Phenomena of cloudburst and concepts related to Disaster Management subject. Case study of Kedarnath has been used.

1. By: Mr. Dhruv Saxena
Asst. Professor (NPIU),
Deptt. of Civil Engineering, EC Ajmer

2. • A cloudburst is an extreme
amount of precipitation in a short
period of time.
• Sometimes accompanied by hail
and thunder, which is capable of
creating flood conditions.

3. • Rainfall rate equal to or greater than 100 millimetres
(3.9 in) per hour is a cloudburst
• According to the Swedish weather service
defines the corresponding Swedish term
"skyfall" as 1 mm/min for short bursts and
50 mm/h for longer rainfalls
• The results of cloudbursts can be disastrous

4. •
l
Cloudbursts are infrequent as they occur via orographic lift
Orographic Lift:-
• when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation
as it moves over rising terrain.
• As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, and
create clouds and, under the right conditions, precipitation.
• when a warm air parcel mixes with cooler air, resulting in sudden
condensation.
• At times, a large amount of runoff from higher elevations is
mistakenly conflated with a cloudburst.

5. DURATION RAIN FALL LOCATION DATE
20 hours 91.69 inches (2,329 mm)
Ganges
Delta, Bangladesh/India January 8, 1966
10 hours 57.00 inches (1,448 mm)
Mumbai, Maharashtra,
India July 26, 2005
1 hour 9.84 inches (250 mm)
Leh, Jammu and
Kashmir, India August 5, 2010
1 hour 5.67 inches (144 mm) Pune, Maharashtra, India September 29, 2010
1.5 hours 7.15 inches (182 mm) Pune, Maharashtra, India October 4, 2010
24 hours 54.00 inches (1,372 mm)
Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand,
India July 1, 2016

6. • On June 15, 2013, a cloudburst was reported
in Kedarnath , Uttarakhand. Over 5,000 killed and
84,000 were supposed to be missing as of June 30,
2013.
• The Indian Army and its Northern Command launched
one of the largest and most extensive human rescue
missions in its history. Spread over 40,000 square
kilometres, 45 helicopters were deployed to rescue the
stranded.

9. • Introduce better heavy rainfall warning systems.
• Construct buildings above flood levels.
• T
ackle climate change.
• Increase spending on flood defences

10. • Protect wetlands and introduce plant trees strategically.
• Restore rivers to their natural courses.
• Introduce water storage areas.
• Improve soil conditions.

11. ⚫ KEDARNATH IS A TOWN LOCATED IN
• THE INDIAN STATE OF UTTARAKHAND AND HAS GAINED IMPORTANCE BECAUSE OF
KEDARNATH TEMPLE.
⚫ KEDARNATH IS LOCATED IN THE HIMALAYAS, ABOUT 3,583 M ABOVE SEA LEVEL NEAR
CHORABARI GLACIER, THE HEAD OF RIVER MANDAKINI AND IS FLANKED BY SNOW-
CAPPED PEAKS.

12. •Kedarnath mountain is the partof
the Gangotri Group of peaks in the
western Garhwal Himalaya in
Uttarakhand.
•Kedarnath lieson the main ridge that
lies south of the Gangotri Glacier.
•Standing 6940 m tall, it is the highest
peak on the south side of the Gangotri
Glacier.

13. River Mandakini Kedarnath Temple
Confluence of River Mandakini and Alaknanda at Rudraprayag

14. •The Chorabari Glacier is a glacier in the
Garhwal Himalaya region of the state of
Uttarakhand in India. The glacier lies close to
Kedarnath, an importantdestination
for Hindu pilgrims. One of the glacier's two
snouts is the source for the Mandakini River,
a tributaryof
the Alaknanda river.
•The glacier is around 7 km in length, while
the basin area of the glacier is approximately
38 square km and the glacier ice cover is 5.9
square km.

15. ⚫ In June 2013, a multi-
day cloudburstcentered on the North Indian state
of Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and
landslides becoming the country's worst natural
disastersince the 2004 tsunami.
⚫ Though some parts of Himachal
Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in India
experienced the flood, some regions of Western
Nepal, and some partsof
Western Tibet also experienced heavy rainfall, over
89% of the casualties occurred in Uttarakhand.
⚫ The main day of the flood is said to be on 16 June
2013.
NASA satellite imagery of
Northern India on 17 June,
showing rainclouds that led to
thedisaster

17. ⚫ From 14 to 17 June 2013, the Indian state of Uttarakhand and adjoining areas received heavy
rainfall, which was about 375% more than the benchmark rainfall during a normal
monsoon.
⚫ This caused the melting of Chorabari Glacier at the height of 3800 meters, and eruption of
the Mandakini River which led to heavy floods near Gobindghat, Kedar Dome, Rudraprayag
district, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Western Nepal, and acute rainfall in other
nearby regions of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Tibet.
Satellite image (Pre-flood) Satellite image (Post-flood)

18. ⚫ Melting of glaciers, because of global warming has been of the reasons.
Pollution and the global warming accounted for the melting of glaciers.
⚫ Violation of environmental laws and deforestation has also accounted for
floods.
⚫ Building of hydroelectricity plants and increase in the infrastructure
facilities haveweaken the mountains which caused landslides.

19. ⚫ Ecologists point out that the huge expansion of hydro –power projects and
construction of roads to cope with the lakhs of tourists in Uttarakhand and Himachal
Pradesh has compounded the scale of disaster.
⚫ Currently 70 dams exists in char dham area alone. The dam construction
involve blasting of hills which increase therisk of landslide.
⚫ More than 220 power and mining projects are running in 14 river valleys in
Uttarakhand.
⚫ Several riversare being diverted through tunnels forthese projects
leading to majordisasters in this state.

20. ⚫ As of 16 July 2013, according to figures provided by the Uttarakhand
government, more than 5,700 people were "presumed dead.“This total
included 934 local residents.
⚫ Landslides, due to the floods, damaged several houses and structures,
killing thosewho were trapped.
⚫ Entire villages and settlements such as Gaurikund and the market town of
Ram Bada, a transition point to Kedarnath, have been obliterated, while the
market town of Sonprayag suffered heavy damage and loss of lives.
⚫ Over 70,000 people were stuck in various regions because of damaged or
blocked roads.

21. Whilesomewere not…

22. ⚫ On 18 June, more than 12,000 pilgrims were stranded at Badrinath, the popular
pilgrimage center located on the banks of the Alaknanda River.
⚫ Bodies of people washed away in Uttarakhand were found in distant places like
Bijnor, Allahabad and Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh.
⚫ Searching for bodies who died during the extreme natural fury of June in Kedar
valley continued for several months and even as late as September, 2013, about
556 bodies were found out of which 166 bodies were found in highly decomposed
stateduring fourth round of search operations.

23. ⚫ National Highway 58, an importantarteryconnecting the regionwas
alsowashed away near Jyotirmathand in manyotherplaces.
⚫ Majorroads and telephone towersweredestroyed due towhich communication
with outerworld was lost.

24. ⚫ According to theofficial recordsand reports 400 houses weredestroyed
and 270 weredamaged.
⚫ Tourism constitutesabout 30% of states incomewhich was lost.
⚫ All the shops, hotelsand houses weredestroyed all were broken.

25. Statueof Lord Shiv Before the flood.
Roadsgot destroyed. Vehicles got f lown away in the
floods

26. ⚫ Thearmy, air force, navy, Indo –Tibetan border police(ITBP), bordersecurity
force, national disaster response force(NDRF), public works department and
local administrations worked together forquick rescueoperations.
⚫ Several soldiers weredeployed forthe rescue missions.
⚫ Activistsof political and social organizationsarealso involved in the
rescueand managementof relief centres.
⚫ Helicopters were used torescue people, butdue to the rough terrain,
heavy fog and rainfall, manoeuvring them was a toughchallenge.

27. ⚫ By 21 June 2013 ,the army had deployed 10,000 soldiers and 11 helicopters,
the naval had sent 45 naval divers, and the air force had deployed 43
aircrafts including 36 helicopters.
⚫ From 17 to 30 June 2013 ,the IAF airlifted a total of 18,424 people-flying a
total of sorties and dropping/landing a 3,36,930 kg of relief material and
equipment.
⚫ Prime minister of India undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas
and announced 1,000 crore (US$ 170 million) aid packages for disaster
relief efforts in the state. Several state governments announced financial
assistance.
⚫ Special trains wereemployed by the government all over the country to
cater the needsof flood victim.

29. ⚫Protecting theenvironmentcan only be theway to
reduce the risk of such disasters.
⚫Putting cap on number of tourist may be a solution,
which reduces theconstructionof hotels, expansion of
roads.
⚫Keeping a check on illegal constructionsand on
deforestations.

30. •Using latestequipments to predict the
probabilityof heavy rains.
•Alerting and transferring people tosafe zone at
proper time.
•Training to peopleon how to take basic safety
measures.

31. Thank You!
References:
• Images from Google Images.
• Video lecture available on: YouTube Channel >> “Trident Civil”