Disaster in Uttarkashi District of Uttarakhand: A Sign of Destabilization Risk

• At least four people were killed and 60 people are feared dead after a flood hit the Kheer Ganga river in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand.

• The flood hit hotels and residential buildings in Dharali town, situated 8,600 feet above sea level.

• Video footage showed giant waves of water gushing through the area, engulfing people and homes.

• Heavy rainfall from August 3 to 5 caused the disaster, with some parts reporting nearly 30 cm of rainfall over a single day due to the monsoon.

• The disaster was categorized as a ‘cloudburst’ by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), but this definition is specific to a large volume of rain.

• The lack of weather radars at those altitudes means the IMD is incapable of computing such a computation.

• The event’s cause and the potential for gradual build-up are of academic interest due to the loss of life, livelihood, and property.

• Climate change has increased the probability of extreme rainfall events, and infrastructure projects in the hills act as latent explosives triggered by such rainfall.