North India is submerged. Wherever you look at and only water is visible. Rivers are in spate here. Cloudburst incidents are increasing. People are shocked and upset with the wrath of water. They are looking forward to help. Nobody thought that the floods that caused havoc in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh every year would adopt such a rage in Punjab, Himachal and Jammu this time.
Meteorological Department (Imd) Received 300–350 mm rainfall in just 72 hours at the end of August, which is about three times more than the average of this period. Officials and meteorologists have described it as the most severe flood in North India in more than four decades.
Rivers are in spate
There is an echo of the devastating flood of Punjab of 1988 in this procession. When the swollen rivers of the Indus water system submerged the agricultural land and towns on a large scale. But this time, the outbreak of nature increased even more by the joint effects of climate change, random urbanization and extreme infrastructure.
This time too, the Indus river system of Indus, Ravi, Sutlej, Jhelum, Chenab and Vyas rivers came in spate. The first threat to this Himachal Pradesh had to face it. Due to continuous cloudburst, the steep slopes of Kullu, Mandi and Kinnaur district collapsed and the rocks and debris started falling into the valleys.
Vyas and Sutlej rivers broke the embankments in many parts. More than 250 roads including some parts of the Chandigarh-Manali highway were washed away. The power projects located on Sutlej, including Vishal Nathpa Jhakri hydroelectric plant, had to be discontinued. Apple orchards of Shimla and Kullu were the most affected. The annual yield here is about 5 thousand crores.
Himachal Pradesh officials estimate that more than 10,000 hectares of horticulture land has been wasted, due to which the income of farmers has gone back at least two seasons. As of August 31, Himachal Pradesh recorded a loss of more than 220 deaths and assets worth more than Rs 12,000 crore.
Bridges collapsed in Jammu
The Chenab and Jhelum rivers in Jammu increased dangerously. In Rajouri and Poonch, the bridge collapsed like matchsticks, causing the villages to be isolated. Seeing the horrors of 2014, seeing the Jhelum river moving towards the danger mark of the Jhelum river in Srinagar, the river was submerged for weeks. Although the embankment remained strong this time, thousands of people had to be removed from there. About 40,000 houses and 90,000 hectares of paddy crop were destroyed in Jammu and Kashmir. According to government estimates, there has been a financial loss of Rs 6,500 crore.
Punjab too bad
The biggest scene of destruction was seen in Punjab. The Sutlej river is in spate due to excess water being released from Bhakra Nangal Dam. Ropar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Ferozepur became water-water. The Ghaggar and Ravi rivers increased this trouble further. By 30 August, more than 1,800 villages were submerged. 2,50,000 hectares of agricultural land was submerged and crops worth Rs 9,000 crore were destroyed.
Flood of Bihar-Puvanchal calm
This time the water in North India made the floods of Bihar and Purvanchal pacified. Otherwise, floods in these areas lived in TV and newspaper headline every year. Like every time, the water level of Ganga and Kosi river increased, but waste was reduced compared to North India.
According to the Bihar Disaster Department, it is the most flooded state in India. 76 percent of the total population here live in flood affected areas. 73 percent (about 68,800 sq km) of the state’s total geographical area falls in the flood affected area. This time too, many areas were flooded.
This time in Bihar, the devastation knocked out a few quickly. The rising water level of the Ganges not only swallowed the crops standing in the fields, but also took away the prosperity of many villages situated on the shore. Due to the increase in the water level of the Ganges river, crops were destroyed in many areas including Patna, Bhojpur, Bhagalpur. Nepal also has rain in Bihar and Purvanchal due to floods. Due to continuous rains here, the water level of Kosi river increases, which is also happening this time.
Why did such situations arise?
The thing to make this flood particularly destructive is that its eleventh with the Indus river system. Its tributaries Vyas, Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum are the lifelines of Himachal, Punjab and Jammu. The Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan in 1960 was based on the stability and forecast of these rivers. But climate change is reversing these beliefs, melting of the glacier, irregular monsoon and cloud bursting rivers are changing in such a way that those who made the treaty had never imagined. The flood in August told how much the North Indian plains are dependent on the disciplined management of dams like Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar. When the rainfall exceeds the water-flow capacity, how soon the balance deteriorates.
Meteorologists point to many factors behind the large scale of this year’s floods. The monsoon, who stayed in North India, created a conveyor belt of moisture -filled winds from the Bay of Bengal, while the Western Disturbance made new energy in this system. As a result, there was a cloud cracked in the mountains and torrential rains in the plains, due to which the rivers who were already in the melting of glaciers came to a more boom.
Himalayas are hot at double speed
Climate scientists say that such incidents used to happen once in 50 years, but now they are constantly increasing. The Himalayas are heating up at a speed of almost double the global average. The snow is melting rapidly, due to which the risk of flood is increasing. Also, the harvesting of forests, mining and wild construction on river banks and flood grounds have destroyed the natural trauma absorbers of the earth.
Urbanization has further increased the crisis. In Himachal Pradesh, hotels and houses built on the banks of the river first collapsed. There was no place for rainwater due to encroachment on drainage routes in Punjab for years. Experts say that the 3,200 km long net of drains of Punjab which was once the security shield of the state Silt and illegal construction have been blocked. In Jammu, Jhelum’s floodlands are constantly narrowing due to settlements, due to which there is very little breathing place for the river. The result of this is that a landscape is ready which is ready for disaster, where more rainfall of one week causes loss of millions of dollars.
