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NEWS ALERTS | Scale of 2013 Uttarakhand disaster could have been lessened, says CAG report
Scale of 2013 Uttarakhand disaster could have been lessened, says CAG report

Scale of 2013 Uttarakhand disaster could have been lessened, says CAG report

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published Published on Nov 20, 2015   modified Modified on Feb 8, 2021
As Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh fight the fury of flood caused by annual northeast monsoon, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the natural disaster in Uttarakhand, which took place in June 2013, has been made available in the public domain recently. The CAG report discloses how various development activities in the state flouted guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Expert Committee on glaciers and various other agencies. 

The state of Uttarakhand did not follow the directions given by the MoEF regarding safe disposal of muck generated from excavation during the course of construction activities, points out the report.

Unsafe and unscientific disposal of debris originating from excavations and other developmental activities increased the risks of landslides. Excavated debris, disposed of along the hill slopes, often slid down the slopes, thus, overrunning the agricultural fields and water resources, apart from causing significant loss of vegetation cover on vulnerable hill slopes. When such debris reached river bed and reservoirs, it caused the problem of aggradations and reduced reservoir capacity.

The CAG report finds that regulations for slope stabilisation, disposal of debris and river side aggradation were not in place to take care of the environmental issues as envisaged in the MoEF guidelines.

No control was exercised over riverside constructions. Town-planning and building by-laws were not enforced properly. As a consequence, riverside constructions sustained most damage during the floods of June 2013, finds the CAG report.

There was no policy in place to regulate the use of explosives for infrastructure development works in the fragile Himalayan terrain. The state government of Uttarakhand paid little or no attention to the recommendations made by the Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC), which asked for banning the use of explosives for infrastructure development in the fragile Himalayan terrain since such explosions led to instability in the surrounding rock strata, says the CAG report.

The CAG report also throws light on the unpreparedness of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) that aggravated the implications of the disaster, namely cloudburst followed by flash floods and landslides, which impacted Uttarakhand during the 3rd week of June, 2013.  

The CAG report states that the SDMA did not initiate the remedial measures as suggested by the Expert Committee on Glaciers and the DMMC prior to the June 2013 disaster taking into consideration the climatic changes and incidents of landslides that were occurring time and again in the state.

The state government of Uttarakhand had no State Disaster Management policy and guidelines prior to June 2013 disaster for the purpose of measures required for preventing and mitigating disaster and for providing relief to disaster affected persons. The SDMA was virtually non-functional since its inception and it had no State Disaster Management Plan before the disaster struck in June 2013. The Standard Operating Procedures were entirely absent, says the CAG report.

Despite the occurrence of two major landslides in Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts due to unprecedented rainfall in 2012, the state government failed to take into account the underlying risk factors and undertake any corrective measures at any stage subsequently.

The CAG report mentions that river bed clearance and construction of embankments were undertaken during September-November 2013, although those works were promised to be finished much earlier following the disasters of 2010 and 2012.

Following the June 2013 disaster, it has been found by the CAG report that Emergency Operation Centres both at the state and district levels were running without adequate manpower, equipment and essential communication networks. Following the floods, the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) could not activate the command system to conduct search, rescue and carry out relief operations.

The State machinery and the district administration could not respond effectively due to poor weather and lack of preparedness after the disaster. The helipads were unavailable for smooth operation of air evacuation. Necessary search and rescue equipments like emergency lights, inflatable lights, solar lights, gas cutters, wood cutters etc. were unavailable in the District Emergency Operation Centres of the affected districts i.e. Bageshwar, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi.

The rescue operation was hampered by non-availability of sound communication network. Coordination among various line departments was lacking. There was dearth of uniformity in authentication of losses and disbursement of relief. In the absence of grievance redressal mechanism, most complaints pertaining to financial relief could not be attended to.

The state government was unable to restore essential services like electricity, water and road connectivity on a permanent basis in the affected areas within prescribed time limits. Assessment of damages to infrastructure caused by floods was not undertaken properly, says the CAG report.

The report has noted that non-identification of safe relief campsites put the lives of the affected people at risk. The state government did not have any mechanism in place to register the Char-Dham pilgrims who were trapped in the floods.

It is worth noting that the performance audit was carried out by the CAG of India from September, 2014 to February, 2015 so as to assess the Government's efforts in conducting rescue and relief operations, providing relief, restoring damaged infrastructure and rehabilitating affected people. It was tabled at the State Legislature Assembly of Uttarakhand on 3 November, 2015. The CAG report has found that 4,209 human lives were lost and 19,309 houses were destroyed in the Uttarakhand flash floods and landslides during June, 2013. The disaster also killed 17,838 livestocks in the state.

References:

Report No. - 2 of 2015 Government of Uttarakhand - Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Performance Audit of Natural Disaster in Uttarakhand June 2013, please click here to access
 
CAG pulls up Uttarakhand govt. over deluge, The Hindu, 7 November, 2015, please click here to access

CAG report slams Uttarakhand govt -Nikita Mehta, Livemint.com, 6 November, 2015, please click here to access

Uttarakhand government's slow response aggravated Kedar disaster, says CAG report -Gaurav Talwar, The Times of India, 4 November, 2015, please click here to access
 
When expedience trumps expertise-Ramachandra Guha, The Hindu, 11 July, 2013, please click here to access

Dams and disasters in the Himalayas -Anirudh Burman, Live Mint, 9 July, 2013, please click here to access

Blame game continues over Uttarakhand forecast -Kavita Upadhyay, The Hindu, 30 June, 2013, please click here to access

Watershed moment -Himanshu Upadhyaya, Timescrest.com, 29 June, 2013, please click here to access

CAG had warned last year about Uttarakhand crisis in making-Himanshu Upadhyaya, Governance Now, 27 June, 2013, please click here to access

Uttarakhand disaster plan doesn't exist, CAG warned in April -Subodh Varma, The Times of India, 21 June, 2013, please click here to access  

CAG had warned three years ago about damage to hills -Pradeep Thakur, The Times of India, 20 June, 2013, please click here to access

Report no.-5 of 2013-Union Government (Ministry of Home Affairs) - Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on performance Audit of Disaster Preparedness in India, please click here to access
     
Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons, please click here to access


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