Natural Disasters affecting India, particularly Uttarakhand
The Himalayas are formed due to the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. The Indian plate is moving northward (towards China). It causes continuous stress on the rocks rendering them friable, weak, and prone to landslides and earthquakes. The Indian crust moves about 5 cm/year northwards accumulating stress, to which natural disasters are attributed.
Landslides and avalanches are among the major hydro-geological hazards that affect large parts of India besides the Himalayas, the Northeastern hill ranges, the Western Ghats, the Nilgiris, the Eastern Ghats, and the Vindhyans, in that order, covering about 15 % of the landmass. The Himalayas alone count for landslides of every fame, name, and description- big and small, quick and creeping, ancient and new. The Northeastern region is badly affected by landslide problems of a bewildering variety.
Landslides are caused by disturbances in the natural stability of a slope. They can accompany heavy rains or follow droughts, earthquakes, or volcanic eruptions. Mudslides develop when water rapidly accumulates in the ground and results in a surge of water-saturated rock, earth, and debris.
Uttarakhand has a geographical area of 53,483 sq km; 93 percent of which is mountainous and 72 percent is under forest cover. In the recent past, Uttarakhand has witnessed two major earthquakes (Uttarkashi 1991 and Chamoli 1999). Landslide incidences are all the more frequent during the monsoon season that coincides with the Char Dham Yatra season which attracts tourists and pilgrims from across the country and abroad. Disruption of surface transport by landslides often leads to inconvenience to tourists and pilgrims.
Solution: The Disaster Management Act of 2005 lays down institutional and coordination mechanisms for effective Disaster Management (DM) at the national, state, district, and local levels. As mandated by the Act multi-tiered institutional system consisting of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) headed by the Prime Minister, the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by the respective Chief Ministers and the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) headed by the District Collectors and co-chaired by Chairpersons of the local bodies has been put in place. On the same lines, Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) is the nodal institution for planning, coordination, and monitoring of disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, and management-related initiatives of the state government.
Response measures are those taken immediately after receiving an early warning from the relevant authority or in anticipation of an impending disaster, or immediately after the occurrence of an event without any warning. The primary goal of responding to a disaster is saving lives, protecting property, and the environment, and meeting the basic needs of humans and other living beings after the disaster.
The problem, therefore, needs to be tackled for mitigation and management for which hazard zones must be identified and land areas prone to landslides must be stabilized and managed. In addition, an early warning system must be placed at selected sites for continuous monitoring.
To ward off the threat of earthquakes buildings were traditionally constructed in the region using locally available stone and timber and with the passage of time, through experience, experimentation, and accumulated knowledge of generations the people of this region perfected the art of constructing earthquake-safe multistoried buildings. Therefore, permission to construct brick-cement buildings should be given only if the building plan takes into account the seismic vulnerability of the region.
It is prudent to practice mock drills of Coordination with the local technical agencies responsible for forecasting different hazards. The dissemination of information through a reliable communication system, ensuring redundancy by having alternative communication systems in place in case of breakdowns in the main system, and Coordination with media must also be checked periodically.
In case a disaster has struck, if required, the responsible teams must ensure that the NDRF and the local Armed Forces are involved in the Planning Process and their resources are appropriately dovetailed for evacuating the affected people and camping them at a safe place.
Conclusion: It is heartening to note that the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) provides immediate relief to disaster victims and also ensures temporary restoration of the identified damaged infrastructure, as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs.