Earthquakes/landslides in Uttaranchal

sald · Jun 27th, 2007, 14:01

Hope no one here has been impacted...

Landslides in Uttarkashi, one dead

S.M.A.KAZMI
Posted online: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST
Dehra Dun, June 26
One person has died and more than 250 families of Uttarkashi town have been evacuated following massive landslides down the Varunavrata mountain overlooking the city since last night.
A large part of the holy town situated on the banks of river Bhagirathi was submerged in the slush and traffic on the highway has been stopped.
Pingal Dass, 70, a tailor by profession, was killed when he opened the door of his house and was hit a landslide. He died of head injuries.
Panic gripped the area and residents, accusing the Government of failing to carry out treatment work to prevent such landslides on the Varunavrat mountain, turned violent. They beat up officials of Tehri Hydro-Electric Development Corporation, the agency involved in the treatment work.
The landslides reminded many of September 2003 when a large part of Uttarkashi had been swept away, leaving many hotels, shops and houses buried under debris from the mountain. The Government has sounded an alert, asking people residing at the foothills of Varunavat to vacate their houses.
More than 44 residential buildings and 39 commercial establishments, including the district collectorate, were hit by the mudslides. The entire area is under 5-6 ft of mud, with boulders intermittently falling from the mountain.
“We have evacuated the people and started giving them food and shelter on the local college premises,” S M Nautiyal, Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of Uttarkashi, said.
In the past 10 days, in fact, in anticipation of landslides from the Varunavrat, district authorities had evacuated more than 750 people from the foothills to carry out treatment work of the mountains. These people have been getting one meal a day at the local college.
The slide-prevention work on the mountain, in fact, is under a cloud with Uttarakhand Lokayukta Justice S H A Raza (retd) pointing out in a report that large sums of money had been spent with no permanent benefits to the town. While the Central Government had provided Uttarakhand Rs 282 crore for the treatment of the Varaunavrat mountain, a sum of Rs 67 crore has already been spent.

Link: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/202776.html

Dilliwala · Jun 27th, 2007, 14:51

Sh.t, that's bad news.
In March 04 I saw the damage from the previous landslide of that same mountain (Oct 03). It's so close to town, that people are bascially sitting ducks. And just by chance, I saw a flurry of activity in the DM's office in connection with the then PM's proposal for relief measures for Uttarkashi and how to prevent further landslides.........

jyotirmoy · Jun 27th, 2007, 15:28

OMG !!! This area has become a disaster zone. Earthquakes, landslides...

capt_mahajan · Jun 27th, 2007, 15:32

Could it be the 'development' and deforestation, aka Himachal?

jyotirmoy · Jun 27th, 2007, 15:45

You are right Captain.... lot of damage has been done since the construction of the dam started.

roopesh_kohad · Jun 27th, 2007, 17:02

That mountain is quite notorious. When I went there in July 2004, it was the same situation landslide and slush. Due to so many houses/establishments, relief is also not easy. Amazingly, I did not face any other ladslide or blockage anywhere else in the entire route.

uttam · Jun 27th, 2007, 18:25

There's no gainsaying the effect of construction activities and deforestation. However, let's not forget that this area has been geologically active with Earthquakes and landslides pre-dating dam construction activites.

ranjan154 · Jun 27th, 2007, 18:44

Human inferences on natural heritages are bound to create incidents like this, we all must wake up to mend all these developments happenings at the cost of damaging our eco systems.

Dilliwala · Jun 27th, 2007, 22:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by uttam

There's no gainsaying the effect of construction activities and deforestation. However, let's not forget that this area has been geologically active with Earthquakes and landslides pre-dating dam construction activites.

That's right, earthquakes have been happening there for over a 100 years. It's in Zone 5, seismic-wise, the most critical of all. It's not even construction - the town basically sits where it is, there's not much space to build anymore. It's that mountain - they do only patch-work 'repairs'/stabilisation (surely not in line with that proposal last time, I'm sure - ABV himself had signed off on it - it was 40 pages thick and the DM's staff were running around trying to get more photocopies made), so what do u expect 3-4 years later?

Nattusbs · Jul 23rd, 2007, 10:44

Hi all

Just read this on Samachar

http://www.samachar.com/showurl.php?...=sifynews_home

How severe was the quake? Any aftershocks? Any news from IMers in that area? Are all IMers OK?

Nattusbs

jyotirmoy · Jul 23rd, 2007, 12:17

Felt slight jolts in Delhi

shashank.aggarwal · Jul 23rd, 2007, 12:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyotirmoy

Felt slight jolts in Delhi

Dada..I hope you were not Jolted..

jyotirmoy · Jul 23rd, 2007, 12:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by shashank.aggarwal

Dada..I hope you were not Jolted..

No Bhai I was neither jolted nor jilted...

capt_mahajan · Jul 23rd, 2007, 12:56

shaken not stirred?

jyotirmoy · Jul 23rd, 2007, 13:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by capt_mahajan

shaken not stirred?

The ceiling fan shook & I stirred on the bed.

Jun 27th, 2007, 14:01	#1
sald Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: India Posts: 123	Landslides in Uttarkashi Hope no one here has been impacted... Landslides in Uttarkashi, one dead S.M.A.KAZMI Posted online: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST Dehra Dun, June 26 One person has died and more than 250 families of Uttarkashi town have been evacuated following massive landslides down the Varunavrata mountain overlooking the city since last night. A large part of the holy town situated on the banks of river Bhagirathi was submerged in the slush and traffic on the highway has been stopped. Pingal Dass, 70, a tailor by profession, was killed when he opened the door of his house and was hit a landslide. He died of head injuries. Panic gripped the area and residents, accusing the Government of failing to carry out treatment work to prevent such landslides on the Varunavrat mountain, turned violent. They beat up officials of Tehri Hydro-Electric Development Corporation, the agency involved in the treatment work. The landslides reminded many of September 2003 when a large part of Uttarkashi had been swept away, leaving many hotels, shops and houses buried under debris from the mountain. The Government has sounded an alert, asking people residing at the foothills of Varunavat to vacate their houses. More than 44 residential buildings and 39 commercial establishments, including the district collectorate, were hit by the mudslides. The entire area is under 5-6 ft of mud, with boulders intermittently falling from the mountain. “We have evacuated the people and started giving them food and shelter on the local college premises,” S M Nautiyal, Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of Uttarkashi, said. In the past 10 days, in fact, in anticipation of landslides from the Varunavrat, district authorities had evacuated more than 750 people from the foothills to carry out treatment work of the mountains. These people have been getting one meal a day at the local college. The slide-prevention work on the mountain, in fact, is under a cloud with Uttarakhand Lokayukta Justice S H A Raza (retd) pointing out in a report that large sums of money had been spent with no permanent benefits to the town. While the Central Government had provided Uttarakhand Rs 282 crore for the treatment of the Varaunavrat mountain, a sum of Rs 67 crore has already been spent. Link: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/202776.html Last edited by Dilliwala : Sep 17th, 2008 at 02:24. Reason: reinserted orig title after thread merge-n-move

Jun 27th, 2007, 18:44	#8
ranjan154 Amateur Photographer Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Greater Noida (India) Posts: 848	Human inferences on natural heritages are bound to create incidents like this, we all must wake up to mend all these developments happenings at the cost of damaging our eco systems. __________________ Rakesh Ranjan -------------- http://www.flickr.com/photos/travinfoindia/ Last edited by machadinha : Jun 28th, 2007 at 02:04. Reason: removed full quote

Jul 23rd, 2007, 10:44	#10
Nattusbs Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Costa Mesa Posts: 356	Earthquake in Uttaranchal Hi all Just read this on Samachar http://www.samachar.com/showurl.php?...=sifynews_home How severe was the quake? Any aftershocks? Any news from IMers in that area? Are all IMers OK? Nattusbs

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Jun 27th, 2007, 14:51	#2
Dilliwala Funky flunky Join Date: May 2007 Location: Dilli Posts: 3,562	Sh.t, that's bad news. In March 04 I saw the damage from the previous landslide of that same mountain (Oct 03). It's so close to town, that people are bascially sitting ducks. And just by chance, I saw a flurry of activity in the DM's office in connection with the then PM's proposal for relief measures for Uttarkashi and how to prevent further landslides.........

Jun 27th, 2007, 15:28	#3
jyotirmoy Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: India Posts: 4,617	OMG !!! This area has become a disaster zone. Earthquakes, landslides...

Jun 27th, 2007, 15:32	#4
capt_mahajan (in charge of navel affairs) Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: India Posts: 10,105	Could it be the 'development' and deforestation, aka Himachal?

Jun 27th, 2007, 15:45	#5
jyotirmoy Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: India Posts: 4,617	You are right Captain.... lot of damage has been done since the construction of the dam started.

Jun 27th, 2007, 17:02	#6
roopesh_kohad Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Pune, Maharashtra Posts: 164	That mountain is quite notorious. When I went there in July 2004, it was the same situation landslide and slush. Due to so many houses/establishments, relief is also not easy. Amazingly, I did not face any other ladslide or blockage anywhere else in the entire route.

Jun 27th, 2007, 18:25	#7
uttam Travelling to return to strangers Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 155	There's no gainsaying the effect of construction activities and deforestation. However, let's not forget that this area has been geologically active with Earthquakes and landslides pre-dating dam construction activites.

Jul 23rd, 2007, 12:17	#11
jyotirmoy Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: India Posts: 4,617	Felt slight jolts in Delhi

Jul 23rd, 2007, 12:56	#14
capt_mahajan (in charge of navel affairs) Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: India Posts: 10,105	shaken not stirred?

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