Abstract: Environment has become a major issue of great concern in recent years. India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its unique geo-climatic conditions. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides have been recurrent phenomena. In June2013, Uttarakhand was wrecked by Flash Floods and Landslides. As a result, 80% of Uttarakhand was flooded, almost 10,000 people lost their lives, and the infrastructural systems suffered lengthy breakdowns. Consequently, basic services such as water, food, sewage, electricity, heating, communications, transportation and shelter were severely compromised.
The paper attempts to carry out a quantitative analysis of Uttarakhand disaster within the framework of Hazard Assessment (evaluation of the severity, and probable occurrence of the disasterin a given time period), Vulnerability Assessment (estimate of the degree of loss or damage to property, population, environment, economic activities and public services etc.) and Response Assessment (effectiveness and efficiency of post-disaster recovery).
The paper shows that in case of Uttarakhand, the devastation and consequent collapse cannot be attributed to ‘Act of God’ alone. Political apathy, economic imprudence and poor environment management played an important role.These were further amplified by the inadequate state of preparedness, mitigation and response of various disaster management agencies during the crisis.It emerges that if the portends of the disaster, ominously evident all the time, not been repeatedly ignored, the aftermath of the tragedy, waiting to happen, could have been largely mitigated.
Keywords: Risk Assessment, Hazard Assessment, Vulnerability Assessment, Response Assessment, Disaster Management Operations.
Title: Environmental Impact Assessment: Uttarakhand Disaster (June-July 2013)
Author: Ajeet Bajpai, Dr. NC Wadhwa and Dr. VK Mahna
International Journal of Life Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-3148 (online), ISSN 2348-313X (Print)
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