Probable Role of Anthropogenic Activities in 2013 Flood Disaster in Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Uttarakhand is a somewhat new Himalayan state of Northern India established in the year 2000. It is inherently vulnerable to various natural and human-induced disasters. During June 16-17, 2013, a devastating flood followed by large-scale landslides occurred in this state, which is termed as the country's worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami. The maximum damage was in the Kedarnath Valley, which is one of the four abodes/seats of Hindu pilgrimage circuit (Chota Char Dham)—Yamunotri-Gangotri-Kedarnath-Badrinath—in the Indian Himalayas. Every year, millions of people from various parts of the country/world visit this spiritual shrine. All these spiritual shrines are up in the Himalayas located at an elevation of more than 3,000 m above the mean sea level and have tough terrain with a single land route. A multiday cloudburst followed by heavy rainfall events, landslides, glacier movements, and breaching of a glacial lake aggravated the impact of this disaster in the region. The present study briefly describes this disaster and tries to identify the possible causes of such a huge loss of human life and property and its occurrence. It is felt that increase in anthropogenic activities such as construction of hydropower projects, ever-increasing tourism, urbanization, and increased emission of green house gases (GHGs) during the last few years have directly and indirectly contributed to the occurrence of this disaster. These anthropogenic activities have resulted in frequent and extreme magnitude of rainfall, cloud bursting, rapid melting of snow and ice, sudden release of water stored in glaciers, landslides, and failure of water storage structures such as dams and levees.