National Institute of Disaster Management Newsletter VIII (8)

Heavy rainfall during the second and third week of June resulted in devastating
floods and landslides in the state of Uttarakhand and is considered as India’s
biggest natural disaster since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Uttarakhand disaster
is unique since the disaster affected people from all states of India. Though parts
of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in India, some regions of
Western Nepal, and some parts of Western Tibet also experienced heavy rainfall,
over 95% of the casualties occurred in Uttarakhand. According to the Ministry of
Home Affairs situation reports, 580 persons were perished and still more than
5,748 persons are missing. More than 1600 villages affected by floods and landslides
in Uttarakhand alone.
Although the Kedarnath Temple had not been damaged much, the temple
inundated with water, mud and boulders from the landslides resulting in several
deaths. Many hotels, rest houses and shops around the temple in Kedarnath
township were completely destroyed, resulting in several casualties. Most of the
destruction at Kedarnath was probably caused by a sudden rapid melting of ice
and snow on the Kedarnath Mountain which flooded the Charbari lake (upstream)
and then Kedarnath. Entire villages and settlements such as Gaurikund and the
market town of Ram Bara, a transition point to Kedarnath, have been washed
away, Public infrastructures such as roads and vital bridges, houses and administrative
buildings, schools and health centres, have been badly damaged. Besides huge
damage to lives and infrastructure, the floods and landslides adversely affected
the livelihoods of rural people in the affected areas. For Uttarakhand’s local
population, whose homes and villages have been swept away by the raging flood
waters, life has been irrevocably altered and displaced from their homes and left
without any livelihood options.
Despite major constraints like difficult terrain and adverse weather conditions our
response agencies especially Indian Army, NDRF, ITBP and BRO did exemplary
tasks and rescued more than one lakh people stranded. Now, is the time to learn
lessons from the tragedy and to set an agenda for recovery immediately. The
agenda should not be restricted by the provision of relief, or compensation to
victims, it should be aimed at sustainable recovery based on a systematic assessment
of the situation. Recovery priorities should be defined and provisions for adequate
technical and financial resources to implement these priorities should be made
available. Recovery programme should be characterized by the concerns of equity,
efficiency and integrity. DRR concerns should be integrated in the rebuilding
process to build back a better and safe community.