Tag: National Disaster Management Authority

NDMA Sends Experts to Assess Flood Risk in Six ‘High-Risk’ Glacial Lakes in Arunachal: Report

The move is part of initiatives undertaken by the National Disaster Management Authority after the glacial lake outburst flood in Sikkim’s South Lhonak lake in October last year.

New Delhi: The National Disaster Management Authority has sent two teams to study the risk of glacial lake outburst floods, or GLOFs, in six glacial lakes identified as ‘high risk’ in Arunachal Pradesh by the agency, per a report by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

The move, per the report, is part of initiatives undertaken by the Authority after the GLOF in South Lhonak Lake in Sikkim in October last year. The GLOF in the lake completely swept away the 1200 megawatt Teesta III hydropower project downstream, and killed more than 40 people along the banks of the river Teesta. More than 60 people are still unaccounted for. 

Experts to study six high-risk lakes in Arunachal

Glacial lake outburst floods or GLOFs occur when glaciers melt at a fast rate, causing the water to be discharged downstream in a sudden burst. Among the reasons that cause such fast melting that lead to GLOFs includes climate change, in the form of increased temperatures or heavy and intense downpours.

Per the report by the PTI, the NDMA has sent two teams to study the risk of glacial lake outburst floods in six glacial lakes in Arunachal Pradesh. The teams will cover three lakes each in Tawang and Dibang Valley. The six lakes are among the 27 identified as “high-risk” by the NDMA across five districts in the state. 

The team in Tawang left on August 19 to study the lake in the Mago area in Thingbu circle and the team would also cover two lakes in the Jang and Zemithang sub-divisions during the expedition, the PTI quoted sources as saying. The second team will study two glacial lakes in the Mipi circle and another in the Etalin circle, per the report.

Experts partaking in these expeditions comprise members of the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure, and will also conduct studies on accessibility. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing is the lead technical agency appointed by the NDMA for the surveys, per the PTI report.

Taking a cue from the South Lhonak lake GLOF

Per the latest PTI report, the move to conduct ground surveys in Arunachal Pradesh stemmed from this GLOF that occurred in South Lhonak Lake in Sikkim in October last year. Officials with the NDMA had told the PTI in July that post-monsoon, they would conduct ground surveys in four states and a union territory – Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir – to analyze the vulnerability of glacial lakes in these areas. The teams will also include officials and experts from agencies, such as the National Remote Sensing Centre, the Indian Army and the Geological Survey of India, they told the PTI, adding that the GLOF in South Lhonak lake had prompted this decision.

However, there is disturbing evidence to show that authorities already knew that South Lhonak lake in north Sikkim – which is part of the eastern Himalaya – was vulnerable to GLOFs even before the October 2023 GLOF occurred. On May 13, 2022 – a full year and five months before the South Lhonak GLOF occurred – Sikkim’s Information and Public Relations Department issued a press release about the risks posed by GLOFS at the South Lhonak and Shako Cho glacial lakes, per a story in The Wire.

The press release quoted DG Shrestha, Director, Sikkim Department of Science and Technology, as saying that the South Lhonak lake was increasing in size. He also said there was an urgent need for an Early Warning System for these glacial lakes in Sikkim. Per The Wire’s story, Ada Lawrence of the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority had proposed at a National Disaster Management Authority conference that the NDMA constitute an expert committee to study and evaluate 10 vulnerable glacial lakes in Sikkim, including the South Lhonak lake, and to work out appropriate mitigation strategies against GLOFs.

Thus, both the state and national agencies knew that South Lhonak Lake was highly vulnerable to GLOFs. However, the NDMA took no action then, per the report. Before the flash floods that occurred on the night of October 3-4, authorities did not issue an early warning in time to communities living downstream.

The need for such surveys

In April this year, the ISRO analysed satellite images of catchments of Indian Himalayan river basins from 1984 to 2023. What they found was alarming: glacial lakes in the mountain range have been expanding.

Of the 2,431 lakes larger than 10 hectares identified during 2016-17, 676 glacial lakes had “notably expanded” since 1984, the ISRO found: 601 lakes have expanded more than twice.

Of the 676 lakes that had expanded significantly, 130 are located in India. And of the 130, 65 lakes are located in the Indus, seven in the Ganga and 58 lakes in the Brahmaputra River basins. For instance, the Ghepang Ghat glacial lake which is in the Indus river basin in Himachal Pradesh showed a 178% increase in size, from 36.49 to 101.30 hectares between 1989 and 2022. The rate of increase was staggering: about 1.96 hectares per year.

“Satellite-derived long-term change analyses provide valuable insights for understanding glacial lake dynamics, which are essential for assessing environmental impacts and developing strategies for GLOF risk management and climate change adaptation in glacial environments,” the ISRO said.

A study published in the journal Nature last year found that potential GLOFs threaten 15 million people globally. People living in the high mountains of Asia – such as the Himalaya – “are the most exposed” to the impacts of GLOFs, per the study, because approximately one million people live within 10 kilometers of a glacial lake in this region (older studies have shown that the impacts of GLOFs can even occur 120 km downstream of the site). The Nature study last year also found that more than half of the globally exposed population are found in just four countries: India, Pakistan, Peru, and China. 

Even more damning is that a study as far back as 2021 had specifically assessed the future GLOF hazard of South Lhonak Lake and suggested that as per one of their scenarios, the town of Chungthang – located near the Teesta III hydroelectric power project – would be most affected. And true enough, the South Lhonak Lake GLOF caused the greatest damage here in October two years later: the floodwaters swept away the dam and aggravated the death and destruction downstream. 

Heat Action Plans: What They Are, Why We Need Them

Recent assessment of Heat Action Plans at city, district and state levels revealed several gaps, including that they are underfunded and not built for local contexts.

Kochi: At least 11 people died and more than 600 others suffered from heat-related health issues after they had to stand out in the open on Sunday, April 16, for more than five hours to attend a government award function in Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai.

As per some reports, local officials said that the event – which has come under fire for several reasons, including the lack of adequate arrangements to deal with the heat – went against existing Heat Action Plans. 

What are Heat Action Plans, and why do we need them?

Hot, hotter, hottest

India’s summers are hot, but they’re also getting hotter. February this year, for instance, was the hottest on record in India since 1901, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Heat waves are now more frequent across many parts of India. As per the IMD, a heatwave is said to occur when the average maximum temperature is 4.5-6.4º C above the long-term average (or above 40º C in the plains, 30º C in hilly areas, or 37º C in coastal areas).

India recorded 280 days of heat waves across 16 states in 2022 – the most ever in a decade – as per a report by the Centre for Science and Environment. Maharashtra itself experienced four heat waves in two summer months last year. The IMD warned in February this year that in the months to come – from March to May – there was an “enhanced probability” for the occurrence of heat waves in many parts of central and adjoining northwest India. Currently, as of April 17, the IMD issued a heat wave alert for up to five days in parts of eastern and western Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, Jharkhand and coastal Andhra Pradesh. Schools and colleges have remained closed as the heat wave progressed in West Bengal and Tripura.

Science shows that climate change plays a major role in the increased occurrence and intensity of these heat waves. For instance, climate scientists found that climate change made the heat waves that swept across large parts of India and Pakistan in May last year a whopping 30 times more likely. 

The impacts of heat waves on human health include dehydration, dizziness, exhaustion, stroke and even death.   

Representative image of a heat wave. Photo: Eric/Flickr CC BY NC ND 2.0

Heat Action Plans

Given how much heat waves impact people, especially the poor and other vulnerable sections, governments and administrations have begun developing Heat Action Plans, which are documents that list preparatory, adaptive and responsive measures for government departments to tackle the heat and its impacts. 

Odisha’s 2022 state Heat Action Plan developed by the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, for instance, provides Standard Operating Procedures for different departments and district administrations and also includes steps such as rescheduling working hours for daily wage labourers, provisioning drinking water and first aid facilities at temporary working sheds, changing school timings, and so on. The city of Ahmedabad implemented South Asia’s first HAP in 2013 after a heatwave in 2010. This, scientists found, may have prevented more than 1,000 deaths due to heat in 2014-15.

However, there are many gaps in HAPs in India, found a recent assessment of 37 HAPs at city, district and state levels by the Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research (CPR). These included being underfunded and not being built for local contexts.

The assessment also found that HAPs are not sufficiently transparent. There is no national repository of HAPs and very few HAPs are listed online, the report noted. The report recommends creating a national repository of HAPs within the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and that independent, and publicly accessible external evaluations of their performance be conducted regularly.

Focus areas

In December last year, the Union government said that the NDMA and the IMD are working with 23 states that are prone to heatwave conditions to develop state-level action plans. These include Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

HAPs are a new policy instrument and are currently spreading, Aditya Valiathan Pillai, associate fellow at CPR and one of the co-authors of the report on HAPs, wrote in an email to The Wire. It is crucial that areas like Delhi and other hot north Indian states, and humid areas which could present a high risk of mortality during a heatwave, have coverage, he said.

Do any specific levels of HAPs – such as at the state, district or local levels – take priority? 

Not necessarily, according to Pillai.

“So the idea is not to privilege HAPs at one level over the other but to figure out ways of making them work together in complementary ways,” he wrote in an email to The Wire. “So in a state, you would want the state and city/district HAPs to be designed to speak to each other.”

That’s because each level of government handles different things (as per the Constitutional division of powers), Pillai clarified. If one wants to protect agriculture from heat, for example, you need an insurance mechanism which will need to be at the state level because of the scale it will need to involve and because agriculture is a state subject.

“But setting up cooling centres would of course be better at the local level,” he wrote. 

To make our HAPs more effective and impactful, it is necessary to incorporate granular scale heat vulnerability and hotspot mapping assessments by leveraging the latest advancements in geospatial technology and field-based assessments, said Shreya Wadhawan, Research Analyst, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

This involves mapping heat-sensitive areas based on land use, vegetation fraction, built-up areas, adaptive capacity, and population characteristics, she wrote in an email to The Wire. 

“Further, it is essential to recalibrate forecast models to region-specific thresholds for energy and water demand, crop, and health impacts to enable impact-based heat forecast alerts. This will help decision-makers plan in advance to address the issue of heat stress,” she wrote.

Unregulated Tourism in the Himalayas Comes at the Cost of Ecological Hazards

Unregulated pilgrimage activities in increasingly eco-fragile sites in India have accelerated the retreating of glaciers. What can be done to mitigate the damage?

If you ask anyone in Kedarnath valley in the Indian state of Uttarakhand about their worst nightmare, chances are they would mention the flash floods of June 2013. Even nearly a decade later, residents in the region wonder what caused the havoc that killed more than 5,000 people and damaged properties worth millions of dollars.

Now, researchers maintain that melting glaciers played a major role in the disaster.

A study by the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology and the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur showed that the rapid melting of glaciers in the Himalayas can lead to sudden floods, which in turn causes serious damage to life and property.

Rapid retreat of glaciers also means the formation of glacial lakes, which pose potential threats to the population downstream. These glaciers can burst and cause massive destruction to lives and property. Scientists use the term ‘glacial lake outburst flooding’ (GLOF) to describe incidents when water breaches glacial lakes and flows into downstream rivers.

A 2019 study indicated that parts of the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and western Himalaya sub-regions contain 2,420 glacier lakes, of which 52 are potentially dangerous.

Glacial lakes can burst as a result of an earthquake or rainstorm or if they are unable to contain water any longer, which was the cause behind the disaster in Kedarnath in June 2013. The region had received an unusual amount of rainfall, which led to the depletion of the Chorabari glacier and attendant landslides. Debris then filled the glacial lake and it could not contain water anymore.

Unregulated tourism and construction

In a 2020 report, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of the Indian government noted that the Indian Himalayan Region faces critical challenges while coping with the effects of climate change.

It also acknowledged that urban centres, towns and some villages in mountainous areas “are being burdened beyond their capacity by tourism and rural-to-urban migration.”

NDMA recommended a series of regulations that would create a buffer zone and restrict tourism in Glacial Lake Outburst Floods-prone areas and nearby regions in order to reduce the scale of pollution in those areas.

But in 2022, 100 million tourists, including pilgrims, visited Uttarakhand, and experts continue to caution that unregulated tourism that exceeds the region’s carrying capacity can have disastrous impacts.

“[The] government is planning massive tourism activities like the Char Dham project,” Hemant Dhyani, an environmental activist and former member of the Supreme Court-appointed High-Powered Committee on the Char Dham Project, told FairPlanet. “We are looking at the Himalayas as a major economic resource and exploiting it beyond its carrying capacity. This carrying capacity assessment was never done.”

Dhyani said that in 2022 more than 15,000 people were permitted to go to Badrinath and Kedarnath – two to three times more than the carrying capacity environmental experts have estimated.

For Uttarakhand, tourism is one of the major drivers of economic growth. Located in the lap of the Himalayas, this ecologically fragile region is known and revered for several Hindu temples that granted it the sobriquet of ‘Abode of Gods.’ The area is particularly famous for the pilgrimage circuit of Char Dham – Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

But environmental activists and experts have continually raised concerns over the government’s revenue-driven over-exploitation of the tourism sector at the cost of ecological hazards.

Dhyani said that religious tourism sites, such as Char Dham, have been hugely commercialised and exploited to the point of becoming unsustainable.

In March 2022, a glacier slid down in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district and blocked a long stretch of the road. It took days before the road could be cleared of snow.

Environmental experts said the glacier broke off as an indication of human-made climate change in the Himalayan region, triggered by unplanned and unchecked development projects and unregulated tourism.

In the aftermath of the June 2013 tragedy in Uttarakhand, India’s Planning Commission published a Strategy Paper that mentioned that the disaster was aggravated due to the unplanned development in the region. The paper also called for regulating tourism and supporting infrastructure in eco-fragile areas like the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit.

Mountainsides being blasted off and cleared to make way for the Char Dham highway. Photo: PTI

Why glaciers melt

One of the biggest factors causing glaciers to melt is the emission of black carbon aerosols into the atmosphere.

Black carbon is emitted as a result of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, the use of brick kilns, household cooking with firewood and the burning of animal dung and coal briquettes. The combustion of fossil fuels in motor vehicles and aircrafts also contributes to the emission of black carbon.

Scientists from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, an autonomous institution operating under the Ministry of Science and Technology, in a 2016 study conducted at Chirbasa station near Gangotri Glacier noted that black carbon from crop incineration and forest fires may influence the melting of Gangotri Glacier – the source of river Ganga, a site holding religious significance for millions of Indians.

A statement by the ministry noted that black carbon concentration in the region had increased by 400 times during summer, and crop burning and forest fires were the reasons behind this seasonal increase, according to the study.

“This can trigger glacial melt because of the light-absorbing nature of black carbon,” the statement further read. Since 2000, fires have damaged over 44,554 hectares of forest area, according to data from the Uttarakhand State Forest Department.

Frequent helicopter rides to and from pilgrimage sites in the area also contribute to the emission of black carbon, which in turn accelerates the recession of glaciers.

The situation is similar in the region of Kashmir, where unregulated tourism activities play a role in glacier retreat.

Also Read: Mind the Warning Signs on the Carrying Capacity of the Himalayan Terrain

A joint study from 2020 by the University of Kashmir and Nichols College in Massachusetts revealed that the Kolahoi glacier, the biggest in the region and which feeds most of its agricultural land, had lost nearly 23% of its area since 1962 and has fragmented into smaller parts.

The study warned the glacier recession has resulted in the formation of proglacial lakes, which could potentially become prone to glacial lake outburst floods.

In 2022, at least 365,000 Hindu pilgrims trekked along the treacherous routes across the mountainous terrain in southern Kashmir to pay homage to an ice stalagmite in a cave, which is regarded as a symbol of the Hindu god Shiva. This annual pilgrimage called Amarnath Yatra went on for 44 days.

Environmental activists have repeatedly warned about the environmental hazards of allowing a large number of pilgrims to visit the cave in such an ecologically sensitive area.

In a 2017 report, the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society noted that several glaciers, which were not far away from the pilgrimage site, were being damaged due to the over-exploitation of the region by pilgrims.

“The ecology, the environment and the health of the glacier can be under severe threat in case the Baltal route to the holy cave was frequented by thousands of pilgrims,” the report read. “The Thajiwas glacier which is not far away from the helipad at Neelgrath is at threat due to the helicopter sorties. There are three huge glaciers on the Baltal side, en route to the cave and with constant trampling by the Yatris [pilgrims], have been damaged extensively.”

The area has a carrying capacity of only 4,300 persons per day, but a report revealed that a typical pilgrimage day last year saw over 12,000 devotees visit the cave.

Despite the serious concerns raised by environmental experts, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the Amarnath pilgrimage as beneficial for the tourism sector.

Pilgrims on the Amarnath Yatra. Photo: Hamid Khan

Disaster mitigation efforts

After reports emerged that the town of Joshimath in Uttarakhand was sinking, the government announced it would conduct a carrying-capacity study of different hill towns. It also said that it would immediately halt construction projects in areas where the carrying capacity is exceeded.

Environmental activist Hemant Dhyani said that this is an issue of policy intervention. “We should rectify our approach to development in the Himalayas.”

In 2014, the government in Uttarakhand published an Action Plan on Climate Change, in which it stated the administration will “put into motion a process of building awareness on climate change and its impacts among the population and communities in general,” and that “the state will examine the possibility of incorporating climate change – related modules into the educational curriculum across various levels.”

“Appropriate external agencies will be co-opted as necessary to support the awareness and capacity-building processes,” the action plan further stated.

Dhyani maintained that the initiatives referenced in the government’s climate change action plan and the government’s 2012 notification to declare the Bhagirathi river an eco-sensitive zone should all be implemented.

“That is the blueprint and that should be replicated across all river valleys in the Himalayas to protect the massive land-use change in the region,” he said.

Ayush Joshi, an environmental technologist and climate change researcher, told FairPlanet that there is an urgent need to “stop current forms of infrastructural growth in sensitive regions.”

“[The government should] establish an independent Himalayan Commission that can permit, regulate and prohibit various shapes and forms of development and establish a 100 km buffer [from glaciers towards downstream] as Sensitive Zones across the state,” Joshi added.

In Kashmir, the administration launched an initiative in 2022 to reduce the amount of trash along the route of the Amarnath pilgrimage. It stationed over 300 volunteers along the pilgrimage route who collected and processed the waste, and the organic waste was then converted into compost.

As a pilot project, a start-up based in Indore, Madhya Pradesh installed six solar cookers on the Amarnath route last year, with the goal of reducing the use of firewood for making tea and other food items for pilgrims.

Qadri Inzamam and Haziq Qadri are independent multimedia journalistß based out of New Delhi.

This investigation has been supported by the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC). 

This article was originally published on FairPlanet and has been republished under a Creative Commons License.

Joshimath Subsidence: Denial, Gag Order on Govt Scientists as ISRO Report Provides Details

A report published by the National Remote Sensing Centre in Hyderabad was later taken down from its website. The Uttarakhand state authorities have claimed that the report is not the institute’s ‘official take’.

Kochi: Joshimath — the Uttarakhand hill town that faced land subsidence, or sinking of land, earlier this month prompting authorities to relocate more than 150 affected families — witnessed two events of subsidence, as per a report by the National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad.

Between April and November 2022, Joshimath underwent slow subsidence wherein land sank by around 9 cm; and later, a rapid subsidence event (causing land to sink ~5 cm) occurred over a span of just 12 days in December-January, per the report released on January 11.

The report, however, is no longer available on the NRSC website. Uttarakhand state authorities have claimed that the report is not the institute’s “official take”.

The Union government meanwhile, went one step further: the National Disaster Management Authority on January 13 imposed a gag order on scientists from government institutes, preventing them from interacting with the media or sharing data on social media regarding the Joshimath incident.

The gag order imposed by the NDMA. Photo: By arrangement

NRSC: Two subsidence events in Joshimath

Joshimath faced two subsidence events between April 2022 and January this year, according to preliminary results released by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC). As per the report, which The Wire accessed, scientists used Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, a type of radar technology that bounces off signals from sensors on satellites (in this case, Sentinel 1) onto the earth to obtain 2D or 3D reconstructions of physical features such as mountains, to identify the location and extent of subsidence in Joshimath. Doing this over time reveals the extent to which the subsidence occurred. As per the report, the NRSC also used new Cartosat-2S satellite data — which provides very spot-specific, high-resolution images — in this process.

Image: ISRO report

The report found that between April and November 2022, Joshimath recorded slow subsidence of up to 8.9 cm. However, between December 27, 2022 and January 8, 2023, the same area witnessed a rapid subsidence event in which land sank by up to 5.4 cm in a span of 12 days.

Image: ISRO report

Sentinel 1 SAR combined with other conventional remote sensing data is a promising new methodology, and similar to the technique that scientists used to ascertain that land subsidence has occurred in New Delhi due to groundwater extraction, commented Jagdish Krishnaswamy, an ecohydrologist who has also worked on the environmental applications of remote sensing and GIS and currently head of the School of Environment and Sustainability at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru. The studies he referred to (one in the Journal of Hydrology and another in Scientific Reports) were published last year and found land subsidence in two areas in the National Capital Region, Faridabad and near the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Krishnaswamy said that early-warning systems based on this methodology could help detect land subsidence due to ground-water exploitation or other factors in some regions of the Himalayas and in areas with alluvial deposits.

Also read: Uncontrolled Construction, Ignored Warnings: How Joshimath Sank

To ascertain more specifics, the NRSC is also using an InSAR technique, which combines two or more SAR images to interpret the differences between them to better decipher the changes on the earth’s surface. “Analysis of temporal InSAR is ongoing to identify landslide kinematics and results will be further updated,” the brief report finally read. 

Image: ISRO report

Denial, gag order

State authorities, meanwhile, claimed that the NRSC report is not an ‘official’ document. Uttarakhand Minister of Health, Education and Cooperative Dhan Singh Rawat said on January 13 that the report was not “their [ISRO’s] official take”.

“I have spoken with the ISRO Director. They have accepted that this is not their official take. They will give their official take today on the current situation,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

However, there has been no official take from the NRSC so far, and the report is also no longer available on the NRSC website. The Hindu quoted a senior scientist at the NRSO as saying that the report was removed because it was being “misinterpreted”.

As important data – released by a government institute – is being withdrawn from the public domain, the government is also leaving no stone unturned to limit information available on the incident.

On January 13, the National Disaster Management Authority (the apex body for disaster management in India, headed by the Prime Minister) issued an Office Memorandum (OM) to several research institutes including the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing in Dehradun and the Geological Survey of India in Kolkata ordering that scientists in these institutions not interact with the media or share data on social media about land subsidence in Joshimath. Various government institutions are releasing data on this in social media and interacting with the media “with their own interpretation of the situation”, the order said.

“This is creating confusion not only among affected residents but also among citizens of the country,” the OM said.

Uttarakhand Chief Secretary S.S. Sandhu also said on January 13 that all work at the NTPC tunnel will be closed till further orders. He added that eight institutes are analysing the reasons for the land subsidence and that their probe would include the role of NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad project, reported Times of India. Sandhu also said that authorities have been addressing the land subsidence at Joshimath as a natural disaster and not man-made because the town is located on a landslide.

Also read: Char Dham: How Much Will Wider, Landslide-Prone Roads in Uttarakhand Serve National Security?

On January 13, Ravi Chopra, who chaired the High Power Committee high powered committee that made recommendations on the Char Dham Pariyojana, said that there was “adequate reason to believe that what we are witnessing today is a result of the tunnelling exercise conducted by NTPC” while referring to a 2015 study that analysed the sudden water inflow in the area after the tunnelling events in 2009 and 2012. 

Meanwhile, the Times of India reported on January 15 that as per an unnamed official source, a ground survey revealed that parts of Joshimath may have sunk by almost 2.2 feet, far higher than the NRSC figures of subsidence.

Western, Eastern Ghats to face similar threats?

Some scientists said that the Western and Eastern Ghats could face threats similar to the one Joshimath is now witnessing if developmental activities are not stopped, reported The New Indian Express. 

However, Krishnaswamy, who has also studied several aspects including hydrology in the Western and Eastern Ghats, said that he would not equate the situation in Joshimath, which is located in the Himalaya, to sites in the Western or Eastern Ghats. The Himalaya are the youngest mountains with uplift continuing and in a seismic zone that is therefore tectonically active. It is very different in terms of geology and geomorphology when compared to the Ghats, said Krishnaswamy. Joshimath, moreover, is built on landslide debris. The Western and Eastern Ghats have a lot of other issues including landslides triggered by extreme rain events but the location of development projects and towns on glacial deposits and landslide debris is a distinct feature in the Himalaya, he said.

There are numerous factors, including the type of rock that a region rests on and the moisture regime, that cause land subsidence or landslides and this varies with every location and situation, Krishnaswamy added.

Also Read: Band-Aid Solutions Will Not Prevent Future Joshimaths in the Himalayan Region

Study predicted displacement in 2021

News agency PTI had reported that as per a press release by the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Punjab, researchers at the institute had predicted a large-scale surface displacement in Joshimath town as early as 2021. The team used a type of InSAR technique called Persistent Scatter and combined it with Sentinel 1 data. 

“We were studying the Chamoli flood disaster and while doing that, found a subsidence of around 2-3 cm in April 2021 in the Joshimath town area,” IIT Assistant Professor Reet Kamal Tiwari, who was also part of the study, told The Wire. “This is so that we explored that as well and used a model to predict the future of that site.”

As per the news report, their study predicted a displacement of 7.5-10 cm for buildings in Joshimath city, enough to cause cracks in buildings similar to what is occurring now, the press release said. The IIT team presented their findings at a conference in 2021. The results will also be published soon as a peer-reviewed study, and is currently under review with Natural Hazards Research, an Elsevier journal, Tiwari told The Wire.

Kin of Those Who Died by Suicide Within 30 Days of COVID Diagnosis Can Get Ex-Gratia: Centre to SC

NDMA guidelines had earlier said that deaths occurring due to poisoning, suicide, homicide, accidents, etc. will not be treated as COVID-19 deaths.

New Delhi: Family members of people who have died by suicide within 30 days of having been diagnosed with COVID-19 will be entitled to Rs 50,000 ex-gratia assistance as per guidelines, the Union government told the Supreme Court.

Deaths occurring within 30 days from the date of testing or from the date of being clinically determined as a COVID-19 case will be treated as deaths due to COVID-19, even if the death takes place outside the hospital or in-patient facility, the government clarified on Thursday, September 23.

A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and A.S. Bopanna was hearing pleas filed by advocates Gaurav Kumar Bansal and Reepak Kansal, and some intervenors represented by advocate Sumeer Sodhi, who have lost their family members to COVID-19.

The Union government had earlier told the Supreme Court that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued its guidelines on September 11, recommending that Rs 50,000 be given to the family of those who died of COVID-19.

The ex-gratia assistance will be provided by states from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and all claims will be settled within 30 days of submission of required documents, and disbursed through Aadhaar linked Direct Benefit Transfer procedures, it had added.

However, Indian Express has reported that the NDMA guidelines had said that deaths occurring due to poisoning, suicide, homicide, accidents, etc. will not be treated as COVID-19 deaths even if the virus infection is an accompanying condition.

On September 13, the Supreme Court had asked the government to reconsider its decision not to treat suicide of a COVID-19-positive person as a COVID-19 death.

In response, the government has filed its latest affidavit noting,

“It is respectfully submitted that suitable directions in this regard may be passed by this Court, whereby, the family members of people committing suicide within 30 days from being diagnosed as COVID-19 positive as per MoH&F/ICMR guidelines will also be entitled to avail financial help as granted under SDRF in accordance with the Guidelines dated September 11, 2021 issued by NDMA under Section 12 (iii) of Disaster Management Act.”

Thus, COVID-19 cases which are not resolved and those who died either in hospitals or at home, and where a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) in Form 4 and 4 A has been issued to the registering authority, as required under Section 10 of the Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act, 1969, will be treated as a COVID-19 death.

The affidavit was taken on record by the bench, which said it will necessary orders on October 4, in the matter keeping all aspects in mind.

The apex court has also expressed happiness at the development, reported Indian Express.

“Today we are very happy. There will be some solace to the persons who have suffered. Everything the government is performing…We’re happy that something is being done to wipe out the tears of those who suffered…We have to take judicial notice of the fact that what India has done, no other country could do,” said Justice M.R. Shah.

The government has also said that the guidelines will offer opportunity for review and rectification of any certificate of death issued by hospitals or government authority prior to the guidelines coming into force on September 3, 2021.

It added that the next of kin of the deceased can raise a grievance before the concerned District Level Committee, as envisaged in guidelines issued on September 3, that the cause of death of his/her kin was COVID related as per the parameters prescribed, however, the death certificate issued do not recognises it as death due to COVID-19′ and mentions some other incidental cause in the death certificate.

The affidavit said that when such application is being made to the district committee it would examine the contemporaneous medical records of the deceased patient and if it panel comes to the conclusion that the case of the applicant indeed falls within the parameters then it would issue a fresh or corrected certificate for the deceased, certifying his death to be COVID related death, eligible for financial or other assistance as provided by the Central government or SDRF.

Further, the district level committee proposed in the guidelines shall also consider any dispute between the hospital and the family regarding the cause of death, it said.

The government said that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has further clarified that death certificate indicating COVID-19 deaths either already issued prior to coming into force of September 3 guidelines or as rectified by the District level committee shall be treated as the valid document for considering any death as death due to COVID-19′.

It said that the timeline for setting up of the district level Committee by the States will be prescribed as 30 days for which suitable instruction will be issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

(With PTI inputs)

If you know someone – friend or family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of telephone numbers they can call to speak in confidence. Icall, a counselling service run by TISS, has maintained a crowdsourced list of therapists across the country. You could also take them to the nearest hospital.

NDMA For Rs 50,000 as Compensation to Families of COVID-19 Victims: Centre to SC

Ex-gratia assistance will also be given to the kin of those who died of the virus due to involvement in COVID-19 relief operations, the Union government said.

New Delhi: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has recommended that Rs 50,000 be given to the families of those who died of COVID-19, the Union government informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday, September 21.

It said that ex-gratia assistance will also be given to the kin of those who died of the virus due to involvement in COVID-19 relief operations or activities associated with the preparedness for dealing with the pandemic.

“The ex-gratia assistance will be given subject to the cause of death being certified as COVID-19 as per the guidelines issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and ICMR,” the government said, adding that the assistance will be provided by states from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

The Union government had earlier submitted by that state governments cannot afford to pay Rs 4 lakh to the dependents of those who died of COVID-19 and had instead argued in favour of a “broader approach”.

The Supreme Court had, in July, said that families of people who have died due to COVID-19 are entitled to ex-gratia payment, and asked the NDMA to issue fresh guidelines for providing minimum standards of financial help to such families within six weeks.

Earlier in September, the top court had expressed displeasure over the Union government’s delay in framing guidelines for certificates for COVID-19 deaths and the lack of clarity over what can be considered a COVID-19 death.

A week later, the latter filed an affidavit with guidelines.

(With PTI inputs)

Can’t Assume All COVID-19 Deaths in 2nd Wave Due to Medical Negligence: SC

The apex court was hearing a petition filed seeking compensation for the families of those who have died of COVID-19.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday, September 8, noted that a general presumption that all deaths due to COVID-19 in the second wave of the infection happened due to medical negligence cannot be made.

The court was hearing a writ petition seeking compensation for the kin of COVID-19 victims who passed away due to lack of oxygen and essential healthcare facilities, LiveLaw has reported.

A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, Vikram Nath, and Hima Kohli asked the petitioner to approach relevant authorities with suggestions and withdraw the petition.

The bench said, “To assume that each death due to COVID-19 took place due to negligence is too much. The second wave had such an impact across the country that it cannot be presumed that all deaths happened due to negligence. Courts cannot have a presumption that all COVID deaths happened due to medical negligence, which your petition does.”

Also read: India ‘Prepares for the Worst’ Ahead of Possible COVID-19 Third Wave

In June, a special bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M.R. Shah of the Supreme Court had said that families of people who have died due to COVID-19 are entitled to ex-gratia payment, asking the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to issue fresh guidelines for providing minimum standards of financial help to such families within six weeks.

The Union government had earlier submitted that state governments cannot afford to pay Rs 4 lakh and had instead argued in favour of a “broader approach”. The court had said that it could not direct the government to pay a particular amount as compensation.

On Wednesday, the apex court bench sought to highlight the standpoint from which it the earlier bench had delivered the order for ex gratia.

“In that verdict the court has taken a view with regard to humanity and not due to negligence. The government is yet to come out with the policy. If you have any suggestion with regard to implementation of that policy, you can approach the competent authority,” the apex court said.

At the outset, advocate Sriram Parakat, appearing for the petitioner, had said that his petition is different as it brings into account an element of negligence and compensation for the deaths which have happened due to medical negligence.

The Supreme Court mentioned on Wednesday that the government is yet to come up with a policy directed by that verdict.

“We have taken suo motu cognisance on COVID preparedness and a National Task Force has been constituted by this court which is looking into several aspects,” the bench said.

It also noted that the realities of COVID-19 had seen a lot of developments since the current petition was filed in May 2021. In India, the official count of deaths due to COVID-19 is 4,41,411 on Wednesday, though according to reports, the real toll may be several times higher.

COVID Victims Entitled to Ex-Gratia, Supreme Court Says, Directs NDMA to Frame Guidelines

The top court said that the court cannot direct the Centre to fix a particular amount of financial help, but asked the government to fix the minimum standard of amount to be paid.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that families of people who have died due to COVID-19 are entitled to ex-gratia payment, asking the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to issue fresh guidelines for providing minimum standards of financial help to such families within six weeks.

A special bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M.R. Shah said that the court cannot direct the Centre to fix a particular amount of financial help, but asked the government to fix the minimum standard of amount to be paid as ex-gratia to family members of those who lost their lives due to COVID-19 while keeping various aspects in mind.

The top court directed the Centre and the NDMA to issue fresh guidelines within six weeks for the minimum standard of relief to be granted to families of victims of COVID-19.

The top court’s verdict came on a batch of pleas seeking ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the dependents of those who died of COVID-19 and formulation of uniform guidelines for issuance of death certificates for such fatalities.

The Centre had earlier submitted by that state governments cannot afford to pay Rs 4 lakh and had instead argued in favour of a “broader approach”. If the family of each COVID-19 victim is paid ex-gratia of this amount, the State Disaster Respond Fund “may” fully be extinguished, the Centre argued.

Until June 30, the official cumulative death toll due to COVID-19 is over 3.98 lakh. Experts, however, estimate that the true toll may be four or five times higher.

It also directs the authorities to issue appropriate guidelines for simplification of the process of issuance of death certificates for COVID-19 fatalities.

The top court asked the Centre to consider formulating an insurance scheme for cremation workers as proposed by the Finance Commission.

The bench also rejected the argument of the Centre for reading “shall” in Section 12 of the Disaster Management Act for grant of ex-gratia amount to victims of disaster as “may”, and said that the NDMA has failed to perform its statutory duties.

According to LiveLaw, Justice Shah, reading out the relevant portions of the judgment, said, “There is a duty cast on the national authority to prescribe minimum standards of relief….There is nothing on record that the national authority has issued any guidelines for minimum standards of relief for COVID victims, which shall include ex-gratia assistance for COVID…The national authority has failed to perform its statutory duty under Section 12 by failing to recommend minimum relief for ex-gratia assistance.”

COVID-19: NDMA Has Not Ordered a Fresh Lockdown From September 25

The PIB said an ‘order’ that was being circulated on social media is fake.

New Delhi: The Press Information Bureau (PIB) has said that an ‘order’ that was circulating on social media and claimed that the country would go into lockdown once again from September 25 is fake.

An image of the purported ‘NDMA [National Disaster Management Authority] order’ said that the authority had recommended a fresh lockdown, as India’s COVID-19 cases continue to rise meteorically. However, the PIB debunked the misinformation on Twitter, saying the rumours were not true.

“Claim: An order purportedly issued by National Disaster Management Authority claims that it has directed the government to re-impose a nationwide lockdown from 25th September. PIB Fact Check: This order is Fake. NDMA has not issued any such order to re-impose lockdown,” PIB tweeted.

The fake order said the NDMA’s recommended a fresh lockdown to be imposed to reduce the number of infections and also mortality rate. It said, “…the National Disaster Management Authority, along with the Planning commission, hereby urges the government of India and directs the Prime Minister office, ministry of home affairs to re-impose a strict nationwide lockdown of 46 days starting from midnight September 25, 2020. Maintaining the supply chain of essential commodities in the country, therefore hereby NDMA is issuing a prior notice to the ministry to plan accordingly.”

As of Tuesday, India has the second highest number of infections in the world (49,30,236) and the third highest death toll (80,776).

20 Bodies Recovered From Landslip Site in Kerala; Search to Locate Missing Persons Continues

Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force initiated search and rescue operations on Saturday morning.

Idukki (Kerala): At least 20 bodies have been recovered  from the debris of the landslides that flattened a row of 20 houses of tea estate workers in the high range Idukki district in Kerala, as efforts were underway amid continuing rains to locate those missing.

The picturesque landscape of Pettimudi was flattened into a rough patch of boulders and mud with parts of asbestos and tin sheets seen scattered around.

Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have initiated search and rescue operations on Saturday morning.

“On Friday night we had recovered two bodies. Today we retrieved two more. With this the toll has gone up to 20. There was some confusion regarding the total number of persons at the location at that particular point of time. It seems like some people were not present and some had come visiting,” Idukki district collector H. Dinesh told PTI.

As per the records available with the district administration, 46 people are still missing. He added that 12 people were rescued on Friday and are receiving treatment.

“Two teams of NDRF, besides the police and fire force officials are conducting search operations. They are working despite the bad weather that has affected the communication services and the electricity in the region..,” Devikulam Sub- collector Prem Krishnan told the media.

The incident is said to have occurred early on Friday morning when a huge mound of earth fell on the “row houses” and two children and five women were among the deceased, most of whom were plantation workers from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

In the four-month-long Southwest monsoon season, which began in June first week, Kerala has reported a total of 51 deaths till Thursday night due to various incidents of drowning, landslides, and tree fall.

Meanwhile, the weatherman on Saturday issued a red alert for four districts in the state, namely the disaster-hit Idukki, Wayanad, Thrissur and Palakkad district.

According to the State Disaster Management Authority, Kerala received an average rainfall of 95 mm in the last 24 hours while Vadakara in Kozhikoderecorded 32.7 centimeters of rain, the heaviest in the state.

Vaythiri in Wayanad received 19.3 cms of rain while Peerumedu in Idukki district 18.5 cms.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also issued Orange alert on August 8 to eight districts including Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Malappuram, Kozhikode.

Thealert is also issued on August 9 to Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, Kasaragod and Idukki.

Yellow alert was issued to other districts on Saturday and Sunday.