ladakh flash flood

CONTENTS
• Study area
• An Overview about Cloud Bursting
• History of Flash Flood in Ladakh
• Why Leh was prone to flood?
• Results of the 2010 Leh Flash Flood
• Aftermath Of the disaster-economic ,social & physical impacts
• Relief/Rescue efforts-local and international aids of disaster
• Ways to prevent and control Flash Flood-own interpretation
• References

Source: Social and economic characteristics of Ladakh, India,Katharine Sherratt ,Geology for Global Development
• Ladakh, a part of Jammu and Kashmir State in north
on India, consists of two districts – Leh and Kargil.
• Pakistan occupied Kashmir in the West
• China in the north Eastern part and
• Lahul Spiti of Himachal Pradesh in South East

Topography near the city of Leh, India. The
Indus River flows to the northwest and is just
south of the city of Leh.
The rivers of India and Pakistan. The Indus
River originates in China and flows through
India and Pakistan before reaching the
Arabian Sea to the southwest.
Source: Simulation of a Flash Flooding Storm at the Steep Edge of the Himalayas,ANIL KUMAR,NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland.
• 112inhabited villages
• 1un-inhabited village
• total population is 1.17 lacs.
• largest town in Jammu and Kashmir.
• 3500 meters above sea level

Source:Yojana,Vol 56,March 2012
INDIA ‘S MAJOR DISASTERS

Source:Yojana,Vol 56,March 2012
LADAKH’S MAJOR DISASTERS

Over the centuries the Indus has been the life line for
several civilizations. In Ladakh most of the villages
have come up on the north bank along the
tributaries that are fed by the glacial melt into the
Indus. It is now these very villages along the north
bank of the Indus belt in Ladakh that have been
affected.
Settlements around Indus
Threatened
• With rise in temperatures,
• glaciers receding,
• increase in rainfall and tributaries
changing course settlements
History of floods in Ladakh
Ladakh witnessed many Glacial Lake
Outbursts Floods (GlOFS) in recent history.
1907
Leh bazaar
was filled
with mud
19711930
Bursting of glacial
lake formed by
blocking
of Shayok River by
surging of Chong
Kumdan glacier
Nyemo village
- Save the
Children UK
1999 2006 2011
Cloud burst

Flash floods and cloudburst in 2010
• Increased temperature and hot summers in the plains lead to increased evaporation and subsequent cloud formation
in the hills.
• Increased duration of snowfall (May) in Ladakh.
• Winter prolonged.
• Bright sunshine in June and July lead to melting of snow and high relative humidity (72%) against 50% of previous
years.
• Snow absorbed latent heat also, monthly max and min temp remained low leading to dense low clouds in the
valley.
• Clouds further condensed trying to cross the glaciers and could not retain the water droplets and burst.

Source :Thayyen et al 2012
LOCATION OF THE CLOUD BURST

Source :Thayyen et al 2012
• Flash floods, short lived extreme events,
which usually occur under slowly moving or
stationary thunderstorms, lasting less than
24 hours
• High velocity of the current which can
wash away all obstacles in its way
• Glacial melting due to Global warming is
another major cause of flash floods.
• The major glaciers in the higher mountains
are receding at an alarming rate.
• Glaciers in Jammu and Kashmir are receding
at a faster rate compared to other glacial
regions in the world.

The thick blue band across the Himalayas shows snow cover
declining by at least 16 percent.
Source: water resources in the Himalayas(assessment and sustainability),R.D.Singh
The Himalayan glaciers, the source of water for
billions, are retreating faster than in any other part of
the world and are in danger of
disappearing by 2035.
Floods in Leh were due to the bursting of
recessional glacial lakes of Phuche glacier in
Leh valley. In the catchment of Phiyang
Tokpo, the terminal moraines of Phyang
glacier has breached resulting in GLOF.

Himalayan catchment

FLASH FLOOD IN LEH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR
• August 6, 2010, Leh in Ladakh
• 2 hours-rainfall of 14 inches.
• The Indus River and its tributaries and waterways were overflowing
• 234 killed
• 800 injured
• 1000 houses collapsed
• local residents (49.6%)
• foreigners (10.2%)
• 25–50 years -44.4% of deaths
• 11–25-year -22.2% deaths.
• 61.5% - males
• 38.5% - females
• Female age groups <10 years and ≥50 years.
Source:
Gupta, Preeti, Khanna, Anurag & Majumdar, S. Disaster Management in Flash Floods in Leh (Ladakh,Indian Journal of Community
Medicine (2012).

Source:
An Assessment of the impact of flash flood on 5th August 2010 in Leh District – Final Report
STOD REGION (UPPER LEH)
SHAM REGION (LOWER LEH).
LEGEND
VILLAGES AFFECTED:
• 40 villages (around 50 hamlets
altogether) spread in 28 Halqa
Panchayats
• 2 severely hit,
• 19 substantially and
• 19 partially affected.
• Some other villages, reported to
have been partly affected (e.g.,
Yangthang, Nyoma, Anley,
Kumdok, Shang, etc.)

LEH PHOTO , SHOWING THE AREA BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW BUS STAND , AND
MAIN STREET IN CHOGLAMSAR

• Old town Leh sits below the
ridge with the Leh Palace .
• North and east the terrain
forms a tilted bowl , the flood
( 48 millimeters of rain in one
minute ..) have come down
this way , before heading
down towards the Indus.
• The least affected part was the
Changspa area ,north of the
ridge with palace

Source: Leh Flash Floods 2010, February 2011 ,unified response strategy
Manetselding, August 6, 2010
View of bus stand area, August 6, 2010
Choglamsar, August 11, 2010
Driving through Choglamsar, August 11, 2010

Sectors of Economical Dependence
HUMAN LOSSES:
• 106 persons (from 63 HHs) have died.
• 48 persons (from 27 HHs) -Choglamsar
• 26 persons (from 16 HHs) -Leh.
• 92 persons (from 83 HHs) -injured
HOUSES:
• Houses damaged - 1458
• 499 houses fully damaged/ washed away,
• 353 substantially damaged and
• 606 partially damaged.
• estimated (average) cost of loss -Rs. 48 crores.
LIVESTOCK:
• 277 cattle heads (of
148 HHs)
• 578 sheep/ goat
heads (of 94 HHs
• estimated (average)
cost of loss - Rs. 39
Lacs
CROPS:
• Rs. 10 crores is estimated for standing
crops (barley, alfa alfa and vegetable)
TREES/ PLANTATION:
• Rs. 61 crores
• Around 2.41 lac timber trees (belonging
to 1795HHs),
• 24747 fruit trees (796 HHs) and
• 1.43 lac plants (Laktsugs)
OTHER:
261 greenhouses (of 254 HHs),
2 commercial greenhouses (of 2 HHs),
field wallings of 1659 HHs
food/ fodder reserves of 41 HHs
Estimated loss is around Rs. 2.13 crores
OTHER LOSSES:
At HHs level includes HH goods of 755 families
(Rs. 7.55 crores at an average)

Leh Flood was due to a moving squall line with trailing stratiform rain forming over
the Tibetan Plateau. It drew upon the warm moist air rising up the steep Himalayan
barrier as it moved over the steep edge of the Plateau and was exacerbated by prior
storms moistening the soil on the sides of the mountains surrounding Leh.
Conceptual model demonstrating key meteorological elements that led to the
anomalous flash flooding case in Leh.

Source: Simulation of a Flash Flooding Storm at the Steep Edge of the Himalayas, ANIL KUMAR,NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
HOW TO PREDICT CLOUD BURST
HYPOTHESIS
• Storm , which formed over the Tibetan
Plateau, was steered over the steep edge of
the plateau by 500-hPa winds
• Energized by the ingestion of lower-level
moist air, which was approaching from the
Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal and rose up
the Himalayan barrier.
• A coupled land surface and atmospheric
model simulation validates this hypothesized
storm scenario, with the model storm taking
the form of a traveling meso scale squall line
with a leading convective line, trailing
stratiform region, and midlevel inflow jet.
• In this region, the development of a meso
scale storm over high terrain is highly
unusual, especially one in the form of a
propagating squall line system.
• This unusual storm occurrence and behaviour
could serve as a warning sign in flash flood
prediction.
Model nested domains
27 KM
9 KM
3 KM
1 KM

SOIL MOISTURE
PRECIPITATION (MM) FROM 2 TO 5
AUG 2010.
2-3 in Ladakh
(low soil moisture)
40-140 in Ladakh

Source: Simulation of a Flash Flooding Storm at the Steep
Edge of the Himalayas, ANIL KUMAR,NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center, Greenbelt, and Earth System Science
Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland.
15-50mm
1-2
15-50mm
2-4
75-130mm
1-2
<0.1
<0.1

MODEL SIMULATED GEOPOTENTIAL HEIGHT (M) CONTOURS AND GEOSTROPHIC WIND VECTORS (M S21) AT 500 HPA
GEOPOTENTIAL HEIGHT CONTOURS AT 700 HPA AND TERRAIN-FOLLOWING SURFACE WINDS FOR 3–5 AUG 2010

Source :Investigating the Leh 'Cloudburst‘. Raghavendra Ashrit , National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting ,Ministry of
Earth Sciences

ACCUMULATED 3H RAINFALL ON 5TH AUG 2010 AS PER TRMM PRODUCT 3B41RT
Earth Sciences

ACCUMULATED 3H RAINFALL ON 5TH AUG 2010 IN THE OPERATIONAL WRF MODEL.
Earth Sciences

Horizontal map of maximum
reflectivity and horizontal wind
at the 850-mb level
Model simulated accumulated rainfall
(1500–2300 UTC) on 5 Aug 2010

vertical cross section along the red line of
reflectivity and air motion vectors in the plane
of the cross section
vertical cross section of hydrometeor
mixing ratios.
• The coupled atmosphere and land surface model
showed that the excessive runoff leading to the flood
and landslide were favoured by the occurrence of this
unusual meteorological event coinciding temporally and
spatially with favourable hydrologic conditions.
• Additionally, the model simulations showed that
previous rainstorms had moistened the soil during the
entire season and especially over the few days leading
up to the Leh flood, so the normally arid mountainsides
were likely not able to rapidly absorb the additional
rainfall of the sudden 5 August squall line.

Hydrological parameters from May to August 2010 and
(a) top soil layer (at 5-cm soil depth) soil
moisture (m3m23),
(b) hourly rain rate (mmh21),
(c) surface runoff (mmh21)

RESCUE:
• The Army,
• ITBP,
• Ladakh Scouts,
• GREF,
• Air Force,
• volunteers from various social organizations (including a large number mobilized by LBA and
‘Anjumans’) and
• tourists (mainly foreigners) quickly responded.
• The village leadership and local Administration arranged for care of displaced people through
establishing camps providing shelter and food.
• LAHDC and District Administration undertook a rapid assessment of the extent of damage and
initiated payment of relief and compensation to affected families.
Source:Yojana,Vol 56,March 2012, An Assessment of the impact of flash flood on 5th August 2010 in Leh District – Final Report

TRADITIONAL VALUES THAT HELPED LADAKH TO REBUILD THEIR LIVES
• Ladakhis, known for their hospitality
worldwide, succeeded in recovering
from the devastating natural calamity.
• With the help of the Army and ITBP
which were at the forefront of the
rescue work, civilians pitched in for
rescue and relief works.
• The floods were unable to destroy the
social fabric of the region
• Floods not only washed away the
agricultural land but covered it with
infertile mud.
• The government provided three to four
bulldozers to each village
• Today, Ladakhi housewives, still
working in the agricultural fields, grow
the local crops
Source:Yojana,Vol 56,March 2012, An Assessment of the impact of flash flood on 5th August 2010 in Leh District – Final Report
Societal resilience

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:
Jammu & Kashmir has a reasonably well-detailed disaster management plan that deals broadly
with the variety of earthquakes, droughts, and fires in the state (DRRR 2011).
National and state responses to the cloudburst involved search-and-rescue and shelter provision
by the Indian forces, as well as air-lifting in food and water supplies, of critical importance with
high import
More specifically, Leh’s recently formalised (post-2010 cloudburst) disaster management plan
lays out the range of available facilities, infrastructure and communications for dealing with
emergency hazards (LAHDC-Leh DCO 2011).
Source: Social and economic characteristics of Ladakh, India,Katharine Sherratt ,Geology for Global Development

• Addressing the urgent shelter needs
before the onset of winter, pre-
fabricated units were provided to
nearly all the affected families by the
Leh district administration.
• 450 units supplied by Hindustan Prefab
Limited (supported by a number of
public sector undertakings) and close to
100 additional units supplied by the
National Bamboo Mission.
• Shelters were unsuitable for the local
needs and climatic conditions and had
low occupancy levels.
• The occupancy levels were much lower
in the case of the bamboo units.
• Each unit supplied by Hindustan Prefab
Ltd costs close to Rs. 4,00,000, these
units have also meant an increased
dependence on heating appliances and
fuel and a lost opportunity to build
local economic and social capital
FAILURE:

GENDER ISSUES:
• . A number of families (3-4) are living within the same tent and women’s privacy was a major
concern.
• The assessment reports that women members, living in tents, have expressed the need for
extra shelter support so that families can begin to live in a dignified manner.
• Lack of water for newly constructed toilets whereas dry pit latrines were the local usage.
Source: LADAKH FLOOD RESPONSE PLAN,AUGUST 2010,Leh Town and Adjoining villages,OXFAM

Profile of Agency Respondents to
Questionnaires (No.of Respondents)
Six affected villages were chosen for the
consultations . The choice of villages was
based on a random sample
Choglamsar Solar Colony is a new settlement
where 170 affected families were allotted
land.
RESULTS FROM CONSULTATION

RECONSTRUCTION PROCESS SUGGESTED:
• Construction of permanent shelters in the spring and summer of 2011 should
be carried out after due consultation with the communities and take into
account their preferences and the distinct climatic conditions of the region
Shelter
• restoration of irrigation channels and reclamation of agricultural land
covered in silt and boulders, needs to be undertaken on an urgent basisRestoration of
Livelihoods
Provision of sanitation
facilities in
reconstructed shelters
• among communities and all other actors in LehDisaster Risk Reduction
and Mitigation measures
over the medium to long
term

OPINIONS OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND AGENCIES ON RESPONSE
Improved significantly, with the
support of the district administration
and NGOs and civil society groups.
• Areas in and around Leh which were easily
accessible received a disproportionately large
amount of aid .
Disparity in
distribution of
aid
• lack of adequate sanitation facilities and
separate bathing facilities for women, poor
conditions of hygiene and a shortage of tents
due to which two or three families had to
share the same tent.
Initial
conditions in
some relief
camps
• lack of uniformity in the quality of materials
distributed by agencies on occasion was
pointed out by the community members.
Excessive
amounts of
non-food items
(NFIs)
particularly
blankets
• cases of culturally inappropriate foodstuffs
and material being distributed both in the
relief camps as well as in the affected areas.
Inappropriate
relief materials
• Agencies responding to the questionnaire
identified the sectors of livelihoods,
shelter and psycho-social support as those
in which the response was poor or lacking
Poor response
in the areas of
livelihoods,
shelter and
psycho-social
support
Limited access on account of
damage to roads and infrastructure
also led to delays in relief reaching
some of the more remote locations.
organizations across India (and
internationally), resulted in a number
of civil society organizations and
individuals who were not entirely
familiar with local conditions and
needs

Regular monitoring
of needs and
situation in camps
during future
emergencies
Protection and
Trafficking
• The Sphere Minimum Standards
and the National Guidelines
being developed by the National
Disaster Management Authority
(NDMA) could be useful tools
for this purpose
• Evolving checklists with key
issues and concerns relating to
the different thematic areas in
consultation with agencies
• children who were separated
from their families and sent to
Jammu received widespread
coverage in the national media
• that this incident remained
unknown to agencies until it
was highlighted by the district
administration and the media is
a cause for concern
These checklists could also be
adapted to include specific
local conditions, preferences
and considerations wherever
necessary.
Point towards the need for
increased awareness on the
issues of protection and rights
violations in disasters, and the
need for a review by agencies
of the ways and methods
employed in monitoring
situations in future
emergencies
LESSON LEARNT

OPINIONS OF AGENCIES OF TASKS CARRIED OUT BY NGO FACILITATION CENTRE, LEH

ROLE OF VARIOUS ORGANISATION

REBUILD LADAKH

TRADITIONAL BUILDINGS
• SEEDS took a holistic approach to shelter rehabilitation, bringing together an understanding of
safety, comfort, environmental sustainability and local socio-cultural factors.
• Past disasters show that shelter rehabilitation schemes which haven’t addressed these factors
have been left unoccupied, or have disrupted social interactions and activity patterns and
harmed communities.
A traditional Ladakhi house

Bus stand area, August 7, 2010 Volunteers at the new hospital, August 8, 2010
Relief aid, August 11, 2010

ladakh flash flood

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ladakh flash flood