Dharali village was battered by the sudden surge after a cloudburst occurred round 1:45 PM within the catchment space of the Kheer Ganga river. Authorities mentioned 20–25 accommodations and homestays could have been washed away.
However this isn't a one-off occasion. The Himalayan state has seen an alarming frequency of landslides, floods, cloudbursts, forest fires and even earthquakes in latest a long time. Consultants say the catastrophe in Uttarkashi is simply the newest warning signal of a fragile area pushed to the brink—by its geological setting, local weather change, and unsustainable growth.
Uttarakhand's geography is a key motive why it's so disaster-prone. The state lies on the southern slopes of the younger Himalayan mountain vary, fashioned only a few million years in the past via ongoing tectonic exercise. This makes the area seismically lively and geologically unstable.
A 2016 report tabled in Parliament discovered that Uttarakhand had the best variety of unstable zones amongst Himalayan states. Tectonic thrusts, fault strains and plate collisions steadily set off landslides and earthquakes. The 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake (6.8 magnitude), 1999 Chamoli earthquake (6.8 magnitude), and the 2013 Kedarnath flash floods are simply a few of the many main disasters which have devastated the state in latest reminiscence.
Local weather change is accelerating the danger
At the same time as pure instability is constructed into the Himalayan terrain, scientists warn that local weather change is worsening the dangers. Uttarakhand is witnessing faster-than-average melting of glaciers, altering river flows and resulting in elevated possibilities of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), flash floods and landslides.In line with knowledge from the Indian House Analysis Organisation (ISRO), Uttarakhand recorded 12,319 landslides between 1988 and 2023, however greater than 1,100 of these occurred in 2023 alone—an alarming acceleration.World warming has additionally made cloudbursts extra frequent and intense, rising the chance of sudden, lethal deluges just like the one which struck Uttarkashi. Scientists warn that as glaciers proceed to shrink, the short-term improve in water quantity will ultimately give option to shortage, triggering long-term water and ecological crises.
Tourism and unchecked growth on fragile slopes
Whereas nature has its position, human exercise is dramatically amplifying the harm. Tourism, which is central to Uttarakhand's financial system, has fuelled rampant, usually unregulated development throughout the state.
To accommodate rising numbers of pilgrims and vacationers—greater than 56 lakh folks visited Char Dham in 2023 alone—accommodations, lodges, roads and retailers are being constructed into unstable slopes and flood-prone riverbanks. Widening of roads beneath the Char Dham venture has additional destabilised the fragile terrain, resulting in frequent landslides alongside these routes.
Hill-cutting, deforestation, poor drainage programs, and riverbed encroachments have all contributed to the collapse of pure buffers that after protected the area from such frequent calamities.
An extended historical past of tragedy
The state's vulnerability shouldn't be theoretical—it has performed out in real-time disasters which have taken hundreds of lives through the years:
- 1991 Uttarkashi Earthquake: Killed at the very least 768 folks
- 1998 Malpa Landslide: Worn out a whole village, killing 255 folks
- 2013 Kedarnath Floods: Over 5,700 presumed lifeless, greater than 3 lakh stranded
- 2021 Chamoli Floods: Over 200 folks killed or lacking
- 2022 Avalanche at Draupadi Ka Danda: 27 mountaineers killed
Along with these, recurring forest fires in 2016 and 2020 burned hundreds of hectares of forest land, inflicting environmental degradation and affecting wildlife and native livelihoods.
This 12 months's monsoon has already triggered widespread landslides and flooding. Since June 23, 2024, the state has reported over 1,521 landslides in simply 17 days, in response to the State Landslide Discount and Administration Centre.
The Badrinath Nationwide Freeway, a key Char Dham route, has seen a number of roadblocks, and 132 important landslide zones have been recognized together with 35 new ones, placing hundreds of pilgrims and residents in danger day by day.
The Uttarakhand State Catastrophe Administration Authority (USDMA) and the Nationwide Catastrophe Administration Authority (NDMA) have issued advisories, selling using Landslide Hazard Zonation (LHZ) maps, and itemizing precautions like planting bushes, preserving drainage clear, and avoiding susceptible development.
