Punjab Floods

Why in News?

Recently, Punjab faced its worst floods since 1988 in August this year.

What are the serious issues?

• More villages affected – Waters overflowing from the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi rivers have destroyed several villages in the State.
• Early in August, the village of Dharali in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand disappeared after a deluge triggered a landslide.
• Mortality – At least 34 people died after intense rainfall lashed India-controlled Kashmir and several parts of Pakistan.
• Frequent incidents – This isn’t the first time the Indian Himalayan region has suffered such catastrophe the 2013 Kedarnath floods and the 2021 disaster in Chamoli come to mind.
• Undermining the seriousness – Experts have already said calling every heavy-rain event a cloudburst risks oversimplifying the disasters.
• Important factors – Most of these natural disasters are often a combination of two factors
  • Climate change
  • Development.

What are the disaster potential of Himalayan region?

• Unstable region – The Himalayas are the world’s youngest mountains and are high-energy environments characterised by instability and variability.

Landslides here are often triggered by heavy rainfall, slope undercutting or seismic activity.

• Prone to multiple disasters – According to ICIMOD research, the mountains are also particularly susceptible to floods, cloudbursts, glacial lake eruptions, and landslides.

• Increasing encroachments – The Hindu Kush Mountains are currently being encroached on as well as hosting more tourists, infrastructure development projects, and power generation activities.
• Insufficient EIA – The absence of proper environmental impact assessments (EIA), experts have warned that the mountains are being pushed beyond their ability to cope.
• Increasing Hydropower projects – According to the Directorate of Energy of Himachal Pradesh, there are 1,144 hydropower plants in the state.
• Uttarakhand, has 40 operational hydroelectric plants while 87 more are at various stages of planning and construction.
• Roads and other infrastructures – The Centre has also sanctioned funds to build new bridges and widen roads.
• All these construction activities entail the use of heavy equipment to cut through the mountains.
• Highways are built without any attention to how they can increase disaster potential.
• Development and climate change – Supreme Court bench observed that the proliferation of development work is joining hands with climate change to worsen the effects of rain and temperature changes.
  • For example, The apex court also issued a notice to the National Highways Authority of India following a petition that claimed 14 tunnels between Chandigarh and Manali turned into death traps during heavy rains.
• Rise in temperature – The average temperature in the Indian Himalaya is already rising faster than the global average, resulting in reduced snowfall and more snow melt.
• Rise in tourism – It has stoked a demand for land on which to build hotels, homestays, and other facilities, and that in turn has been driving local deforestation.
• Removal of native trees – When the trees are removed, the soil is in boulders which will soon erode out.
• The erosion will increase the disaster potential of the area in terms of landslides and floods in the downstream villages.
• Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) – According to ICIMOD, there were more than 25,000 classified glacial lakes in five major river basins across the Himalayas by 2018.
• This has more potential for GLOFs, placing communities and livelihoods downstream at more and more risk.

To know more about GLOFs click here

What are the observations of Supreme Court?

• Destruction of forests – Chief Justice of India called visuals of tree logs floating in flood waters in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, and Uttarakhand in the first week of September a very serious issue.
• If this goes on, we will not have any forests left.
• In Punjab, entire villages are inundated.
• Concern on Himachal – Himachal Pradesh may vanish in thin air from the map of India, if things proceed the way they are as of date.
• Development vs Sustainability – The bench also said governments shouldn’t build revenue at the cost of ecological sustainability, and blamed human activity for worsening disasters.
• Development is needed, but not at the cost of the environment and lives.
• Region based development – The development in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand can’t happen according to the same plans drafted for metropolitan cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

What measures can be taken?

• Responsible constructions– Infrastructure changes have to be done keeping in mind such climatic variations like GLOFs, landslides, and even droughts.
• Correction of courses – The Himalayas are at a tipping point, and we need an urgent course correction that balances economy and energy.
• Developing nature based solution – We need nature-based solutions with the involvement of the local communities because they know the local landscape and the hazards that come with it.
• Assessment of carrying capacity – Assessing the carrying capacity of an area before implementing any project should be carried out.
• Inclusion of Social impact assessment (SIA) – Prior to making any major interventions in the mountains, there should be clearly defined steps in terms of an honest and independent social impact assessment.

A Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is a systematic process for identifying, analyzing, monitoring, and managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of a planned project, program, or policy.

It focuses on the effects on people and communities, examining changes in their lives, culture, well-being, and social structures to ensure development is socially responsible and sustainable

• Imparting climate education – Building climate literacy amongst the locals to drive local self-governance is important.
• Building in safe zones – All the critical structures, such as hospitals and schools, must never be built in unsafe locations because they are the immediate places that house those affected by any disaster.

Reference

The Hindu| Punjab Floods