With reference to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines, discuss the measures to be…

Question

With reference to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines, discuss the measures to be adopted to mitigate the impact of the recent incidents of cloudbursts in many places of Uttarakhand.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

NDMA's Flood (2008) and Landslide (2009) Guidelines call for hazard zonation, floodplain zoning, slope engineering, early warning and community preparedness to limit cloudburst damage in Uttarakhand. Kedarnath 2013 and the July 2016 Pithoragarh-Chamoli cloudbursts showed the cost of building on floodplains and debris paths.

**Introduction**

The cloudbursts of 1 July 2016 in Pithoragarh and Chamoli killed around 30 people, three years after Kedarnath (2013). NDMA's Guidelines on Floods (2008) and on Landslides (2009) set the measures Uttarakhand must adopt.

**Structural Measures under NDMA Guidelines**

SKETCH: flow | Cloudburst Hazard Cascade
- Cloudburst
- Flash flood
- Debris flow
- Landslide dam
- Downstream surge

1. **Hazard zonation**: Large-scale landslide hazard maps keep villages, roads and camps off debris-flow paths.
2. **Floodplain zoning**: Barring construction in the active floodplain matters, as hotels on the Mandakini's banks were washed away in 2013.
3. **Slope and drainage engineering**: Retaining walls, drains, check dams and catchment treatment slow runoff and trap debris.
4. **Safer roads and dams**: Muck dumped into rivers worsens surges, as the Ravi Chopra expert body (2014) found in the Kedarnath disaster.

**Non-structural Measures for Uttarakhand**

1. **Early warning**: Automatic weather stations and Doppler radars, such as those at Mukteshwar (2021) and Surkanda Devi, give nowcasts of intense cells.
2. **Community preparedness**: Village plans, mock drills and NDMA's Aapda Mitra volunteers (2016) make the first responder a trained local.
3. **Response capacity**: The State Disaster Response Force raised after 2013, pre-positioned with the NDRF along the Char Dham route, shortens the golden hour.
4. **Regulated pilgrimage**: Registration and weather-linked halts keep yatris out of the valleys when warnings are issued.

**Conclusion**

Uttarakhand cannot stop cloudbursts, but NDMA's mix of zoning, engineering, warning and community action can stop them becoming disasters. Development built around Himalayan fragility, in the spirit of the Sendai Framework, is how the state builds back better.

With reference to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines, discuss the measures to be adopted to mitigate the impact of the recent incidents of cloudbursts in many places of Uttarakhand.

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