India has demonstrated global leadership in disaster reduction; however, there are critical areas where it must learn from others and its own mistakes as well. The recurrence of Himalayan disasters may have natural origins, but the devastation they cause is often attributable to human errors. The Dharali flood on August 6 is not fundamentally different from previous incidents that have marked the history of Uttarakhand and the Himalayas as a whole.
Each major disaster has been studied, documented, and lessons learnt—but ironically, these lessons have frequently been ignored too. While India has significantly improved its disaster response capabilities due to the commitment of national and state leadership, reflected in the seamless coordination of national, state, local, and lateral agencies, serious questions remain regarding the ‘prevention and risk mitigation’ aspects of disaster management.
Historically, the Himalayas and states like Uttarakhand have been prone to events such as flash floods, landslides and cloudbursts. However, recent years have witnessed both the increase in frequency , and a multiplication of their destructive impacts.
One critical issue has been the inadequate network of weather monitoring and automatic sensors. The recent major flash flood was not solely caused by a cloudburst; it was likely exacerbated by a glacial event, possibly triggered by an avalanche and/or accompanied by landslides. Evidence supporting this includes the presence of upstream lakes and the potential combination of hazard-trigger events.
