J&K & Ladakh Cloud Bursts 2022: Missing Monitoring & Mitigation

December 12, 2022December 12, 2022 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature Image: Cloudburst triggers flashfloods; 13 structures washed away, 20 damaged in Doda. Photo PTI/The Telegraph, 20.07.2022)

Tracking cloud burst incidents occurring before and during South West Monsoon season 2022 in North West Himalayan region, this report covers the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh. Kindly see the links for SANDRP’s reports covering the Uttarakhand (31 cloud burst incidents) and Himachal Pradesh (39 cloud burst incidents) in 2022. Our previous reports for J&K and Ladakh region can be seen here 2021, 2020, 2019.

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Hydro Disaster

Landslide Disaster at Ratle Hydro Project in Jammu & Kashmir in Oct 2022

November 7, 2022November 7, 2022 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image:Kishtwar: Rescue operation underway after a landslide at Ratle Power Project site in Kishtwar district, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. At least one person was killed and five are feared trapped, according to officials. Photo: PTI/ TIE)

The landslide incident at Ratle HEP in Chenab basin in Jammu & Kashmir in Oct 2022 has again revealed how hydro projects in geologically vulnerable areas have been increasing disaster potential of the already disaster vulnerable areas, killing and injuring the workers and people. The exact reason for the mishap at project site are still unknown. As usual neither NHPC nor JKSPDC have made public information concerning reasons for the tragedy.

Refusing to learn any lessons from such disasters, the administration has set-up routine internal probe under inspector level official. This only shows sheer lack of intention to make the developers accountable and continue to push financially unviable and environmental unsustainable hydro projects at the cost of human lives and tax payers’ money.

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Cloud Burst

Monsoon 2021: Cloud bursts in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh

November 4, 2021November 4, 2021 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature image:- Local people, army personnel carrying rescue work at Honzar, Kishtwar after davastating cloud burst on July 28. Image source: Social Media)

The increasing incidents of cloud bursts in Himalayan states have been proving significant disaster for lives and livelihoods of native people, rivers and environment of the states. Since 2018, SANDRP has been compiling reports on these extreme weather events to analysis the frequencies and impacts. After documenting cloud bursts reports in pre [i] and during [ii] monsoon season in Uttarakhand and in Himachal Pradesh [iii], this is fourth and last report of this series in 2021, this one from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh Union Territories (UT). We have not come across any such incidents reported in North Eastern states this year.

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Indian Meteorological Department · Rainfall

Pre Monsoon 2021 season – State Wise, District Wise Rainfall

June 1, 2021June 11, 2021 SANDRPLeave a comment

In the just concluded pre monsoon season (March 1 to May 31, 2021) India received 155.2 mm rainfall, 18% above the normal rainfall of 131.7 mm as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD). This is similar to the case in 2020[i] when India received 158.5 mm or 20% above normal rainfall.

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Rainfall

Post Monsoon 2020: State wise Rainfall

January 1, 2021January 2, 2021 SANDRPLeave a comment

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), during the just concluded Post Monsoon Rainfall for 2020, that included rainfall during Oct-Dec months, India received 124.6 mm rainfall, 0.64% above the normal rainfall of 123.8 mm during the period. As per IMD[i] definition, the rainfall was thus normal.

This three-month period from Oct 1, to Dec 31 includes the North East Monsoon that mainly affects parts of South India including Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Rayalseema, parts of Karnataka and Kerala. IMD declared on Jan 1, 2021 that the of NE Monsoon ended on Dec 31, 2020 with normal overall rainfall: TN had 6% above normal, Karnatak 13% above normal, Puducherry 32% above normal, Andhra Pradesh 33% above normal. However, Lakshadweep had 9% below normal and Kerala 26% below normal. This monsoon provides 48% of the annual rainfall of TN so it is most imp for that state.

The rainfall revived only towards the end of November, mainly due to two consecutive cyclones — Nivar and Burevi — both of which developed in the Bay of Bengal. While Cyclone Nivar crossed the coast close to Karaikal near Puducherry and brought heavy showers for the east and coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, Cyclone Burevi weakened before it reached land.

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Indian Meteorological Department · Monsoon · Rainfall

District Wise rainfall in India in June 2020

June 30, 2020July 1, 2020 SANDRPLeave a comment

Here we present the rainfall figures from India Meteorological Department in the just concluded month of June 2020, the first month of SW Monsoon 2020. The overall rainfall at all India level in June 2020 was 196.2 mm, 18% above normal rainfall in the month at 166.9 mm. It was 33% deficit last year.

This is India’s wettest June 12 years, The Times of India reported on July 1, 2020. Agriculture Ministry Data shows that sowing is 68% higher at 31.56 m ha. The June rainfall was 202 mm in 2008, the rainfall this year is the highest since then. All four IMD regions (Northwest, Central, South, East & NE) have recorded surplus rainfall, the surplus is the highest in Central (30.5% surplus) and E-NE (15.7%) regions. North West India had the lowest surplus at 3.5%. IMD Head Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said that whole of India was covered by monsoon on June 26, 12 days ahead of the normal date of July 8.

State wise rainfall Three states had large excess rainfall (above 60% surplus rainfall), namely Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim. Eight states/UTs (Union Territories) had excess rainfall (20-59% surplus): Assam, Meghalaya, UP, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh & Andaman and Nicobar. Nine had deficient rainfall (20-59% deficit): Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Manipur, J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Dadar & Nagar Haveli. Rest of India had Normal Rainfall. Continue reading “District Wise rainfall in India in June 2020” →

Wetlands

J&K Wetlands Overview 2019: New Threats Looming, Old Remain Unresolved

January 26, 2020January 26, 2020 SANDRPLeave a comment

Jammu and Kashmir has many wetlands of national importance and international recognition. These water bodies are critical source of livelihood and job opportunities for a large number of population in form of fishing, farming, tourism etc. Moreover, most of the wetlands in the region fall under Central Asian Flyway Zone (CAF) and visited by lakhs of migratory and endangered birds during their annual migration march. These wetlands areas also provide safe refuge to native vegetation and wild animals. Their protection is crucial to combat the dual impact of climate change, water scarcity and flooding.

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Cloud Burst

Cloud Bursts 2019: Jammu Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim

December 24, 2019 SANDRPLeave a comment

Cloud burst incidents are on the increase across Himalayan states. The states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have faced 23 and 16 cloud burst incidents in the south west monsoon 2019. This account compiles such reports from Jammu Kashmir (J&K) and north eastern Himalayan states.

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India · Monsoon

Monsoon 2019: District wise rainfall

October 4, 2019January 20, 2022 SANDRP5 Comments

The first blog on just concluded South West Monsoon 2019, gave the national picture and broad picture of month wise, state wise, sub division wise and river wise rainfall. This blog provides some details of rainfall in districts of each of the 36 states and Union Territories (UTs) of India. Continue reading “Monsoon 2019: District wise rainfall” →

CWC - Central Water Commission

Overview of CWC Flood Forecasting Sites 2019: North India

September 25, 2019 SANDRP1 Comment

Flood forecasting is an important activity during monsoon, considering the huge and increasing flood prone area, flood frequency, intensity and flood damages. Accurate and timely flood forecasting can hugely help reduce the damages due to floods. Central Water Commission (CWC) is the only agency responsible for flood forecasting in India. To understand the CWC’s flood forecasting better, we have compiled the list of the various flood, inflow forecasting sites and flood monitoring sites in India.

In this compilation, we have given state wise list of CWC’s flood forecasting, flood monitoring and inflow forecasting sites in North India, comprising of states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh. It includes available details like name of river, sub basin, Warning level (WL), Danger Level (DL), High Flood Level (HFL), Full Reservoir Level (FRL), Maximum Water Level (MWL), as applicable. As we see below, there are many gaps in this basic information for the sites that are part of CWC’s list. A similar zonewise overview of CWC’s sites was compiled in 2018, which can be seen here. Overview of CWC Flood Forecasting Sites 2018: North India. We have brought this updated compilation for 2019 as there are large number of changes as ou can see.

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