. However, within Uttarakhand there is a geographical inequality between the hills and the plains that divides the state critically. Districts in the plains are far ahead on various development indicators. In 2006-07 the state GDP grew by 10.15 per cent, the manufacturing sector grew by 17 per cent and the share of the primary sector has shrinked by 2.7 per cent. Industries have created about 2.8 lakh jobs but these are in the plains, and most of the growth due to industrialization has been restricted to the plains. The hill region districts are less developed in terms of infrastructure, i.e., electricity, roads and irrigation. The inter-district inequality in infrastructure leads to increasing disparity in terms of income and livelihood between the hills and the plains. Low levels of income not only result in low levels of consumption and materialdeprivation, but also constrain human potential by restricting access to education and health facilities, thereby creating a vicious cycle of poverty.More than three-fourths of Uttarakhand’s total population depends on agriculture for their livelihood and the economy is predominantly dependent on mountain agriculture. However, the land holdings are small and fragmented, and irrigation facilities limited. Soil and water conservation is another issue for inclusive development. For physical, geographical and environmental reasons, the scope for agricultural policies based on modern input-intensive agriculture is severely constrained in the hill regions. As a result, the majority of the rural population in the hills either survives on subsistence agriculture or migrates to other parts of the country for employment. The state faces the challenge of promoting livelihoods to retain people through local employment and income generation and to enhance their quality of life.At the same time, the hill districts of Uttarakhand have tremendous potential. The vastnatural resources add to the state’s attractiveness as an investment destination, especially for tourism and agriculture- and forest-based industries. Uttarakhand is the first state in the country to have created a Tourism Development Board by legislation. Also, it is the first one to be called an organic state.This study proposes a strategy for a planned approach to rapid and inclusive growth of the hill districts. The development of agriculture and an agriculture-based system that is linked with the growth of industries and tourism can be the way towards inclusive development of the hill regions. This, along with a watershed approach, is proposed as an efficient way to

improve land productivity and sustain it. New opportunities are available through the use of quality seeds suitable for hill agriculture and multicropping systems combined with animal husbandry through cattle rearing, poultry, fishing, bee-keeping, etc. Organic farming and agri-based employment opportunities need to be encouraged. The processing of fruits and vegetables, vocational training for youths, and banking and insurance in the service sector can provide livelihood security and support. Development of all these areas along with infrastructure development and better education facilities can be a direction for sustainable development of the hill regions for better quality of life to the inhabitants and to help halt migration from villages.The state of Uttarakhand encompasses a geographical area of 53,483 sq. km which accounts for only 1.63 per cent of India’s area. The state contains about 4.53 per cent of India’s forest area and about 3.1 per cent of India’s agricultural area (Table 1). 43.6 per cent of the agricultural area is under irrigation as against the national average of 40.3 per cent and average rainfall is also above the national average. The ratio ofirrigated area in the hills and plains is 10.2: 88.8 in Uttarakhand (Ref: DACNET)

There are a not many research papers and books that have tried to identify growth and development in Uttarakhand in the 7-8 years since the creation of the state. Bisht (2006) argues that the state has to sustain forestry and agriculture for the survival of the people who largely live in rural and hilly areas. A study by Kar (2007) highlights the importance of equitable growth focusing on GDP growth and distribution of growth to all sections of the population and geographical regions of the country. The study shows that the higher growth rate of the state in the initial years has helped the state to transform itself, but most of the growth has been restricted to the plains, while the hill areas have grown slowly due to structural problems. The development has been mainly in the plain districts of the state and not the hills, which have remained cut off from the rest of the country. Thus, there is a need to modify or reschedule the current schemes according to the hill districts of the state. It is the geographical inequality between the hills and the plains of Uttarakhand that divides the state most critically. This geographical disparity manifests itself in the form of inter-district inequality, which is most acute in the areas of infrastructure like electricity, roads and irrigation. The inter-district inequality in infrastructure leads to inequality in terms of income and livelihood between the hills and the plains, and results in rampant underdevelopment in the hills while the plains are relatively prosperous. In order to change this situation, the study suggests a strategy that is based on long-term planning. The first step is to identify sectors that impede growth as well as sectors in which the region has a comparative advantage. The current state of infrastructure is clearly a constraint on development in this region and must be the focus of a strategy for inclusive growth. The study identifies priority sectors that needto be developed in order to achieve the goal of inclusive growth; these include infrastructure, health, education, horticulture and tourism. The state’s vision is to include both human and economic development (Dewan and Bahadur, 2005), and economic development should be supported with environmental conservation. Crucial for social development is the development of women, youth and children of the society. It is important to address women’s development and raise awareness through education; the development of youths should focus on further training, providing employment opportunities, and making then self-reliant. They should be able to get both self-employment and wage employment. Children are the future of the state and thus their education must be emphasised. This will also help reduce and eradicate poverty in a phased planned manner. To improve the social conditions of the state, attention should be paid to indicators, such as health conditions, water

availability, electricity, sanitation, and infrastructure (roads, markets, telecommunications, etc.). Agricultural productivity and movement from a traditional to a modern system are crucial for growth and development of the state and districts.Sekhar (2007) found that women’s participation in the rural economy is significant. In Uttarakhand, young men generally migrate to the plains in search of employment, whereas women are left behind to cultivate the land and take care of the children and the older generation. One option to reduce the drudgery of women in agriculture is to identify alternative economic activities that are viable given the economic, social, and institutional constraints. The study highlights seven economic activities–dairy farming, mushroom cultivation, bee-keeping, quilt-making, poultry farming, papadmaking, and petty business. As alternate/supplementary economic activities, the last three, namely, poultry farming, papad-making, and petty business contribute more than 50% to household income. These activities provide a level of income higher than the poverty line income of the region.

Timber and fuel form the major produce group, while bamboo, drugs, grasses, gum, resins, etc. constitute the minor produce group. Forests are the major source of raw materials for industries, buildings, railways and other tertiary sectors, but the increased pressure on forests for fuel, fodder and timber requirements has increased the exploitation of forests. This has begun to affect the desired level of forest density and the area under forest, as well as the productivity of forests. However, large areas of degraded land in the state can be reclaimed since most of the land needs only basic water and soil conservation measures and some amount of plantation and protective work. HIMCON, a voluntary organization, is working on these issues. The study describes how environmental legislation has slowly taken away the traditional livelihoods of vast numbers of people. Wood carvers, whose handiwork can be seen in the traditional houses, have disappeared over years, nomadic sheep and goat herders are slowly dying out and now wool has to be brought from Ludhiana; weavers find it difficult to compete with machine-made goods; and agriculture is back-breaking work that does not yield enough for subsistence. The new jobs and opportunities are concentrated in a few urban areas that are administrative centres. These jobs often need knowledge, skills, and capital that are difficult for a local person to obtain. The study by Pai (2005) focuses on the role of Van Panchayats. About 70 per cent of the total forest land area of the state is under the forest department, but 11 per cent lies with the Van Panchayats. At present, there are 6,777 Van Panchayats managing an area of 5,241 sq. km. of a total forest area of 34,662 sq. km. in the state. The better management and performance of forests under Van Panchayats are due to .thevillagers’ commitment, the quality of the sarpanch’s leadership, and the availability of funds. The programme covers all categories of forest areas, i.e., reserved, protected and panchayati. It is an attempt by the government to encourage community participation even in forests that are not under the jurisdiction of Van Panchayats. Women, who are the backbone of the rural economy but have been marginalized in the process of decision-making and implementation, are given due importance both in the Joint Forest Management Program (JFM) and the National Forest Policy. Women are more intimately related to and dependent on forests, because they .spend a lot of time collecting fuel and fodder from forests, fetching water, and looking after cattle. One of the objectives of the JFM has been to ensure active and effective participation of village women right from conceptualization to the implementation stage.

Kumar (2005) has examined the potential of micro-hydropower in Uttarakhand. Apart from its large and medium hydropower potential, which is estimated to be 20,000 megawatts, Uttarakhand also has enormous potential for small, mini- and microhydropower generation. The overall hydropower potential of the state is estimated as 40,000 megawatts, which is half the additional power projected to be realized during the next two decades for the entire country. Surveys show that about 20 per cent of the total number of villages in the state are yet to be electrified. The per capita power consumption of the state is much below the national average, which itself is very low by international standards. The low per capita power consumption level is attributed to the high level of poverty, the unregulated supply of power and the un-electrified marginalized areas. The hydropower potential of Uttarakhand can be harnessed for its development and to raise the quality of life of its people. Hydro-electric power generation provides electricity at a cheaper price and in an environment-friendly manner. This crucial price advantage of hydropower-based electricity may act as a catalyst for the economic development of the state and its people by increasing their purchasing power. Hydro-electric power can be a boon in sectors of the state economy, such as agriculture, fiber-processing, and tourism. Though there are problems related to the financial viability of such decentralized power generation by the public sector, non-government community efforts have proved it to be a success. A national-level NGO, Foundation for Rural Recovery and Development (FORRAD), has assisted in setting up two community-owned hydropower stations of 20 kw in Tehri-Garhwal district. Poor people, who cannot afford electricity under government schemes, contribute labour and marginal cash as part of a community effort to gain access to reliable and cheap electricity. On the regeneration and conservation of forest resources, Dewan and Singh (2005) say that the forest department of Uttarakhand has not been able on its own to protect the forests and their bio-diversity. The active involvement of people in conserving and managing these community conserved forest areas has resulted in high biodiversity along with meeting people’s biomass requirements.

Government Initiatives

A review of the plans for hill states reveals that the main emphasis has been on the development of infrastructural facilities and social and community services during both the Fifth and the Sixth plan periods. This thrust was necessary to cover the backlog in infrastructural facilities. Production sectors and sectors that have a direct bearing on ecological preservation and restoration received less attention; these sectors were given attention during the Seventh Plan period. The Annual Reports (since 2001) of the Planning Commission, Government of India, show that special programs were designed for the development of the hill regions. The Special Area Program of the Annual Plan 2000-01 focused on the implementation of the Hill Area Development Program (HADP). Special central assistance under the program was provided as a 90% grant and 10% loan. The funds available underHADP are divided among the designated hills areas9 covered under the program. The main objectives of the program are eco-preservation and eco-restoration with an emphasis on preservation of bio-diversity and rejuvenation of hill ecology. For the hill areas covered under HADP, a sub-plan approach has been adopted. The concerned state government prepares the total plan consisting of flow of funds from the state plan and special central assistance made available under HADP. In its 49th meeting, the National Development

Council (NDC) discussed placing Uttarakhand on the list of special category states. The Planning Commission had initiated a programme for preparation of State Development Reports which includes many states including Uttarakhand. During the year, a note for the cabinet on “Granting of Special Category State status to Uttarakhand” was sent to the Cabinet Secretariat to be placed before the Cabinet for its consideration. An agenda paper to make Uttarakhand a special category state was prepared for the full Planning Commission meeting. A note on setting up the first State Finance Commissions (SFCs) of the newly-created state of Uttarakhand along with many other states was also prepared. The Department of Elementary Education and Literacy implemented the Mahila Samakhya (MS) Program in 1989. This program recognizes the centrality of education in empowering women to achieve equality. Adopting an innovative approach which emphasizes the process rather than mere fulfillment of targets, it seeks to bring about a change in women’s perceptions about themselves and society’s perceptions with regard to the traditional role of women. The effectiveness of the Mahila Samakhya strategy has resulted in its being adopted by other basic education projects. Several evaluation studies have shown that the MS program has helped generate a demand for literacy, given women the strength and ability to demand accountability from government delivery systems, increased women’s participation in Panchayati Raj bodies, and created an awareness of the need to struggle for a genderjust society. Disaster Management and Natural Calamity Relief programs have also been launched under the state plans. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in April 2005 (in the Tenth Plan) for a period of seven years (2005-12) with a view to bringing about dramatic improvement in the health system and the health status of people in the country. The Mission seeks to provide universal access to equitable, affordable and quality health-care, which is accountable and responsive to the needs of the people, reduction of child and maternal deaths as well as population stabilization, and gender and demographic balance The Annual Report 2008-09 of the Planning Commission, Government of India highlights the continuous state emphasis on the development of the social sector. Thisis also clearly reflected in both the Eleventh Plan and Annual Plan proposal. Over 37 percent of the plan outlay would be ear-marked for social services. Further acceleration to develop infrastructure -- roads and bridges, urban infrastructure, power and tourism development with the help of external aid -- has been proposed. One of the major concerns expressed by the state government is the remoteness and inaccessibility of the interior hill regions. As such areas constitute more than 50 per cent of the total land areas of the state, the government has laid its prime emphasis on construction of roads and bridges across the state and improvement in the transportation sector. Some gray areas like agriculture, soil quality, hydro-electricity, health and education have also been highlighted. The scope for improving organic farming in Uttarakhand, and public-private partnership for exploring various avenues of development in the state are under consideration. The new industrial policy of 2008 has been launched with the objective of promoting economic development of the hill and remote areas of the state where industrialization could not take place in the past. Both industrial and power policies were announced together because these two sectors complement each other.

Development of SMEs

Uttarakhand has seen strong industrialization during the past five years, but that was mainly in the plains, following the special package announced by the Centre in 2003. Thus an Integrated Industrial Development Policy 2008 was launched in February especially for the

industrial development of hilly and remote areas in the state. This policy has aimed at the economic development of the hill region. With the objective of inclusive growth, the main concentration is now on the hill districts. This policy aims to accelerate industrial development in the industrially backward and remote hill districts of the state, to develop industrial infrastructure, and to encourage entrepreneurial development through market encouragement and financial support to entrepreneurs. The creation of employment opportunities along with the removal of economic backwardness is expected to help control the migration of the population towards the plains and other states in search of better livelihoods. This policy targets industries in the manufacturing and services sectors. These steps are in addition to the Industrial Policy, 2003, which aimed to provide a comprehensive framework to enable a facilitative, investor-friendly environment to ensure rapid and sustainable industrial development in Uttarakhand and, through this, to generate additional employment opportunities and to bring about a significant increase in the State Domestic Product and eventual widening of the resource base of the state. The policy looks at providing single-window facilitation in the state to expedite project clearances and to provide an investor-friendly climate. It also looks to provide and facilitate expeditious land availability for setting up industrial ventures and infrastructure projects. The policy aims to provide assured, good quality, uninterrupted and affordable power for industries and to simplify and rationalize labour laws and procedures in line with current requirements while ensuring that workers get their due share in the economic prosperity of the state. For small-scale industries, cottage, khadi and village industries, handicrafts, and the silk and handloom sectors, it will assist them in modernization and technological upgrading and provide necessary common facilities and backward and forward linkages, including product design and marketing support so as to make them globally competitive and remunerative. The State Infrastructure & Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited21 (SIDCUL), a government of Uttarakhand enterprise, was incorporated as a limited company in the year 2002 to promote industrial development in the state. It provides financial assistance to promote industries and develop industrial infrastructure in the state of Uttarakhand directly or through Special Purpose Vehicles, Joint Ventures, assisted companies, etc. Most of its major industrial infrastructure has been developed in the plains with limited concentration in the hills. Some of its major projects include the Integrated Industrial Estate at BHEL in Haridwar, the Integrated Industrial Estate at Pantnagar, an IT Park in Dehradun, Pharma City in Selaqui, Dehradun, the Growth Centre at Pauri, and the Integrated Industrial Estate at Sitarganj. SIDCUL enables industrial projects to be set up in a short time. The Corporation administers all promotional schemes of the government for industries and uses the single-window system.

Industrial profile of Uttarakhand

Against this background, this section of the paper examines the status of industrialization and employment in the state of Uttarakhand and hill districts of the state. Table 21 presents the overall comparison of the state of industrialization in Uttarakhand and India. There has been an impressive increase of 18 per cent in SSI units in India from 2001-02 to 2006-07 and in Uttarakhand this increase is 22.8 per cent. Of these SSIs registered units showed an increase of about 50 per cent and unregistered of about 15 per cent in Uttarakhand, whereas the figures for India are 32 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. This increase in scale of SSIs in Uttarakhand can be attributed to the industrial policy of 2003. Thus, after the

industrial policy of 2008 is implemented, the industrialization process is expected to strengthen even in the hill regions. Similarly, Table 22 shows that the relative improvement in industrialisation in Uttarakhand has been much better than in the country over the period 2001-04. In Uttarakhand over the periods 2001-02 and 2004-05 the number of factories increased by 7.2 per cent with an increase in workers of about 23 per cent. Gross fixed capital formation increased by 72 per cent and profits by 98 per cent. This shows a very positive impact on the employment status in the state as a result of industrialisation. Table 23 shows the status of industrialisation in the districts of Uttarakhand. Table 24 shows these numbers as a percentage of the total for Uttarakhand. It is clear from the table that industrialisation took place in the plains of Uttarakhand much before it did in the hill regions. Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar have about 89 per cent of the factories set up in Uttarakhand. Also of all the workers engaged in Uttarakhand, 94 per cent are employed in the plains. Many of these workers have migrated from the hill districts or even from neighbouring states. Among the hillregions it is only Almora that has set up small-scale industries and Khadi/ Gram Udyogs. Almora has about 31.3 per cent of the state’s small-scale industries, which is similar to that in Haridwar and also about 13.7 per cent of the Khadi and Gram Udyogs. The number of employees of khadi units and SSIs in Almora are about 9.8 per cent and 38.9 per cent, respectively. Pithoragarh has shown a relatively better setting up of Khadi and Gram Udyogs in relation to other hill districts. Bageshwar, Champawat, Rudraprayag and Uttrakhshi are the least industrialised hill districts, where even the setting up of Khadi and Gram Udyogs is almost negligible. It is expected that the new industrial policy will focus on these districts.

Small-Scale Industries and employment

Industrialization is an opportunity for people of the hill regions and it is not only production but also activities related to tourism and agriculture that can be given the status of industries. For successful industrialization, participation of women and inhouse employment need to be given importance. For the development of the hill regions, creation of feasible employment opportunities is very important. Industrial activity in the hill regions can be tapped in local agro-based industries (e.g. herbs, fruits, frozen tulsi, fruit juices, and jams) and handicraft industries (e.g., shawls which are warmer than quilts). There is a need to provide the latest technology and easy accessibility to raw materials in order to improve the output. At the local level it is necessary to create cooperatives of small-scale industries, as well as good artisancooperatives that will coordinate with an external marketing agency to sell the products. Some of these employment opportunities are presented in the form of the case studies of the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization (HESCO) and the Ajeevika program. Most crucial for the development of any business is the development of entrepreneurial skills. Since in the hill regions men have migrated towards the plains and it is the women who are engaged in various activities, it is important to develop the entrepreneurial skills of women. There are a number of alternative economic activities that women can engage in but these petty businesses are unable to yield reasonable levels of income to the households. This is due to various constraints like raw materials and services in the case of dairy farming, lack of technical guidance and marketing in bee-keeping, and lack of awareness and marketing facilities in the case of mushroom cultivation. Households engaged in petty business mainly face credit problems. Here the role of micro-credit

institutions becomes very important. In the case of small home-processed food products, marketing facilities pose a major bottleneck. The government should adopt successful models like “lizzat papad” to make some of these activities economically viable. The study by Sekhar, 2007 showed that development of entrepreneurship levels in women helps provide them with a level of income that is higher than poverty line income (Table 26). Although there is potential for income generation in the case of mushroom cultivation and beekeeping, it remained untapped mainly because of constraints and indicates that certain corrective action should be taken (Table 27). A case study of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) shows how creating awareness and training can also help in the development of entrepreneurial skills.

Promoting Tourism

An Uttarakhand Tourism Development Master Plan for 2007-22 has been developed that is coordinated by the Government of India, Government of Uttarakhand, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Tourism Organization. The aim of this plan is to develop high-quality sustainable tourism infrastructure, facilities and products in the prime tourism zones of Uttarakhand state. The plan attempts to identify, define and describe these zones and their unique resources. It also proposes how such resources can be utilized to create different viable and sustainable natureand culture-based products of various standards. The prevailing resources of the Garhwal and Kumaon regions need to be utilized along with trying to sort out the problems associated with the development of tourism in these regions. There is wide and diversified demand for tourism in this state from both the domestic and international markets in terms of content and standard of facilities and utilities. The state attracts tourists for pilgrimages, cultural tourism, nature tourism, adventure tourism, wildlife tourism, eco-tourism, and amusement and leisure tourism. The approach to tourism development in Uttarakhand has to be based on the strengths of this state. Since Uttarakhand is rich in natural beauty with a unique mountain environment as well as rich historical and cultural assets, diverse products have to be designed for various categories of people who travel to this state for different motives. Along with the development of tourism, the present environment assets must be conserved and the areas where deterioration has taken place should be upgraded andimproved. The main problem in the development of the state is proper infrastructure to supportsustainable tourism. Tourist zones have to be connected by formal and informal links in the form of roads, trails, tracks, and thematic circuits. The seasonality of different kinds of tourism and tourists to be attracted should be taken into account, so as to create employment for year-round tourism. The tourism plan needs to develop new tourist options that target different types of tourists as well as showcase the culture, handicrafts, and cuisine of that tourist option. Proper publicity and marketing are required along with the development of skills in tourism sub-sectors to provide worldclass service. Training institutions that impart skills and partnerships with the public sector to develop the resources need to be integrated into this plan. Resources have to be mobilized for marketing and creating infrastructure. There are already some master plans by the government for both the Gharhwal and Kumaon regions (Appendix 6) that need to be implemented appropriately and in integration with upcoming government plans.

Status of Tourism Sector

Trends of tourist arrivals show that in Uttarakhand both foreign and domestic tourists have gradually increased. The per cent change in number of foreign tourists over the previous year was lower in Uttarakhand than in India until 2003-04, but after that the state witnessed growth in the number of foreign tourists (Table 28). However, overall tourist arrivals in Uttarakhand are much lower than arrivals in India. As shown in Table 29, of the total number of tourists who arrive in India only 3-4 per cent visit Uttarakhand. This situation has remained unchanged since the state was created in 2001. Among tourists, the majority are domestic tourists and the foreign tourist share is less than 1 per cent. This portrays a gloomy picture of state tourism development and also shows that there is a lot of potential for developing this sector. Even seven years after the creation of the state and despite the potential for all kinds of tourism, the state is not able to attract tourists because of the poor tourism infrastructure. The total number of tourist arrivals in Uttarakhand was 19.45 million in 2006; with the infrastructure facilities currently available the situation is very poor. Table 30 shows that per annum Uttarakhand has only 8.4 tourist rent houses per million tourists, 102.5 hotels and guest houses per million tourists, and 337 beds available for every million tourists. At the district level, regions in the plains have relatively better infrastructure. Of the total number of tourists visiting the state, 67 per cent visit regions in the plains and only 33 per cent venture into the hill regions (Tables 31 and 32). In terms of foreign tourists, 40.73 percent go to hill districts and of the domestic tourists 32.54 per cent visit the hills of Uttarakhand.

Issues and recommendations for tourism development

The issues that hinder the effective marketing of the state as a tourism destination are lack of awareness of Uttarakhand as a tourism destination; ineffective branding of the state; lack of a marketing strategy and expensive annual campaigns that are not sufficiently focused; development and operational issues; and the virtual nonexistence of public-private sector coordination. In the international market there is little awareness of Uttarakhand as a tourism destination with the exception of Rishikesh and Haridwar for religious visitors, Dehradun for being the capital city, Nainital as a hill resort, Udham Singh Nagar for commercial visitors, and Corbett National Park for its famous tiger reserve. However, tourism in the state is making its presence felt in the international market and adventure tour operators are also approaching this region. There is immense potential for tourism in the hill districts (Appendix 7) and developing a coherent plan to attract tourists is of prime importance for the development of the hill region.

Infrastructure

Issues in infrastructure development pertain to transportation, electricity and drinking water supply, telecommunications, emergency services, restaurants and hotels, and waste disposal (these are discussed in detail in the next section). Transport linkages within the state and to

the rest of the country are critical. Urban public transport needs must be addressed within an urban renewal planning framework. Within the state, buses and taxis need to be added in every district to handle increased passenger loads. In addition, an efficient and competitive level ofservice should be introduced; routes, schedules and fares should be advertised, tickets should be sold over the Internet, and a variety of transport options offered to provide varying levels of service. To reach inaccessible places, cable cars and ropeways offer an alternative to roads but care must be taken to embed such infrastructure into the scenery to minimize their visual impact. On Tehri Lake a car and passenger ferry service can help cut the travel time between the north and south shores of the lake; this would also serve as a tourist attraction. Railways, roadways and airways should be developed to link the state with the rest of the country and reduce travel time. Electrification of the remainder of the Delhi- Dehradun line will make travel faster. It is recommended that railway connections should be created between Jolly Grant airport and the Delhi-Dehradun line to allow future rail access to the airport. In addition, schedules and connections in coordination with the Delhi urban rail system should be improved. No further recommendations beyond those brought forward by the Aviation Masterplan has recommended plans for connecting the state with international and national airports. However, air links are being developed and six airplane strips have been proposed in the hills by the government. Helicopters services should also be introduced; for these services, facilities for refueling and hangers within the state have been proposed along with the installation of beacons at major helipads to allow operations during bad weather. These services will attract NRIs and wealthy travelers, increasing the number of tourists and resulting in development.A frequent criticism is that the positive effects of tourism development do not reach the local population and income generated from this sector might get drained out instead of being utilized within the state. Three types of tourists visit Uttarakhand. High-end tourists come on weekends and spend a lot of money on hired taxis but that does not contribute to the local economy. Pilgrims stay 10-15 days and the money they spend filters down directly to the economy of Uttarakhand. Modern tourists who come for a holiday spend money on their stay, which directly benefits the local population, but they cause pollution, which is at a heavy cost to the environment. It is important to set up motels on small pieces of land to strength tourism. In tourist areas, toilets and restaurants should be provided. Panchayats (Appendix 8) can beinvolved to facilitate this construction activity and generate employment within thevillages rather than getting laborers from neighboring states. There is tremendous scope for religious tourism in the Garhwal region. The government should develop the route to Badrinath. Basic facilities for tourists, particularly women and children, need to be developed especially along the Haridwar- Badrinath route (Char dham plan is already with the government) and sulabh shauchalays should be set up every twenty kilometers. Class tourism for NRIs can also be promoted by improving facilities in the region; for this, a public-privatepartnership model can be developed. For the Kumaon region, the focus should be general tourism. Currently, the government is implementing a Rs. 12-13 crore project for cleanliness in Nainital and the Tehri dam area is a potential tourist spot. Cities can be created that focus on medical tourism including medication as well as medication teaching. Spiritual tourism also needs to be leveraged to generate employment for the locals and revenue for the state by

creating adequate infrastructure at spiritual destinations. The Vaishno Devi temple model is suitable for Uttarakhand and can prove to be a growth and development driver that adds to the income of the state. To prevent soil erosion, trails, steps, simple drainage channels, and slope protection have to be created. This creates a neat infrastructure and also protects the environment. Along the trail quality rest stops that have toilets and waste disposal facilities should be created. For tourists who are interested in nature walks, walkways need to be created. Frequent pedestrian areas are also proposed. Rope bridges and river crossings provide excursions as well as security for travelers. The existing rope bridges need to be maintained and a similar style followed for new bridges. Low-cost but safe river crossings over seasonal rivers are also suggested.

Appropriate Skill Development

Models like the “Veer Chand Garhwali Programme” should be developed; this is the model of the “Village Inherited Tourism Mode”, in which each household has a separate room for tourists, but the government will have to provide funds and investment. This model is also good as a self-employment scheme. To ensure that the benefits of local tourism actually reach the villagers, it is important to involve women in restaurant activities, youths as drivers of taxis and guides, and local uneducated men as porters. There is a need to develop human resources and hold capacitybuilding training programmes. The supply of competent managers does not meet the demand for mid- and high-level managers and, even at the policy planning level, theyare in short supply. There is a shortage of quality institutions and teachers to impart training to the new generation and to upgrade the skills required for foreign tourism. The level of education is quite good but there are a large number of unemployed educated youth in the hills. There is an immediate need o improve the communication skills of personnel in the hospitality industry. There is a similar requirement for organizing local training of personnel employed at front offices, housekeeping, food production, restaurant services, travel agencies, etc. These training programmes can be organized off-season. To meet the manpower requirements of the accommodation sector alone, the state should set up at least one training institute without any further loss of time. Skills in English and other languages should be given high priority.

Government policies

There is potential to re-use the existing local resources to develop tourism in Uttarakhand. The social and cultural environment of the state is prepared to take up tourism as a major opportunity to create jobs. Though tourism is considered to be an industry, the benefits are not accessible to the state. There is still no proper tourism management plan; added to it is the problem of lack of connectivity. In Uttarakhand, the tax load on tourist vehicles is much higher than that in other states like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir (Table 32). Also, these states charge a single entry tax, unlike Uttarakhand which charges tax at multiple points. Therefore, tour operators discourage tours to Uttarakhand. Hence, there is a need to reduce the tax differences to tap the tourist potential of the state when there is competition from other states.

Developing Infrastructure

In the earlier sections of the paper, it has been repeatedly envisaged that infrastructure development is one of the biggest constraints that the state faces for its development and growth. The situation of infrastructure is even worse in the hill regions because of the difficult terrain. The major infrastructural issues to be discussed are drinking water and irrigation facilities, electricity, transportation and communication facilities, banking infrastructure, and social infrastructure like housing and education

Water Issues: Drinking water and irrigation

Uttarakhand has acute water scarcity. Water is a problem both for drinking and for irrigation. The high population growth in Uttarakhand over the decades has placed enormous pressure on its natural resources, mainly forests. The forest cover has been significantly reduced both in density and area, which has created other serious problems like soil erosion and loss of water-storage capacity in the hill areas. It has increased the scarcity of water as the natural springs started drying. Increased loss of top-soil (soil erosion) combined with a drop in already poor irrigation facilities have affected agriculture and the large population dependent on it. Further, it has added to the plight of the hard-working women for whom natural water sources provide water for daily household use. The government of Uttarakhand has been working on various programmes and plans to rectify the problem. A comparative analysis of the performance of five different approaches to meeting the drinking water needs of the rural areas shows that thetraditional community management approach performs best. However, all the approaches failed to achieve equity in access to drinking water. It is recommended that the issue of drinking water supply must be part of integrated water resources management, and water resources management itself must be part of an integrated natural resource management plan, based on a watershed development approach22. Panchayati Raj institutions must play an active role regarding control and management of water, land, and forest resources.At present in Uttarakhand drinking water supplies are available to 15,545 villages, covering about 64.65 lakhs of the population. At the district level, the coverage of drinking water supply seems to be very good in Rudraprayag with almost 100 per cent of the population covered (Table 34). However, in other hill districts the situation is not so good. The worst are the districts of Champawat and Uttarkashi where only 75 per cent and 80 per cent of the population, respectively, have access to drinking water. Since agriculture is the main source of livelihood, irrigation infrastructure is one of the prime requirements for Uttarakhand. The major sources of irrigation in Uttarakhand are the canal system, tube wells, lift irrigation, ghuls (hill channels), water-harvesting tanks (hauzas), hydrams, shallow tube wells and deep tube wells in the Tarai belt. The gross irrigated area of the state is 549,345 ha and the net irrigated area is 337,696 ha (Table 35), of which only 12 per cent is in the hill districts and 88 per cent in the plains. Of the total area irrigated through various irrigation sources, the hill districts have 19.6 per cent of the state’s canal-irrigated area, 52 per cent of the state’s tank-irrigated area and 60 per cent of the state’s area irrigated by other sources. Only 44 per cent of the cropped area is irrigated by the present irrigation system of which about 81 per cent is in the plains In the hill regions the irrigation infrastructure is very poor (Table 37). A large portion of the agricultural area is situated above rivers, with the result that they cannot be irrigated using the gravity system (surface water system) and can only be irrigated through

lift irrigation. The lift irrigation technique is sophisticated and cost-effective; it is implemented through an automatic pumping device known as a hydraulic ram pump or hydram. Hydrams, which do not use any external energy or power such as diesel or petrol, work on the principle of the water hammer and convert the available static head to kinetic energy. Water can be carried to a height of 30 times above the available head. However, to make more water available for irrigation and to reduce the wear and tear on the plant, for the time being the department is trying to lift wateronly up to 15 times the height of the head. The lift irrigation technique can act as an important tool to improve the status of irrigation in Uttarakhand, in particular the hill districts. The advantage is that the land below the supply channel (guhls) can be irrigated directly from the supply channel; in addition, by increasing the scale of the supply channel, water mills for grinding wheat and other cereals can be driven.Consequently, dependence on power and diesel will be reduced, new employment opportunities will be created, the nutritional value of the cereals will remain intact, and labor will be saved. Also, the maintenance expense is minimal and has no adverse impact on the environment. A traditional but effective canal irrigation system (guhls) is used to irrigate the fields using gravitational force which brings water from a distance of many kilometers. These guhls were maintained by the local beneficiaries until they were taken up by the minor irrigation department of the state government. Another traditional irrigation method which is prominent in Uttarakhand is water mills. The water mills, known as gharats in Uttarakhand, have traditionally been used for milling grain and extracting oil. The estimated number of water mills varies from 3,50023 to 70,000. These water mills, with little technological upgradation, can also be employed for hydropower generation. Now, the water millers have an increased level of awareness and access to the technology required to upgrade water mills to be used as micro/small hydropower plants. NGOs like HESCO have been instrumental in successfully implementing several micro-hydropower projects in the state. The contribution of institutions like HESCO for promoting water mills to generate hydropower is significant and noticeable, especially since government efforts in this direction have not produced thedesired results. Public sector organizations found these micro-plants too expensive and were unable to recover the costs; thus, financially these were not viable in the long term. The NGO approach basically involves large-scale community participation which makes the installation as well as running of the micro-plant economical. This results in the sustainability of the plant after it is completed. The grain milled by these micro-hydro plants, gharats, are being sold in the market under the brand name Gharat flour which has been well-received by customers. The use of the water mills as microhydropower plants will not only meet the consumer power requirements at remote villages but also generate a vocation for the people. Definitely, it is one of the main avenues for sustainable and inclusive development of the hill regions.

Electricity and other sources of power

Electricity consumption in the domestic sector of Uttarakhand has been quite substantial and higher than the country’s average, but over the years this proportion has shifted in favor of the industrial sector. In 2001-02 around 45 per cent of the total electricity consumption was in the domestic sector which dropped to 29 per cent by 2006-07. With the increasing demand from the industrial sector, in 2006-07 almost 40 per cent of the total electricity consumption was by industries (Table 38). The share of electricity consumption for farming purposes has

declined substantially from 14.4 per cent in 2001-02 to 9.9 per cent although the total actual electricity consumption has marginally increased. The consumption of electricity in different sectors in the hill regions is shown. However, of the total state electricity consumption very little is consumed by the hill districts. It is mainly four districts in the plains where electricity consumption is the maximum. This shows the poor situation of electrification in the hill districts of Uttarakhand. Around 96 per cent of the rural villages in Uttarakhand are provided with electricity by Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd. UREDA, Micro-Hydel and Kuteer Jyoti connections are also prevalent but in less so in villages. Table 40 presents the status ofelectrified villages in districts of Uttarakhand. Of the hill districts only Pauri has 20 per cent of its villages electrified by Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd. and 10.5 per cent by Kuteer Jyoti connections. Almora and Tehri Garhwal have about 13 percent and 7-9 per cent villages electrified through these two sources of electrification. The status of village electrification in the remaining hill districts is very poor.Power supply through the grid system to interior villages in mountainous terrain is expensive and challenging due to poor load characteristics, adverse topographical features, harsh weather conditions, scattered households and low population density. Though there are problems related to the financial viability of such decentralized power generation by the public sector, non-government community efforts haveproved to be a success. A national-level NGO, Foundation for Rural Recovery and Development (FORRAD), has helped set up two community-owned hydropower stations of 20 kw in Tehri Garhwal district. Poor people, who cannot afford electricity under government schemes, contribute labour and marginal cash as their contribution to their community’s efforts to get access to reliable and cheap electricity. The key to the success of these power stations is community participation, willingness to work persistently by building local capability to maintain the unit, and making full use of this power either by using it themselves or by selling surplus power to the national grid. Uttarakhand has got enormous potential for hydropower generation. Apart from its large and medium hydropower potential, which is estimated to be 20,000 megawatts, it also has huge potential for small, mini- and micro- hydropower generation24. An estimate puts the overall hydropower potential of the state at 40,000 megawatts. The hydropower potential of the state can be harnessed for its development and to raise the quality of life of its people. Hydro-electric power generation provides electricity at acheaper price and in an environment-friendly manner. This crucial price advantage of hydropower electricity may act as a catalyst for the economic development of the state and its people by increasing their purchasing power. Availability of cheap power by way of inexpensive water lifting systems for irrigation will boost agriculture. It will also encourage establishing agro-processing units such as milling, drying, and threshing, and cultivators will be able to process the crops in the village. Fiber-processing, and other processing activities like carding, spinning, dyeing, drying, and calendaring can be mechanized with small-scale technology to reduce the processing time by at least a third. Availability of cheap power coupled with appropriate technology for processing fibers will enable people to add value atcompetitive rates. Availability of low-cost power, particularly in remote areas, can be instrumental in providing basic comforts and facilities sought by tourists, which will in turn will help attract more tourists to the region. If sufficient low-cost electricity is available, it will act as an incentive for people to use it for cooking and heating, rather than using wood (currently, around 80 per cent of the people use wood as fuel); this will help protect the forests and environment. Better-conceptualized initiatives and planned management of the

existing watermill resources of Uttarakhand can give effective results for power generation for domestic use. Alternative energy sources like solar energy should be encouraged. HESCO hasdemonstrated certain advances in this source of energy. An investment in this direction can be both a cheaper and more eco-friendly source of electrification. Solar installations should be complemented with battery banks. Solar installations that are connected to the grid must be allowed to feed electricity into the grid and compensated at the same rates they pay for electricity consumption. It is important to decentralize energy generation to overcome transmission impasses. Since the climate of Uttarakhand is cold, it is important to propagate solar water heaters and reduce the reliance on electric water heaters, thereby helping electricity suppliers to overcome shortages. Due to the mountain terrain, it is difficult to transport CNG and LGP cylinders for cooking; in these cases also solar cookers and solar panels can be used.

Transportation and Communication

Roads and connectivity with other regions, villages and states is a big problem in Uttarakhand hill regions. The main problem is the maintenance of the roads due to heavy rainfall, soil erosion and even snow fall in certain regions. Road maintenance is usually undertaken by the PWD but as seen in Table 41, in the case of hill districts the maintenance is usually done by urban local bodies and district panchayats are not involved. In terms of road infrastructure, only Almora, Pauri and Uttarkashi are linked to national highways. District roads are the fewest, but indicators to judge their quality and all-weather usage are not available. It is important to link these districts with one another, state highways and national highways, because only after the roads are constructed is it possible to link them with the markets, which are a must for the development of agriculture and allied sectors. It is recommended that Uttarakhand should be linked with the freight corridor. Between the villages of the hill districts, a simple and cost-effective trolley system should be introduced, because road transport fails when it rains or snows. This will also help develop every district, town and village as a tourism hub and provide employment. Roads connections and maintenance should be given priority and all the important destinations of each district should be linked; moreover, the responsibility should be assigned to a single agency at a decentralized level. The infrastructure of communications services in the hill regions is also poor. Table 42 shows that around 76 per cent of the state’s post offices are in the hill regions. Pauri has the maximum number of post offices while Champawat has the fewest. Telegraph office coverage is only 25 per cent in the hills and only 26 percent of the public telephones are found in the hill regions. BSNL also covers only 26 per cent of their total connections in the hill regions. BSNL connections work in all areas but there are no Hutch or Airtel connections. However, a revolution in communication services through mobile phones is expected soon.

Banking Sector

In 2005-06, Uttarakhand was served by 285 branches of the State Bank of India (SBI) and its associate offices as against 14,016 branches in India. The offices of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in the state declined from 177 in 2001-02 to 171 in 2005-06; this decline was also observed for their branches in the country. Other private commercial banks registered a

growth of 12 per cent in Uttarakhand, whereas they increased by only 4 per cent in the country. SBI is the leading bank in all nine hill districts of Uttarakhand and mainly supports agricultural and industrial activities in these districts. It even provides loans to the landless. It is trying to achieve the objective of 100 per cent financial inclusion in the state. Through this scheme Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Nainital achieved 100 per cent financial inclusion in 2007 and Rudraprayag, Champawat, Haridwar and Dehradun are expected to achieve it in the first quarter of 2008. SBI has adopted several different methods to achieve financial inclusion. It opens a zero balance account, provides a general purpose credit card, and a kisan card to hill people; a loan of Rs. 25,000 is provided to hill people without asking for collateral; at Pithoragarh the bank. has undertaken a project where they are provide tiny SBI cards through mobile phones; it provides biometric cards that stores the customer’s photo and data in a chip;and it provides Customer Service Points (CSPs) that are clustered around villages. Since there is a problem with road connectivity, SBI is trying to link households with the banks through mobile phones that get connected with the bank’s server; this way, customers can make bank transactions through their mobile phones. These steps by the SBI are very helpful for the hill people of the state. However, wide disparities still exist between the plains and the hill regions in terms of banking structure in Uttarakhand (Table 44). The presence of banks remains quite low in the hill districts except for Pauri Garhwal. The status of loan disbursements through financial institutions in the hill districts of Uttarakhand is presented in Table 45. Of the total loans, the share that goes to agriculture and related activities varies across districts. While Bageshwar and Tehri Garhwal account for 55 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively of the total loan towards their agricultural activities, the share of loans disbursed to these activities in Pauri is almost negligible. Instead, Pauri Garhwal has around 45 per cent of the total loans disbursed for the development of small-scale industries and 54 per cent for other activities. This low loan disbursement for agricultural activities can be one reason for low development of the hill regions. Uttarakhand has the lowest Credit Deposit Ratio (CDR) in central India. CDR is the proportion of loan-assets created by banks from the deposits received; the higher the ratio, the higher the loan-assets created from deposits. To explain the poor credit disbursal, banks claim that there are few bankable projects worth lending to in the state. It can be seen that poor CDR is a consequence of poor development of the state, particularly the hill districts. In the hill regions the low CDR is not due to the small number of credit accounts, but the relatively smallaverage amount in such accounts. With the objective of 100 per cent financial inclusion, servicing a large number of small accounts entails higher costs than servicing a few large loans. Table 46 shows that all the hill districts have a CDR that is lower than the state average. To improve the CDR it is important to know if there is sufficient demand for loans or whether people go to the informal sector to meet their credit needs. Another factor to be considered is that hill district people do not go to the banks because of the difficulty in approaching them. A third reason is that people are not aware of the possibility of collateral-free lending for their entrepreneurial endeavours. Whatever the reasons, the result is that low CDR hampers the development of the region. SIDBI’s credit guarantee scheme can be used to overcome the difficulty of providing collateral security.Besides the SBI, NABARD also plays an important role in the growth and development of the hill districts. NABARD focuses on the development of rural India by facilitating credit flow to promote agriculture and the rural non-farm sector. It prepares a Potential Linked Credit (PLP) plan annually for each district of the country by assessing the potential of the

agriculture and rural sector. This serves as a guide for banks and government agencies to prepare their own investment and credit plans in the district and state. The PLP for the hill districts of Uttarakhand is presented. A summary of the table is given below, showing that in particular sectors the specified districts have the highest potential for the development of certain activities and sectors.

Self-help groups (SHGs) and micro-finance institutions are the main motivators and providers of micro-credit to people in the villages of the hill districts. The presence of micro-finance institutions in remote areas is quite prominent but the SHG bank linkage program is still not progressing well in the region due to the conservative policy of the banking sector. Inter-governmental departments need to come together to create awareness among the people and to make the credit and banking sector work effectively in the hill regions. The informal credit delivery system plays an important role in reaching the rural people. It is through the collaboration of the nationalized banks, regional rural banks and SHGs that the linkages can be strengthened. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is actively working in this field. Another institution is MIMO Finance, which is a four-year-old organization with 8,500 loan clients. Of these clients, 96 per cent are women. Except for 250 loan clients, the remainder are from Uttarakhand. It is a purely commercial finance organization and does not give any grants. MIMO believes that there can be a large market for financial services. It provides loans averaging Rs. 25,000 to joint liability groups, each having 5 members. All loans are made available to women who are not able to access banks,

and are at the mercy of private money lenders. MIMO provides loans at the doorstep without any guarantee, and makes collections through easy weekly and monthly installments. Life insurance cover for all clients and their spouses is mandatory. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has suggested measures to improve banking services in Uttarakhand. They recommend that the help of local agriculturaluniversities, agribusiness centers, and Krishi Vigyan Kendras may be taken to improve the quality of input and output. Banks should also be made a party to negotiations with producers to settle the credit issue on the spot. These may act as single window clearances or tie-ups. Banks may also extend such facilities to the entrepreneurs, at least in their specialized SME branches. In order to facilitate borrowers in using the loans more profitably, banks should have a credit plus approach in their financial inclusion schemes. They would need to extend insurance, marketing, consultancy services, etc., as they can access technological developments taking place in agricultural universities, IITs, and research institutions. Considering the time, distance and cost for customers to reach a bank branch, especially in remote areas, banks can aggressively use the business facilitator model to increase theiroutreach. Banks may also identify well-respected local persons like school teachers, postmen, primary health workers or retired army officials. Certain banks have set up Rural Development and Self Employment Training Institutes (RUDSETI). Such measures have evoked a good response from borrowers and have enlarged the bank clientele. Major public sector banks in the state may consider setting up similar institutes in major cities. Foreign tourists face difficulties exchanging foreign currency in banks and hotels in the state. There have also been problems making payments through national/international credit/debit cards by both domestic as well as foreign tourists. Given that the staff of banks, hotels, shops and emporia do not know how to handle foreign currency, the RBI and banks may organize seminars/workshops in matters related to foreign exchange at major centres in the state at regular intervals. In order to provide hassle-free cash withdrawal from banks to the tourists, major banks operating in the state may set up Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) at Tourist Information Centres and Wayside Amenities Centres for the convenience of tourists. Broadband connectivity will help banks establish ATMs at places of tourist interest and accept international debit/credit cards from foreign tourists. Bank branches dealing in foreign exchange may be provided with broadband connectivity immediately so that foreign tourists are extended hassle-free conversion facilities without any delay.

Literacy and Education

On social indicators, Uttarakhand fares quite well with a literacy rate of 71.6 per cent against the national figure of 64.8 per cent. Some hill districts have a literacy rate above the state average. As expected the literacy rate for females is lower than that for males; more than 80 percent of the males are literate and the female literacy rate varies across districts. However, the unexpected part is that these numbers are much higher than the national average. This can be considered a unique feature of the state and is also the reason behind the rapid growth of this state In terms of basic education, the number of schools/colleges in the state in 2003-04 was 19,700 which accounted for 1.7 per cent of the national figure. Figures for 2001- 02 show that there were 1,946,343 students in the state compared to 194,946,000 in India, i.e., around 1 per cent. The number of students in the hills is 53.5 per cent of the state total, whereas students in the plains make up 46.5 per cent. At the district level, the school

infrastructure is not bad; it is the availability of teachers and the teacher-student ratio that creates doubts about the quality of education. The literacy rate is high because the people of Uttarakhand are interested in getting jobs, but the quality of skills imparted is doubtful because it does not actually help them get good jobs. To create jobs in the industrial sector, ITIs have been set up in the state and even hill districts, but the students do not find work in the local job market either due to scare jobs or their low skills. Thus they migrate to other states. The industrial requirements for a skilled work force are far higher than the availability due not only to the shortage of ITIs in the state but also, more importantly, due to the quality and orientation of education and training imparted at these institutes which does not fit job requirements at the factories. It is estimated that around 70 percent of the ITI-trained local persons do not get employment in the industries, whereas outside candidates are given employment opportunities. Vocational courses should be encouraged to meet the shortage of skilled labour and the government should take steps to tackle this problem. The Navodya Vidyalayas provide a good model of how to provide high-quality education to talented students who cannot afford it. Thus there is need for training that includes industry-specific training; for example, there are different requirements for the paper industry and the pharmaceutical industry, so the same training may not be applicable at both places. Given this scenario the state unit of the CII has suggested that the state government privatize five ITIs to impart industry-oriented training that matches industry requirements. These training institutes should tie up with industry. Creating education centers would lead to development in a radius area around it. High-level vocational training is required for which polytechnics should be set up; they could train students for the hotel and construction industries. Course development is also required in every block of thestate but it should be customized and not standardized. Since soft skills are very important, 10-20 per cent of training time should be spent on developing these skills.

Development Strategy and Sectoral Perspective

Uttarakhand, in spite of being a small state, has certain key features that make it distinct from other states of the country and highlights its potential for development. Uttarakhand is the first state in the country to have created a Tourism Development Board by legislation. It is also the first state to propagate organic farming on a wide scale. However, the development has predominantly been in the plains and the hill districts have been left behind. All the hill districts have farming and crop husbandry as their main economic activities, along with dairy and poultry farming to diversify their source of earnings. But these are only subsistence activities that have led to migration and a remittance economy in the hill districts. Thus, the hill districts have a demographic bias towards women who are not skilled in earning money. In addition,female literacy is only 57%. Overall, the hill districts are characterized by low productivity, shortage of inputs, and lack of marketing that have confined the villages to producing only for self-consumption. These regions are land-locked with huge distances between the markets and resources. Because of these constraints, traditional agriculture cannot be the lead sector for development. The positive features of these hill districts are that they have huge tourism potential, a suitable climate for highvalue agriculture, and a pleasant environment due to 60 per cent forest cover. These have to be harnessed to create a development strategy. The development strategy for the Uttarakhand hills should be based on developing brand equity under the name of Organic Green State.

An Uttarakhand Brand Equity Fund should be developed in line with IBEF (Appendix 10). This can beachieved through:• Developing infrastructure• Propagating tourism• Diversifying agriculture• Promoting poultry- and wool-based livelihoods• Establishing SMEs based on the above• Capturing linkages with industry and tourismAlthough some hill districts are rich in mineral resources, mining should not be promoted. Modern mining which is highly mechanized will not create significant additional employment. Further, mining can be a threat to ecology, disturbs the natural environment and affects agriculture. This would discourage tourism and works against the state’s brand equity of Organic Green State.

Agriculture Diversification and Development of Allied Sectors

Since the hill regions are very different in their ecosystem from the plains, it is essential to use a different approach to agriculture in the hill districts of Uttarakhand. The green revolution of the 1960s benefited only those areas that had irrigation facilities, but this was not possible in the hills, which lacked this resource. Thus the recommendations for development of the hill districts based on agriculture diversification are as follows:

1. Promote agriculture that is based on high-value herbal, medicinal and aromatic plantation. Since markets are a problem, links with retailers and ayurvedic firms should be propagated. A memorandum of understanding should be signed with retailers and firms backed by legislation in order to prevent exploitation of farmers; this will help in evolving rules for fair transactions. This should be in coordination with the Herbal Research and Development Institute (HRDI) to help farmers in selecting village-specific commodities.

2. Alternative areas of diversification are towards horticulture crops, spices and condiments (chilies, ginger, and garlic), tea plantation, floriculture, oilseeds (sesamum, rapeseed & mustard and soybean) and traditional hill grains (mandua, bhatt, sanwa, urad, gahat). Intercropping of aromatic plants with conventional grains can also help in diversifying the income basket of small and marginal farmers.

3. If these commodities are grown organically they can increase incomes in the hill regions because discerning buyers prefer and are willing to pay more for organic goods. Organic farming methods are the preferred option for the agriculture-based hill region. It is necessary to promote the Organic Uttarakhand brand in order to secure the interests of the small organic agriculturalists of the state and develop the brand image of the state.

4. A cluster approach should be adopted in the hill regions. The cluster approach includes the provision of extension services, financial services, inputs, production process and facilitation of processing. This will help reduce the cost of production, improve yields and generate marketable surpluses. Performance-based credits and subsidy policies can incentivise small and marginal farmers to adopt the best practices.

5. Develop mandis and create linkages between producers and buyers; even contract farming can be promoted, but under a suitable legislative framework. Mandis have to be created for the sale of good quality produce at reasonable prices. For unique biodiversity products, separate markets should be developed in the hills. Low-cost collection centers and facilities should be created and then aligned with the terminal market in Chandigarh. In the long run, a terminal market can be created specifically for Uttarakhand.

6. Rural infrastructure development should be in line with the focus on diversification that is suggested above.

7. Animal husbandry and forest resource use are a part of hill livelihood; these need to be developed on a commercial basis. Measures should be taken to improve the genetic stock of sheep and goats. There is a need to rejuvenate the government’s agriculture extension and veterinary systems.

8. Forest and land development. Forest trees offer an alternative source of livelihood. The state should connect with agencies in other countries like Israel and China for expertise on the development of semi-arid land. Research firms should be contacted forcommercialization of jatropha for bio-diesel. Land Army- Doon Valley model should be spread to other districts. Agro-forestry can play an important role in the rural economy, making it essential to regenerate degraded forest and wasteland. Wasteland can be converted to grow plants, fodder and fuel, barren land can be used for non-farm activities, and land that is left uncultivable due to lack of credit, inputs, etc. can be adopted by organizations and clusters and diverted towards high-value cultivation.

9. The active involvement of people in conserving and managing the forests can result in high biodiversity as well as meet their bio-mass requirements. CarbonTrading should be encouraged and Carbon Credit facility should be given for environment conservation/maintenance. This should be done through the Planning Commission or by the state government.

Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

The Integrated Industrial Development Policy 2008 was launched in February 2008 especially for the industrial development of hilly and remote areas in the state. Under this policy, small-scale agro-based industries and cottage industries should be promoted for the development of the hills.

1. Encourage agro-processing SMEs. Industrial activity in the hill regions can be tapped from local agro-based industries (e.g. herbs, fruits, frozen tulsi, fruit juices, and jams) and handicraft/ cottage industries (e.g. shawls, woolens, and hosiery). To improve the output, the latest technology and easy accessibility of raw materials should be provided

2. To facilitate the development of these SMEs, the land acquisition process should be handled with sensitivity, stable power supply should be provided by the government, and single-window clearance and licenses should be made availablewithin three days. The findings of the World Bank survey, “Doing Business” should be fully implemented.

3. Create a task force for vocational training and skill upgrading with the active participation of local industries. Upgrade the ITIs and revise their curriculum to suit local needs.

4. For the development of business skills in people, the development of entrepreneurial skills is crucial. Creating awareness and training can also help develop entrepreneurial skills. Since in the hill regions it is equally important to develop the entrepreneurial skills of women, vocational training should be imparted in activities like dairy processing, poultry raising, papad-making, mushroom cultivation, bee-keeping, quilt-making and running a small business.

5. Link up with CDRI, Lucknow for research and development in pharmaceuticals, aromatic cosmetic industries, etc. This will help add value to agri-products. Seed testing laboratories, organic certification centers, etc. should be developed in the hills.

Promoting Tourism

Tourism should be given the highest priority because it can be the biggest source of employment and it also creates linkages for local area development. Tourism should be given the status of an industry. The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Master Plan for 2007-22 has already been developed with the coordination of the Government of India, Government of Uttarakhand, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Tourism Organization.

1. The state attracts tourists for pilgrimages, cultural tourism, nature tourism, adventure tourism, wildlife tourism, eco-tourism, and amusement and leisure tourism. It is crucial to identify the seasonality of different kinds of tourism. Tourists should be attracted taking this into account so as to create round-the-year tourism-based employability.

2. Tourism should be developed in an environment-friendly manner so as to harmonize with the effective branding of the state as an Organic Green State. The objective should be to nurture the existing beauty rather than to create modern tourist destinations.

3. Uncontrolled and unplanned tourism is not healthy. Thus tourist zones have to be connected by formal and informal links in the form of roads, trails and tracks and thematic circuits. A strong regulatory framework that oversees quality of service is necessary. Implementation of rules and security should be given utmost priority.

4. Proper publicity and marketing is required along with the development of skills and the associated service sector to provide world-class service. There is lack of awareness of Uttarakhand as a tourism destination because of ineffective branding of the state, the lack of marketing strategies and unfocussed annual campaigns. For tourism development, there should be a tie-up with major tour operators like Thomas Cook and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. To develop hotels in all categories, there needs to be a tie-up with national and international hotel groups.

5. The bed-and-breakfast model should also be propagated for low-budget domestic travelers.

6. Investments in hotels and inns can be promoted/ facilitated if the investor is granted a long-term lease. In selected cases, a collaborative partnership between the local land-owner and investor can also be implemented.

Developing Infrastructure

The major infrastructure issues are drinking water and irrigation facilities, electricity, road and communication facilities, banking infrastructure, and social infrastructure like housing and education. For all infrastructure development projects it is important for targets to be specified.

1. The issue of drinking water supply must be part of an integrated water resource management plan, which in turn is part of an integrated natural resource management based on a watershed development approach. Lift irrigation techniques, such as hydrams and guhls can be used to improve irrigation in Uttarakhand, particularly in the hill districts.

2. Gharats in Uttarakhand, have traditionally been used to mill grain and extract oil. The contribution of institutions like HESCO25 (Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization) to promote the use of water mills in generating hydropower is significant, and such efforts should be encouraged.

3. The availability of cheap power by way of inexpensive water-lifting systems for irrigation will boost agriculture. Alternative energy sources like solar energy should be encouraged.

4. Road networks should be further developed. In addition to roads in smaller villages, a simple and cost-effective trolley system should be introduced. Road connections and maintenance should be given priority and important destinations in each district should be linked. The responsibility should be assigned to an agency at a decentralized level.

5. The ideal approach involves large-scale community participation which makes theinstallation as well as running of the micro-plant economical. Panchayati Raj institutions must play an active role regarding control and management of water, land, forest resources and maintenance of the roads.

6. The banking sector offers a low credit deposit ratio (CDR) that is only 25 % in hill districts as against 45% in the rest of the state. Only the State Bank of India (SBI) is active in the hill regions where it is trying to achieve the objective of 100 per cent financial inclusion. To achieve the stated objective of financial inclusion, the RBI should be approached to impose a Universal Service Obligation on all commercial banks that will facilitate the faster spread of rural/ hill area banking,

7. People in the hill regions should be made aware that loan schemes are available, e.g., SIDBI’s credit guarantee scheme. The setting up of self-help groups and micro-finance institutions as motivators and providers of micro-credit should be facilitated.

8. Special emphasis on female education is needed. For the school education system it is important to meet the shortfall in teachers and quality educational institution. Thus, measures are needed like removing institutional licensing, drawing up a plan for teacher training, raising teacher’s salaries (in other words, immediately implementing the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission), and giving additional incentives to teachers in hill regions.

Development Strategy for Hill Districts

Infrastructure development is a common development agenda to facilitate development in the hill districts. In addition, specific issues pertaining to each hill district are identified and listed below. The listing is based on the areas that should be given priority Organic farming methods are recommended for all in order to create the brand equity of Organic Green State.

Conclusion

The highlight is on the tourism disasters vulnerability of the tourist trade to unforeseen events which also signifies the principles of disaster management, the content also elaborates on how to pro-actively deal with the potential for future crisis related to tourism, steps in disaster management would give a brief overview about the various stages involved in disaster management. Further discussion in this paper leads to a systematic approach – which improves destination restoration techniques and also describes about the reasons for the collapse of tourism destination areas and enumerating on the aspects of an ideal area development, with relation to Uttarakhand. In terms the losses faced by the tourism industry, due to the disaster are extensive as said by an official to Madhav (2013) that, “speaking on the possible losses…the season accounted for 30 per cent (around Rs 3,500 crore) of the tourism sector's annual earnings. Due to the calamity, they were witnessing 99 per cent cancellations from the affected travelers and from pre-bookings. Thus when the Char Dham yatra has beencancelled for three year the possible losses can be imagined. So through the implementationof destination management and the several disaster management techniques, such losses canbe avoided and the credibility of a destination restored.

References

(1) 2013 North India floods.(n.d.). In Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_North_India_floods.

(2) National Workshop on UTTARAKHAND DISASTER 2013: LESSONS LEARNT Monday, August 19, 2013.

(3) Community Based Disaster Risk Analysis (CBDRA): Case Studies from Uttarakhand, India.

(4) Char Dham yatra may resume from 30 September without Kedarnath. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.chardham-tours.com/char-dham-yatra-may-resume-from-30-septemberwithout- kedarnath.

(5) Development strategy for the hill districts of uttarakhand (working paper no. 217)Indian council for research of international economic relations (icrier) july 2008.

(6) Uttarakhand tourism development master plan 2007-2022.(7) Strategy paper on “S&T Intervention for post disaster reconstruction efforts in

uttarakhand”.(8)Bisht, D.S. (2006). Poverty, Planning and Development - A Case Study of Uttaranchal

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