An analysis of the daily district wise rainfall data from India Meteorological Department (IMD) for the month of Aug 2024, shows that there were 717 (500 in Aug 2023; 667 in Aug 2022[i] and 431 in Aug 2021) instances when district rainfall of a day in a district was above 50 mm. Such high rainfall instances included 572 (424/ 553/ 371 in Aug 2023, Aug 2022 and Aug 2021 respectively) instances when rainfall was 50-100 mm; 113 (67/ 98/ 48 in Aug 2023, Aug 2022 and Aug 2021 respectively) instances when it was 100-150 mm; 19 (5/ 13/ 11 in Aug 2023, Aug 2022 and Aug 2021 respectively) times it was 150-200 mm; and 13 (4/ 3/ 1 in Aug 2023, Aug 2022 and Aug 2021 respectively) instance when a district day rainfall was above 200 mm.
Continue reading “High Rainfall days in India’s districts in Aug 2024 highest in last 4 years”Tag: August 2024
August 2024 Tripura Floods: Questions over Disaster Management
Tripura is facing one of its worst floods, possibly worst since 1983, affecting all districts, at least since 19th August. South Tripura, Gomati and Unakoti are worst affected districts. According to latest estimates, at least 24 people have lost life with two more missing, 65400 people are in 450 relief camps, landslips at 2032 locations, 1.25 lakh ha crops submerged among other extensive damage. Total of around 1.7 million people or about 40% of state pulation are affected. 3 columns of army, 11 NDRF & 26 SDRF teams, 4 MI 17 helicopters and other emergency service teams are involved in rescue and relief works. The actual rainfall that started on Aug 19 gave enough warning for the state to prepare for the approaching disaster, but once again disaster management has failed to respond using this warning.
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Tungabhadra Dam: A Crest Gate washed away in August 2024
In a major dam related disaster at around 10.50 pm on Aug 10, 2024[i], one of the crest gates at the Tungabhadra dam has broken[ii] near Hospete in Vijayanagara district in Karnataka, causing the release of 70,000 to 100,000 cusecs of stored water. The chain on the 19th (of total 33 gates) gate of Tungabhadra dam on Tungabhadra river, part of Krishna River Basin, got cut, snapped and was washed away about 100 m from the dam on Saturday. The chain that was used to operate the gate snapped as the welding gave way. The Tungabhadra gates only have chain and not chain and rope as in some other dams. The force of the water in the dam swept the 60-foot-by-20-foot gate, weighing around 20 tonnes, some 500 ft away, J Purushottham, president of the Tungabhadra Farmers’Association, said. This possibly happened due to heavy flows, but also due to wear and tear of over 70 years of operation of the dam. A temporary stop log gate is now being planned, as permanent crest gate will take time.
The disaster raises a number of questions about the operation and maintenance of the dam.
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SANDRP 