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Uttarakhand government's slow response aggravated Kedar disaster, says CAG report -Gaurav Talwar
-The Times of India

DEHRADUN: A performance audit report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the 2013 Kedarnath flash floods, which was tabled in the Uttarakhand assembly session at Gairsain on Tuesday, squarely blames the state government of the time for being unprepared and failing to learn from previous natural disasters. The report raps the state government for its slow response which it says actually aggravated the disaster that caused widespread destruction in five hill districts of the state and led to thousands of people being killed, and property worth hundreds of crores destroyed.

Pointing out that the state government had displayed a similar 'tepid response' in two natural disasters before the 2013 deluge, the CAG report says that Uttarakhand had witnessed two major landslides in Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts in 2012 which had resulted in the loss of 92 lives. "Even at that time, the government had failed to take cognizance of the underlying risk factors and undertake corrective measures," says the report. It goes on to add that in the initial days of the 2013 disaster, "the government machinery remained virtually clueless about the state of affairs in the affected areas and its response thereafter was grossly inadequate given the scale of destruction brought about by the disaster."

The report also raps district officials for failing to take action despite warnings issued by the Met department about the possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall over the higher reaches of Kedarnath, Badrinath and surrounding areas. It points out that because the government had not put in place a database of pilgrims who visited the char dham during the time, a comprehensive list of people who were affected by the tragedy could not be prepared. In yet another damning revelation, the report says, "The state government failed to frame a policy to regulate and codify the use of explosives for infrastructural developmental works despite the Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre (DMMC), which is the state's own agency, recommending to the government to ban use of explosives in the fragile Himalayan terrain after the 2012 Ukhimath landslide."

Alleging that the State Disaster Management Authority, which is the highest decision making body in the state in terms of disaster management, was virtually non-functional since its inception, the report says that if the constructions in the proximity of streams and rivers were regulated and the recommendations of DMMC, emphasising the need for banning construction especially in the proximity of rivers and streams in line with the provisions of the Uttarakhand Flood Plain Zoning Act, 2012, had been adopted by the government, the impact of the disaster would have been far less.": A performance audit report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the 2013 Kedarnath flash floods, which was tabled in the Uttarakhand assembly session at Gairsain on Tuesday, squarely blames the state government of the time for being unprepared and failing to learn from previous natural disasters. The report raps the state government for its slow response which it says actually aggravated the disaster that caused widespread destruction in five hill districts of the state and led to thousands of people being killed, and property worth hundreds of crores destroyed.

Pointing out that the state government had displayed a similar 'tepid response' in two natural disasters before the 2013 deluge, the CAG report says that Uttarakhand had witnessed two major landslides in Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts in 2012 which had resulted in the loss of 92 lives. "Even at that time, the government had failed to take cognizance of the underlying risk factors and undertake corrective measures," says the report. It goes on to add that in the initial days of the 2013 disaster, "the government machinery remained virtually clueless about the state of affairs in the affected areas and its response thereafter was grossly inadequate given the scale of destruction brought about by the disaster."

The report also raps district officials for failing to take action despite warnings issued by the Met department about the possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall over the higher reaches of Kedarnath, Badrinath and surrounding areas. It points out that because the government had not put in place a database of pilgrims who visited the char dham during the time, a comprehensive list of people who were affected by the tragedy could not be prepared. In yet another damning revelation, the report says, "The state government failed to frame a policy to regulate and codify the use of explosives for infrastructural developmental works despite the Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre (DMMC), which is the state's own agency, recommending to the government to ban use of explosives in the fragile Himalayan terrain after the 2012 Ukimath landslide."

Alleging that the State Disaster Management Authority, which is the highest decision making body in the state in terms of disaster management, was virtually non-functional since its inception, the report says that if the constructions in the proximity of streams and rivers were regulated and the recommendations of DMMC, emphasising the need for banning construction especially in the proximity of rivers and streams in line with the provisions of the Uttarakhand Flood Plain Zoning Act, 2012, had been adopted by the government, the impact of the disaster would have been far less."