Excessive rain over Uttarakhand caused a flash flood in Uttarkashi district on August 5, where intensive rescue efforts are ongoing. The deluge has left at least two people dead and hundreds of others stranded in the fragile Himalayan state.
A massive rescue team comprising 459 people from the Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, national and state disaster relief forces, and medical staff are involved with rescue efforts, a release from the Uttarakhand Chief Minister’s office says. As of August 7, 230 people have been rescued, but 400 remain stranded in Gangotri town.
“Instructions have been given to officials to remain on alert mode, to relocate people living near rivers and streams to other places, and to maintain adequate stocks of food grains, essential medicines,” Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami posted on the social media platform X.
A total of 12.7 cm of rain was recorded across six weather stations in Uttarkashi district in the 24 hours leading up to the deluge, with the highest value of 4.3 cm recorded in the Sankri weather station, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Isolated pockets of very heavy rainfall are expected over Uttarakhand till August 12.
Footage of the flood shows a cascade of water rolling down the swollen Kheerganga river, sweeping away homes, cars, and other structures in Dharali town, which was worst affected.
Whether a cloud burst – a phenomenon where moisture laden clouds release torrents of rain in a short period of time – caused the flood, is uncertain. Even though the Uttarakhand government refers to the incident as a cloud burst, the IMD has maintained that the region saw only heavy rainfall – and not a cloud burst – when the flood struck. The IMD’s criteria for a cloud burst is 10 cm of rain per hour over a short area, spanning 20 to 30 square kilometres.
“From the way the water came gushing down, it suggests it had accumulated somewhere upstream. Water has to stagnate at some place and release abruptly for this kind of incident. The water may have been dammed due to a landslide somewhere or some other reason, but more information is needed,” Piyoosh Rautela, former Executive Director of Uttarakhand’s Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre, told Mongabay India.
The Himalayan state is growing increasingly prone to damaging flash flood events, which experts say are exacerbated by several climate impacts, including glacial melt and changing precipitation patterns. “It’s the state’s responsibility to tell people not to settle along the banks of these rivers, because they’re dangerous. But the state doesn’t have a strong policy to prevent this,” said Rautela.
Banner image: Indo Tibetan Border Police soldiers clear the debris and look for the survivors after a flash flood that swept away many houses and buildings in Dharali, Uttarakhand. Image by Indo Tibetan Border Police via AP.
