Task Force Report - Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Table 2.13. Some Major Earthquake Events of the IHR Year State Epicentre Magnitude Impact (Richter Scale) 1869 Assam 25 0 N, 93 0 E 7.5 1885 Assam 34.1 0 N, 74.6 0 E 7.0 1897 Assam 26 0 N, 91 0 E 8.7 Caused destruction in 3,70,000 sq. km area and was responsible for 1542 deaths. 1905 Himachal Pradesh 32.3 0 N, 76.3 0 E 8.0 1943 Assam 26.8 0 N, 94 0 E 7.2 1950 Arunachal Pradesh 28.5 0 N, 96.7 0 E 8.5 Responsible for destruction in 46,000 sq. km. area. Raised the bed of the Brahmaputra river. 1967 Jammu & Kashmir - 5.3-5.7 About 786 houses collapsed and 25,000 partially damaged. 1975 Himachal Pradesh 32.38 0 N, 78.49 0 E 6.2 1986 Himachal Pradesh 32.1 0 N, 76.3 0 E 5.7 Responsible for six deaths. 1988 Manipur 25.13 0 N, 76.3 0 E 6.6 1991 Uttarakhand 30.75 0 N, 78.86 0 E 6.6 About 1000 people died, more than 30000 houses destroyed 1999 Uttarakhand 30.41 0 N, 79.42 0 E 6.8 Responsible for 100 deaths and collapse of 170 houses. Source : Central Statistical Organization & IMD 2.5.2. Avalanches & GLOFs Avalanches, the fast flow of snow or ice descending from and on mountain slopes, with detritus carry huge potential and kinetic energy, altering land forms, wiping out forests and damaging settlements and infrastructure. The Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has estimated that some 30 people are killed every year due to avalanches in the IHR. The losses caused by some major avalanche disasters in IHR are given in Table 2.14. Global climate change may result in rapid melting of big glaciers, often forming huge lakes. Due to the fast rate of melting, accumulation of water in these lakes may increase rapidly and may lead to a sudden rupture, discharging large volumes of water downslope, along with debris. This phenomenon is known as GLOF (Glacial Lake Outburst Flood) The resulting flood may be catastrophic in the downstream areas with loss of life and property, destruction of forests, agricultural land, and costly infrastructure of the mountains. In 2004, in a similar incident, the outlet of Pereechu lake in the Tibet region (35 km from India’s border with China) had been blocked due to a landslide. In the last week of June 2005, the water pressure broke through the debris resulting in a very heavy discharge in the Sutlej River. Considerable damage to property and infrastructure was caused in the lower regions of the state of Himachal Pradesh. In the north-western part of the IHR out of 156 Glacial lakes of Himachal Pradesh 16 have been identified 29 as potentially dangerous while in the State of Uttarakhand there are 127 glacial lakes and 29 Ives J.D., Shresstha R.B., and Mool P.K., 2010. Formation of Glacial lakes in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas and GLOF Risk Assessment. ICIMOD, Nepal. 38 Report of the Task Force
Table 2.14. Major Avalanches Reported from the IHR Year Area Loss 1979 Lahual & Spiti (HP) 237 people killed 1982 Ladakh (J&K) 100 people killed 1982 Ladakh (J&K) 27 people killed 1988 Jammu & Kashmir 70 people killed 1991 Himachal Pradesh Road block for 40 days 1995 Himachal Pradesh Flood caused by melting of snow brought by avalanche none of them is dangerous. In north-eastern region, Sikkim has 266 glacial lakes and 14 have been rated as potentially unstable. Some measures have been put in place in the Sutlej River basin 30 for monitoring, forecasting, and early warning to deal with flash floods, especially from cloudburst. As GLOFs are one of the causative factors in propagating flash floods downstream, these measures also act as an early warning system for a GLOF event. 2.5.3. Mass Movement/ Landslides Landslides and land slips are common in the IHR especially during monsoons. These are induced by fragile geological conditions, faulty construction activities, and resultant blocking of natural drainage. Apart from loss of human lives, damage to infrastructure due to landslides is a serious recurring threat in the region. Table 2.15 shows some of the prominent landslide events that have occurred in IHR in the recent past. 2.5.4. Cloudburst Cloud burst is another common natural hazard in the Himalayan region during the rainy season leading to devastating flash floods, triggering of landslides causing enormous loss of life and property and environmental degradation. Some of the cloudburst events that have occurred in the IHR are shown in Table 2.16. Heavy Rains/Floods/Landslides in the IHR region bring enormous toll due to damage to houses, property, and crop land (Fig 2.7). The vulnerability of fragile landscape can be understood with the fact that in the year of extreme events (e.g., year 2003) this damage may account upto 73% of the total houses damaged and 89% of the total damage to crop area due to these reasons in the country. While little can be done to prevent the natural causes of such disasters, regulations and zoning can identify fragile and sensitive areas, prevent man induced disasters, and protect life and property to some extent. Legislations for enforcing building codes, ban on major activities and projects in fragile zones, and geologically sustainable surface connectivity projects are some of the essential measures that IHR states can ill afford to neglect. Simultaneously, planning and practicing for rapid response including evacuation, setting up of monitoring and early warning systems and technologies, with full people’s participation, are other immediate measures. The bottom line is that the IHR is fragile and unstable; yet the treasure it contains in terms of water can only be protected if the country, the IHR states and its people first recognize the problems and gear up themselves for preventing the loss as much of it is humanly possible. 30 By Central Water Commission at the confluence of (i) the Parechu and Spiti rivers, and (ii) the Spiti and Sutlej rivers. Report of the Task Force 39
Page 1 and 2: Report of the Task Force To look in
Page 3 and 4: Report of the Task Force To look in
Page 5 and 6: Contents LIST OF FIGURES 5 LIST OF
Page 7 and 8: List of Figures No Title Page 1.1.
Page 9 and 10: 3.9. Livestock Population in the IH
Page 11 and 12: From the Desk of the Task Force Cha
Page 13 and 14: that presently occupy 65.5% of the
Page 15 and 16: espective States to design these in
Page 17 and 18: CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. PREAMBL
Page 19 and 20: During winter, the Himalayan ranges
Page 21 and 22: overlooked by more than 13 peaks su
Page 23 and 24: 1.1.3. Developmental Approaches for
Page 25 and 26: CHAPTER 2 GEORESOURCES 2.1. LAND 2.
Page 27 and 28: Fig.2.1. Landuse Classification bas
Page 29 and 30: The land resources of the Himalayan
Page 31 and 32: Brahmputra must continue to remain
Page 33 and 34: Because of reasons not all understo
Page 35 and 36: country (1,48,000 MW at 60% load fa
Page 37 and 38: Table 2.9. Occurrence of Various Mi
Page 39: Fig. 2.6. Schematic Plan for Disast
Page 43 and 44: Fig. 2.7. Damaged due to Heavy Rain
Page 45 and 46: Fig. 3.1. Schematic Plan for Agro-h
Page 47 and 48: Fig. 3.2. Distribution of Operation
Page 49 and 50: Table 3.5. Variations in the Estima
Page 51 and 52: 3.2 HORTICULTURE Outstanding hortic
Page 53 and 54: (iii) Nuts in the cold arid regions
Page 55 and 56: a corresponding decline in hay and
Page 57 and 58: lies in its rivers & canals (25.4%
Page 59 and 60: and agarbatti (incense sticks) are
Page 61 and 62: While the rest of the country is wi
Page 63 and 64: Table 3.19. Protected Areas in Diff
Page 65 and 66: are being produced from items of bi
Page 67 and 68: 4.1. Human Resource 4.1.1. Demograp
Page 69 and 70: Table 4.2. Tribes and their Populat
Page 71 and 72: Table 4.4. Educational Institutions
Page 73 and 74: 4.3. DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS 4.3.1.
Page 75 and 76: Table 4.8. Human Poverty Index for
Page 77 and 78: Fig. 5.1. Cooking Energy (Primary S
Page 79 and 80: Among other sources of energy produ
Page 81 and 82: Table 5.3. State-wise Distribution
Page 83 and 84: places by porters but in case of in
Page 85 and 86: Table 5.6. Number of Towns in the I
Page 87 and 88: Climate change will mostly affect t
Page 89 and 90: odies. The Panchayat Raj Ministry i
Page 91 and 92:
should not be allowed. Areas where
Page 93 and 94:
first charge on electricity generat
Page 95 and 96:
Annexure Report of the Task Force 9
Page 97 and 98:
List of Abbreviations ACRP amsl APD
Page 99 and 100:
Annexure - I Report of the Task For
Page 101 and 102:
Report of the Task Force 99
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
• All compact regions with geogra
Page 111 and 112:
Plan on climate change has been rec
Page 113 and 114:
Universities in IHR North-Eastern H
Page 115:
Organic manure in traditional agric
show all

Task Force Report - Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?