visions of hell

STH stormwatch : Cyclone Thane, first cyclone (and last) cyclone of the year in the Bay of Bengal

2011-12-30T12:04:00.001+05:30

Incredibly, as the year draws to an end, the first and most certainly the last cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal in 2011 has made landfall on the shores of Tamil Nadu.
It is just this sort of weather phenomenon that STH along with IMD (Sikkim) has established an SMS based early warning system which worked well in 2011 and which we hope to expand in 2012

At the year end , a sombre warning and a typical reaction - denial and disbelief

2011-12-27T08:29:00.005+05:30

News report on the American Geophysical Union (AGU), Fall Meeting 2011, San Francisco, 05-09Dec2011

US SEISMOLOGIST WARNS OF DEADLY KASHMIR QUAKE

Experts Call For Valley’s Micro-Seismic Zoning

Srinagar, Dec 9: A study by a prominent US based seismologist has warned that Kashmir Valley is likely to be hit by an earthquake of largest ever magnitude. But the study does not specify any particular time-frame.

However, the Kashmir based experts recommend the state government to undertake micro-seismic zoning in the Valley to minimize loss of human lives in case of any such eventuality.
The study conducted by Roger Bilham, a seismologist and professor of Geology at the University of Colorado at Boulder US, states that the major quake with magnitude 9 is likely to trigger landslides that would dam the Jhelum river, which drains from the Kashmir Valley into Pakistan.
“That could put the Kashmir Valley under water within three months - and would also threaten disastrous flooding in Pakistan if the waters were released too quickly. The two nations should develop a cooperative plan to deal with the aftermath of a Kashmir mega-quake,” Prof Bilham states in the study.
Prof Bilham states that his new Global Positioning System (GPS) data readings revealing the gradual movement of rocks in the Zanskar Mountains north of the Kashmir Valley show that earlier estimates of the maximum possible quake in the region were too low.
“In this region, the Indian plate is slowly burrowing under the Tibetan plateau. Studies on where the relative movement of the Tibetan plateau was slowest, indicates where compression is building up, and a rupture is eventually likely to occur. I expected this to be in the Pir Panchal range, to the south of the Kashmir Valley, but instead it was in the Zanskar range to the north.”
“This means that the zone likely to rupture when a quake eventually happens could be 200 kilometres wide, rather than about 80 kilometres, as was previously thought. The zone would encompass the Kashmir Valley - including the city of Srinagar, home to some 1.5 million people. If slippage occurs over a length of 300 kilometres, as is possible, a mega-quake of magnitude 9 is the likely result. Given building codes and population in the region, that could mean a death toll of 300,000 people,” the study states.
Pertinently the 9-magnitude earthquake which hit Japan on May 11 this year devastated the country.
Bilham points out in the study that seismologists have been caught out by recent mega-quakes, including the 9-magnitude Tohoku quake that hit Japan in March, by basing their estimates on historical patterns, rather than physical measurements. “I think you have to plan for the worst case,” he says.
Bilham revealed his findings at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco this week.
Prof Muhammad Ismail Bhat, former Head Department of Geology & Geophysics at the University of Kashmir said the earthquake of 9 magnitude can be catastrophic for the Valley.
“We have seen the impact of 7.6 magnitude earthquake in 2005. According to the study, a new fault has been identified in Simthan and Shopian side. It is an active fault. The problem is that we don’t have the relevant data to identify the earthquake vulnerable zones. It is high time for undertaking micro- seismic zoning across the Valley to identity the places which are vulnerable to earthquakes,” Prof Bhat said.
Prof Shakeel Romshoo, Associate Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics however, said there is no mechanism to predict earthquakes. “But it is a known fact that Himalayas in Kashmir are tectonically active and highly vulnerable to earthquakes,” he opines.
Kashmir is placed in seismic zone five, making it highly vulnerable to earthquakes. Incidentally, the Valley was hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered-Kashmir causing massive destruction of life and property in the affected areas.
In August this year, five tremors of moderate intensity were recorded in the Valley with one of them having its epicentre in Jammu and Kashmir. The earthquakes occurred from August 19 to 23 with magnitude ranging between 4.8 to 5.1.
Prof Bilham who has been studying the earthquakes in Himalayan region for past 20 years, had visited Kashmir in 2007 alongwith Dr Susan Hough of US Geological Survey, Pasadena California.
They had interacted with experts here and recommend many measures including identifying locations of future earthquakes, research effects of historical earthquakes, determine their recurrence intervals and educate common masses and people associated with construction about measures to limit losses and save lives.
However, most of the recommendations are yet to be implemented. “We don’t have funds to implement the recommendations or undertake more research on earthquakes in Kashmir. The Government only act when a disaster strikes. Till then it is in a slumber putting the lives and property of people at risk,” said a senior seismic expert of the Valley wishing anonymity.
“The State Government is not prepared to deal with any eventuality arising out the earthquakes. It is high time for the concerned authorities to take the study seriously and gear up to meet any eventuality,” he said.
When contacted officials associated with Disaster Management Cell of Kashmir refused to comment on the issue.
________________________________________________

A typical reaction to the above warning is the one given by Pakistan Meteorological Department, Director General below :-

“Talking to this scribe PMD Director General Arif Mehmood played down the findings about any major earthquake in the Kashmir region and said the recent earthquake in Haiti is a grim and embarrassing reminder that seismologists cannot predict earthquakes.
He said if anyone predicts major earthquake anywhere in the world it means he tries to over-simplify a much complicated issue because there is no evidence in the recorded history that anyone was able to rightly predict any earthquake before its occurrence. “The researchers have been doing hectic work and may be sometime in future we are able to rightly predict earthquakes but at the moment I am not ready to believe any such prediction because no science or methodology is yet available to do so,” he said.”

Comment by Praful Rao
Having just gone thru 6.9R earthquake recently and with predictions that we may expect another big one in this region , I find the above reaction of the DG, Pakistan Met Department a typical one, which I am sure we in India share whole-heartedly.
And so rather than work urgently and proactively towards disaster preparedness.we prefer to live in a world of denial and disbelief.

You may read a more about the AGU meet in San Francisco (USA) here

Earthquake activity in Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya - Dec2011

2011-12-26T16:41:00.001+05:30

As per IMD there were no earthquakes in the region in Nov2011.

Source of above report is here

Praful Rao

Something of interest : Prof Jack D Ives at ICIMOD (Mar2010)

2011-12-11T19:32:00.002+05:30

Excerpt from Sikkim NOW! (27Nov2011)

2011-12-03T15:58:00.010+05:30

Stability drastically degraded, future threats present major challenges
SIKKIM MINES & GEOLOGY DEPT SUBMITS REPORT ON IMPACT OF EARTHQUAKE ON SIKKIM’S LAND AND ROCK MASS

Study of 150 earthquake-induced slides flags 12 for urgent attention and recommends longterm measures for another 32. Disaster preparedness plans should seek out local inputs

GANGTOK, 27 Nov: With more than 150 landslides triggered off all over the State by the 18 September Earthquake, there is now genuine concern over the stability of the soil and rock formations and whether they will be able to withstand the next monsoon. Concern over the safety and security of life and property in the coming seasons has become a top priority with the State government now with the Mines & Geology Department reporting that there are likely to be numerous slides next monsoon as the slopes and hill sides have been destabilized and considerably weakened by the impact of the earthquake. Not just landslides, there is also a threat of glacial lake outbursts in North Sikkim.

According to the report, “The overall stability of land and rock mass has undergone drastic degradation. Keeping in view the changed scenario, the safety of life and properties is of great concern in years to come. The challenging task is to unravel the threat that is likely to be encountered in future.”

The report, which was recently submitted to the government, informs that numerous cracks have developed on the slopes throughout the State; with Sikkim being a terrain where landslide and slope modification process are still active, the risk and probability of earthquake induced landslides are very high.

Not just landslides, there is also the danger of mass mobilization. As the report states: “Due to the impact of recent earthquake, the risk of landslide and mass mobilization has risen to alarming stage and disaster mitigation task will be a challenging task for the future before the onset of next monsoon”.

The preliminary investigation, on which this report is based, identified more than 150 earthquake induced landslides out of which 12 landslides are reported to need urgent attention and another 32 slides identified for long term measures. It was observed by the experts during investigations that the impact of the earthquake was more pronounced on crystalline rocks mainly on its quartzites and variants with adverse slopes and on landmasses adjoining steep slopes and water-ways.

Short term measures recommended by the officials include soil compaction on fissures on landmass to minimize seepage and use of local technologies to retain unstable boulders. Apart from recommending identification of risk areas, it is also proposed that a disaster mitigation cum preparedness plan be put in place.

Importantly, it is also underlined that the involvement of local authorities and public will be vital in minimizing further threats and in coming up with local solutions. Also recommended is the creation of watch-posts or police posts at suitable places for timely rescue in road sections falling in high risk zones.

As part of long term measures, a detailed investigation of high risk zones is proposed with vulnerability of inaccessible areas to be accessed by remote sensing and high resolution aerial photographs. The investigation of these areas should be completed in advance to facilitate preparation of disaster mitigation plans ahead of the ensuing monsoon.

THE REPORT’S APPRAISAL OF NORTH SIKKIM
The Mines and Geology department has just concluded its preliminary assessment of the earthquake affected areas in the state and submitted its report to the government. A copy of the report has been accessed by NOW! The report, though preliminary and involving only accessible areas, consists of an area wise assessment of locations in the State which were affected by the earthquake of 18 September. Accordingly, some of the affected areas and slopes examined and which have been found to be posing a threat have been highlighted as areas needing urgent attention.
NORTH SIKKIM
The areas falling between Chungthang and Lachung have been found to be among the worst affected, especially the river bank slopes; besides the landmass has also been found to have developed cracks and fissures here. The area between Lema and Lempokhari experienced the worst situation and a large chunk of landmass was washed away by a flash flood which was found to be even greater than the impact caused due to glacial lake out-bursts flood of the previous century. What is of particular concern, as per the report, is the formation of near vertical slope all along the river bank and formation of cracks on the landmass. In this context the report highlights Lema, Lephkha & Bop areas as needing urgent attention.
It was also studied that the rocks here are brittle and susceptible to weathering and jointly forming geologically vulnerable zones with the recent earthquake having led to further aggravating the degradation. The report further states that “…the area being under frost and thaw environment, the chances of rock bursts at higher elevation is high”. This area needs to be further examined in detail.
The major damages at Lachung area were found to have caused due to earthquake induced flash flood with obstruction of streams by the debris from hill slope resulting in landslide in the area. “There is also apprehension of the threat of glacial lake outbursts. The glacial lakes need to be monitored on regular basis to assess the threat,” states the report.
Lachen was found to have remained comparatively safe except for the development of minor cracks on buildings; besides the Chungthang-Lachen section was also found to be subjected to development of instable zones threatening vehicular movement.
There was also a massive landslide between Lachen and Zemu; however the report states that the exact position of future threat is not known at present and that the area needs to be investigated to assess the future threat. The same goes for areas beyond Zema which also reported severe damages.
Upper Dzongu area was among the worst affected by the earthquake with villages there having taken substantial damage and many killed. Here, the report states that the rocks being brittle in nature and there is apprehension that the vulnerable zones have developed which pose threat to life and property of local people in future. However as far as slides are concerned, as most slides were found to have occurred in inhabitable areas any instability due to degradation should not have future impact on life and property, the report states.
For Lower Lingza too, it is reported that landslide and slope failure have not been noticed within the visible zones the formation of unstable landmass and rocks cannot be ruled out and the area needed further investigation.

Comment by Praful Rao
It is coincidental that this statement by Dept of Mines, Govt of Sikkim comes just days after our Workshop on "Hazards and Critical Environmental Issues of Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya" on 23Nov2011, where my talk on "5 Months to go for the next monsoons" emphasized on the very same points made above.

Emerging issues from the workshop on "Hazards and Critical Environmental issues", 23Nov2011 at Kalimpong

2011-11-27T18:42:00.023+05:30

The workshop went of very well with Shri LN Sherpa (WBCS), Sub Divisional Officer (SDO), Kalimpong as the Chief Guest, Shri Shailesh Anand (IFS), Div. Forest Officer as the Special Guest and Shri PR Pradhan, distinguished educationist of this area as the Presiding Officer. Approximately 500 people attended the workshop in the Town Hall and the workshop was widely covered in several regional dailies of the region as well as by local TV channels.
The salient issues which emerged and recommendations are placed below :-

1. Speaker : Wg Cdr Praful Rao (President , SaveTheHills)
Topic: “5 months to go for the monsoons”
Gist of talk :- Disaster Management still mired in relief-centric mode.
It was brought out by Wg Cdr Praful Rao (retd) of SaveTheHills in his presentation “5 months to go for the monsoons” that despite the Disaster Management Act 2005 and the purported “paradigm shift” in disaster management towards prevention/preparedness and mitigation, nothing has changed at the grass roots level and that management of disasters in this part of the country was still totally relief centric .
Thus, with barely 5 months left for the next monsoons in May2012 and with many areas and structures weakened by the 6.9R earthquake of 18Sep2011, virtually nothing has been initiated towards:-
a) Identifying areas which require urgent attention.
b) Prioritizing & commencing preventive work in vulnerable areas.
c) Setting up an early warning system to alert communities in this region.
d) Building capacities of vulnerable communities.
e) Improving the drainage in landslide prone urban areas and rural hamlets such as Algarah (Kalimpong subdivision) -since all the deaths caused by landslides in Darjeeling & Sikkim in 2011 took place in built-up areas and were related to drainage problems.

As such, instead of commencing landslide preventive and disaster preparedness works on a war footing to shore up our defenses before May2012 ( ie monsoon commencement), we seem to be frozen in a stupor and it is certain that we will walk into the monsoons of 2012 having wasted valuable time and in a very vulnerable state.
Recommendation : Landslide and disaster prevention/ preparedness/ mitigation works may be initiated without further delay.

2. Speaker : Wg Cdr Praful Rao (President , SaveTheHills)
Topic: “5 months to go for the monsoons”
Gist of talk : Sharing of data from non- IMetD instruments for monitoring meteorological elements (rainfall, pressure, humidity, wind etc).
While responding to a question, Wg Cdr Praful Rao brought out the fact that even though the number of automatic weather stations (AWS) and automatic rainfall gauges (ARGs) installed by the I Met D needed to be increased for better monitoring of rainfall data etc, there were already some digital monitoring instrument s installed by the following departments in the district :-
a) Sericulture dept.
b) Agriculture dept.
c) Forest dept.
d) NHPC
Recommendation : Meteorological data/information from instruments maintained by the above departments maybe shared with IMetD in order to improve the accuracy of forecasting. This information may also be uploaded onto their websites on a daily basis so that they maybe available organizations such as SaveTheHills , research scholars and institutions.

3. Speaker : Dr Malay Mukul (Dept of Earth Sciences, IIT Mumbai)
Topic : “Seismicity of the Darjeeling – Sikkim Himalaya”
Gist of talk : A Great Earthquake in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya still possible.
Dr Malay Mukul of IIT Mumbai stated the recent 6.9R earthquake in this region should not lull people to thinking another big earthquake was not expected. He said that based on GPS readings, a great earthquake measuring 7R and above was still possible and that the 18Sep2011 earthquake was just a wake up call.
In this regard, Dr Mukul cautioned people to pay due regard to building codes and standards so that it would make living safer in the mountains.
Answering a question, Dr Mukul said that urban settlements in the foothills eg Siliguri would be equally if not more susceptible to damage in the event of a great earthquake in this region due to liquefaction of the alluvial soil in the area.
Recommendation : An intense and sustained awareness campaign must be undertaken to enlighten the public regarding Dr Mukul’s observation and building codes.
Mock drills/ landslide studies maybe introduced in educational institutions.
Also, since this area is prone to earthquakes, the density of GPS stations in this area maybe increased to understand the movements of the earth and faults lines more accurately.

4. Speaker : Ms Gayatri Kharel (Structural Engineer, SHED)
Topic : “Earthquake resistant and non-engineered structures”
Gist of talk : People urged to construct earthquake resistant buildings in Darjeeling- Sikkim Himalaya.
Ms Gayatri Kharel, structural engineer, during her discourse urged people to go in for earthquake resistant structures in this region (quake proof buildings though technically possible would be exorbitantly costly).
She said there was an urgent need to make people aware about quake resistant buildings and also the fact traditional stone and masonry structures which had sustained large scale damage during the quake of Sep2011 could also be made earthquake resistant.
She also spoke about the need to retrofit existing lifeline buildings in order to make them quake resistant and also urged the administration/people to go in for load bearing tests of the soil before embarking on construction of heavy structures in the hills.
Recommendation: An intense and sustained awareness campaign be undertaken to enlighten the public regarding earthquake resistant structures.
Retrofitting of lifeline buildings maybe initiated in order to may them quake resistant.

5. Speaker : Ms Priya Shreshta (WWF, Gangtok)
Topic : “Drying springs in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya and ways to recharge them
Gist of talk : Need for water conservation and Dhara Vikas Project of Sikkim
Ms Priya Shrestha of WWF, Gangtok spoke of drying natural springs (dharas) all along the Himalayas which would result in severe water crisis in the Himalayas even as demand was skyrocketing due to burgeoning population and tourism. She said this was caused by increased runoff of rainwater due to increased urbanization and deforestation.
She described in detail the Dhara Vikas Program in Sikkim which had shown promising results in recharging underground aquifers and had increased the water outputs from springs which were drying up.
Recommendation: Natural springs are the lifeline of mountain communities and even though ambitious water supply projects (such as pumping water from Balasun river to Darjeeling and from Teesta river to Kalimpong) may solve water problems of towns, springs will continue to be the main source of water supply to the rural areas and farming communities. As such a detailed mapping of these are required with a view to determine
a) Those springs which are perennial.
b) Those which are seasonal (ie rain-fed) and dry up during the non-monsoon season.
c) Springs which have dried up due to landslides, deforestation and other human activities.
d) Studies need to be undertaken to find long term solutions to drying springs and their impact on agriculture as well as a source of potable water especially in rural areas.

6. Speaker : Mr Roshan Rai,( DLR Prerna, Darjeeling)
Topic : “Solid waste management in the Darjeeling- Sikkim Himalaya”
Gist of talk : Community awareness and responsibility as regards solid waste disposal in the hills.
Mr Roshan Rai (of DLR Prerna) urged mountain communities to be more aware about the fragile mountain environment and shoulder their share of responsibility as regards solid waste disposal. Mountain communities must learn to segregate and compost their biodegradable solid waste so as to reduce waste generated, he also said that simply throwing garbage into the nearest jhora or stream was not a solution to waste disposal. He suggested numerous ways in which people could produce less waste by making small adjustments in their life style and also urged govt authorities to provide waste treatment plants in the vicinity of large urban settlements and also linkages for recycling of solid waste products (eg there is no way in which people from Kalimpong can send used PET bottles for recycling).
Recommendation : Organizations such as DLR Prerna should be funded and tasked to carry out an intense and sustained awareness program. Solid waste treatment plants should be built in the vicinity of large mountain urban settlements.

7. Speaker : Mr GN Raha (IMetD, Gangtok)
Topic: : Trends in weather patterns in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas”
Gist of talk: Unpredictable weather patterns in the mountains would lead to more frequent disasters.
Unsettled and often unpredictable weather trends in the mountains may lead to intense bursts of rainfall which could trigger of landslides as was seen in the recent past. Mr GN Raha of IMetD , Gangtok speaking during the workshop said that there was a need to have a higher density of weather monitoring systems to improve forecasting and to provide early warning to mountain communities so that lives maybe saved.
Recommendation : An SMS based early warning system about onset of adverse weather/heavyrain, such as that which has been established by SaveTheHills in conjunction with I MetD (Gangtok) must be made available to the lay person with the text messages being sent in the local dialect.

Praful Rao

STH activities :18Nov2011

2011-11-20T14:25:00.005+05:30

STH has in the past (see 1 and 2) has had the unique privilege of hosting two seminars where Prof Leszek Starkel of Polish Academy of Sciences, Kracow, Poland and a legendary figure amongst geomorphologists, was our main speaker.

Continuing this liaison, we had two young scientists ie Dr Łukasz Wiejaczka (red jacket), hydrologist and geomorphologist and Dominik Płoskonka (extreme left) soil scientist from the same institute with us the whole day on 18Nov2011.

They along with Mr Lakhpa Tamang (PhD student from North Bengal Univ) and Ms Dipmala Gurung (MSW intern from Visva-Bharti, Shantiniketan) toured landslide affected areas on the western face of Kalimpong and also visited earthquake damaged buildings in Kalimpong town.

Praful Rao

Seminar on Disasters and Environmental issues in Kalimpong : 23Nov2011

2011-11-17T14:53:00.001+05:30

Praful Rao

GSI report on Sikkim landslides of 18Sep2011

2011-11-15T07:09:00.001+05:30

You can read the complete report here

Praful Rao

Quake report : 11Nov2011

2011-11-13T08:11:00.000+05:30

Date of Occurrence:

11.11.11

Time:

15:27:32 IST

Magnitude:

3.8

Epicentre:

Lat. 26.7°N Long.89.4°E

Region:

North Bengal (Jalpaiguri, INDIA)

Source :http://earthquakesummary.info/

Praful Rao

STH activities :Workshop at Tindharia (05Nov2011)

2011-11-06T13:58:00.001+05:30

STH would like to thank Prof Jeta Santkrityayana, (Dean, Faculty of Arts , Commerce & Law), University of North Bengal, Prof Indira Lepcha (Head of Dept of Geography) University of North Bengal, Dr Kaushik Bandopadhyay, Associate Prof Dept of Construction Engineering, Jadavpur University, for their concern, time and effort - we would also like to thank Methai Dara SHG and particularly Mr Suren Chhetri for all the effort in making the seminar a success.

Praful Rao

Quake report : 29Oct2011

2011-10-29T17:41:00.001+05:30

Date of Occurrence:

29/10/2011

Time:

06:13:41.0 HRS(IST)

Intensity:

SLIGHT

Magnitude:

3.5

Epicentre:

Lat. 27.4°N Long. 88.4°E

Region:

SIKKIM, INDIA

Source :http://www.imd.gov.in/section/seismo/dynamic/PRLMNEW.HTM

No loss of life or damage reported

Praful Rao

Affordable & effective means of erosion control/slope stabilization

2011-10-27T15:15:00.006+05:30

Whereas traditional engineering methods (such as gabion retaining walls, river training etc) and new technologies (see here) for landslide mitigation and soil erosion control are effective, most are exorbitantly costly, requiring huge investments.
Placed above are some other methods of slope stabilization which are much more affordable and therefore do-able at the community level and which are also very effective.
For those interested some more literature on use of jute geotextile and bamboo check dams for slope stabilization are here (1 & 2) and most of the 10,000 saplings of vetiver grass that we planted in the monsoons are doing well. Next year we plan large scale plantation of this grass in this area.

Photo credits : Suren Chhetri (Tindharia) and self

Praful Rao

Picture of the day :20Oct2011 (Water Crisis in Kalimpong)

2011-10-21T07:33:00.001+05:30

As the placard carried by the retired policeman suggests the water crisis in Kalimpong is largely due mismanagement, a faulty distribution system and huge amount of leakage which is never rectified - this was further exacerbated, when some pipelines were damaged by landslides in Sep2011.
Availability of potable water is already a huge crisis in many towns all over the Himalayan region as natural springs dry up due to a variety of reasons . As demands increase, due to burgeoning population and tourism, contractors supplying water from dubious & untested sources are thriving whereas little thought is being given to long term solutions to a disaster in the offing.

Praful Rao

STH stormwatch : Trouble brewing in the Bay (18Oct2011)

2011-10-18T17:07:00.001+05:30

Excerpt from IMD midday bulletin

The low pressure area over eastcentral Bay of Bengal now lies as a well marked low pressure area over eastcentral and adjoining westcentral & northwest Bay of Bengal with associated upper air cyclonic circulation extending upto midtropospheric levels. The system may concentrate into a depression during next 24 hours.

Widespread rain/thundershowers would occur over Nagaland Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
Fairly widespread rain/thundershowers would occur over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam & Meghalaya, coastal areas of Gangetic West Bengal & Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Praful Rao

Quake report : 17Oct2011

2011-10-18T10:48:00.002+05:30

Date of Occurrence: 17/10/2011

Time: 18:34:50 HRS(IST)

Intensity: SLIGHT

Magnitude: 3.5

Epicentre: 27.3 N,88.4 E

Region: SIKKIM

Source : http://www.imd.gov.in/section/seismo/dynamic/PRLMNEW.HTM

No loss of life or property reported

National level workshop on "Landslide Hazards" in Hyderabad :15-16Nov2011

2011-10-15T19:13:00.007+05:30

For more information/details on the workshop, see here

Praful Rao

All about rainfall

2011-10-14T14:10:00.002+05:30

End of the Monsoon report (excerpts from IMD report)

For the country as a whole, the rainfall for the season (June-September) was 101% of its long period average (LPA).

Seasonal rainfall was 107% of its LPA over Northwest India, 110% of its LPA over Central India, 100% of its LPA over south Peninsula and 86% of its LPA over Northeast (NE) India.

Four depressions formed during 2011 monsoon season as against the normal of 4-6 monsoon depressions per season.

The Flood Meteorological Office at Jalpaiguri (W Bengal, India) has signed off its operational watch from 14Oct2011 due to withdrawal of the SW monsoons from the Sikkim & W Bengal region.

Praful Rao

An article from 'The Hindu'

2011-10-13T10:23:00.002+05:30

Periphery shaken by Centre's neglect

Recalling the September 18 earthquake, Sikkim University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Mahendra P. Lama says the hill areas lack sensible disaster management.
Interview of Prof Mahendra P Lama, in The Hindu of today.

What are the lessons learnt from the September 18 earthquake that left a trail of devastation across Sikkim?

There are quite a few lessons we have learnt from this calamity. Firstly, our ability to cope up with natural disasters is still very nascent and limited.

We have not developed any formal institutions in this regard in the real sense of the term. More seriously, we suddenly realised that the robust system of community-based, voluntary management of natural calamities which remained the most pre-dominant phenomenon for centuries together is also fast vanishing. Today the disaster management task has become government centric whereas traditionally it used to be essentially community centric. Many of the States including Sikkim still do not have proper disaster management plans. We, therefore, must rethink our strategy.

Secondly, the communication system and other physical connectivities are also in a state of infancy despite so much of plans and projects.

Thirdly, the entire development dynamics in the mountain areas need to be reconsidered and reoriented in view of the fact that the casualties and destruction could be unprecedented and unmanageable if such calamities recur.

Fourthly, scientific studies and research on issues like seismology, hydrology, geo-morphology and the very nature and dimensions of natural disasters and their impact on the hills and mountain areas need to be strengthened and disseminated to the people at the grass roots. This has to be blended with traditional wisdom and belief about the impending disasters so that the communities are involved in disaster forewarning and management.

And finally, each disaster in the mountain areas is intensely integrated with other national interest issues including national security, physical dislocations and environmental injuries. This is more so as these theatres of disasters are located in the geo-politically sensitive border locations.

How can the challenge of roads blocked by landslips, hampering relief and rescue missions in States like Sikkim, be overcome?

Massive concrete-based development works that go in the mountain areas pose a serious threat to the carrying capacity of these roads. Unless the entire road construction contracting system is reviewed and a five-year guarantee is ensured by these road agencies with strong punitive measures; and techniques like covering toe-cutting edges of the streams and rivers down below is used, the situation is going to be more pathetic and vulnerable. All these are time consuming and demand a lot of engineering wisdom and precision.

Key agencies like the Border Roads Organisation have to rethink both the techniques and technology of road building in the mountain areas. Two very vital traditional wisdoms on road building in the hill and mountain areas have been blatantly ignored. Firstly, the road has to have a drain on the hill slope side so that the water trickling down can be channelled. Secondly, the sinking area requires very careful maintenance and rocks and mud pouring to fill up the sinks must be avoided.

The basics of disasters and their management have to be taught at the village and community levels and also in all the educational institutions.

Universities, with their colleges and other outreach programmes, could in fact be a major bastion for disaster related studies and management.

What role do you envisage for the government, people and private players for effective disaster management?

This disaster has again brought forward the critical issue of connectivity — both physical and virtual — in the Northeast and the mountain areas. This has to be seen in the context of both centre-periphery disconnects and deprivations, say between Delhi and Meghalaya, and also in the larger context of national security needs. This region provides comprehensive security to the nation. However, the blatant lack of political sagacity, absence of bureaucratic resurgence and the feebleness of the civil society to do something substantive and leap-frogging for this region has eaten into the vitals of this so-called Indian periphery.

We are not only ill-prepared but also myopic in our thought process. One accident or a small landslip could dislocate the entire national highway for hours and sometimes days together. Disasters only shake us and do not wake us up.

For us in this region, BSNL is another white elephant. It just does not want to move an inch from its routine activity and tunnel-like thinking. The role of private players in the aftermath of the earthquake needs to be thoroughly inquired. The communications stopped working when you needed it most. We need to really delve into their social responsibilities and make them sensitive and robust to cope with unforeseen calamities.

Popular perception is that the multiple dams on the Teesta have adversely affected the fragile ecology of Sikkim and induced seismicity.

Energy is required for national and local development. For that, a potential renewable source is the unharnessed rivers flowing in the mountain areas. If done properly it can transform the entire development dynamics in the region. Bhutan is a good example.

People are not against the hydel power projects as such. They are against the way these projects are done, the casualness with which the environmental impact assessment is conducted and clearances are given and the way project developers are selected. The location, size and scale of these projects, the knowledge and experience of these project developers, the capability of project regulating agencies and the way projects have been designed and the technology used have been questioned all across the fragile Himalayan ecology. Unfortunately, in many cases these issues come up for public discussion only in the aftermath of disasters.

What are the short-term and long-term impacts of the disaster on Sikkim's economy and growth prospects and what needs to be done now?

The short-term impacts are, of course, the scar on ordinary people's psychology about the fear of recurrence; the time and resources taken to rebuild the devastated areas; disruption in the flows of tourists and other productive activities; and the disengagement of governmental machineries from their regular delivery systems and governance. The long-term impacts are more in the form of formidable challenges in terms of material and service demands on the State and the government; reorienting the development strategies; refurbishing and implementing the building regulations and proper urban planning; checking on the quality of construction works; integrating the system with agencies like BRO and GREF and several other central agencies like the Geological Survey of India.

Praful Rao

Look, Ma! - no Cyclones!

2011-10-08T10:42:00.004+05:30

Cyclones, depressions and low pressure areas which form in the Bay of Bengal usually cause periods of intense, heavy downpours which result in landslides in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas. As such STH has been plotting/tracking these phenomena on the Internet for some time now (see 1, 2, 3, 4 & so on) .

A record of the cyclones which brewed up in the Bay of Bengal in 2010 (with date and surface wind) is placed above and what is absolutely amazing is that in 2011, we have not had a single cyclone forming in the Bay till date and the number of depressions which have formed is also below normal.
All this when the Philippines has been hit by 3 major back-to-back typhoons within the last one week!
But then our cyclone season lasts upto December ....
For those interest please find below the Classification of bad weather phenomenon as per the IMetD :-

Classifications of cyclonic disturbances for the north Indian Ocean region are given below:-

Weather system Maximum wind speed

1. Low pressure area…………………..Wind speed less than 17 kt (31 km/h)

2. Depression………………………….. Wind speed between 17 and 27 kt (31 and 51 km/h)

3. Deep Depression…………………….Wind speed between 28 and 33 kt (52 and 61 km/h)

4. Cyclonic storm ……………………….Wind speed between 34 and 47 kt (62 and 88 km/h)

5. Severe cyclonic storm……………… Wind speed between 48 and 63 kt (89 and 118 km/h)

6. Very severe cyclonic storm…………Wind speed between 64 and 119 kt (119 and 221 km/h)

7. Super cyclonic storm ………………..Wind speed 120 kt (222 km/h) and above

Praful Rao

From the Bengal Post - The Earth shook & all hell broke loose

2011-10-05T16:52:00.015+05:30

The Sikkim Earthquake is a prelude to bigger disasters. Constructing even concrete houses in the region is fraught with risks.

The Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya sits in a seismically high-risk zone. This was a fact that almost everyone in the hills has known fora while. However, there is no record of any great earthquake (less than7.0 Richter scale magnitude) in the history of the Darjeeling-SikkimHimalaya. This led to a sense ofcomplacency in the hills and urbanisation and development mushroomed. The “Ikra” Assam type houses gave way to “plainstype” flat- roofed multi-storeyed concrete houses that were more often than not built by slicing-up hill-slopes like “tosh-roti” (bread) or on precariously balanced stilts on hill slopes. Those who were aware shivered at the very thought of a great earthquake occurring in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya and collectively yelled from every available roof-top about the earthquake hazard and the associated disaster we were like to face.

Nevertheless, dams are being built on the Teesta, tunnels are being driven deep into the hills of Darjeeling-Sikkim based on the fact that the largest earthquake that the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya recorded before September 18, 2011 was of a magnitude of 6.2 earthquake on November 19, 1980 which did not cause much damage. As Seismic Zonation is done on the basis of the highest magnitude earthquake recorded in a region, the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya was put at IV rather than V.
This made sense till the mid 1990s when Global Positioning System (GPS) came along and changed the whole game. The Global Positioning System allows us to measure positions on the surface of the earth very accurately and also determine how much the point is getting displaced over time. This information gets translated into surface velocities that give us an insight into how the ground is moving even when earthquakes are not being recorded. GPS measurements tell us that India is moving like a car towards Northeast at about 5 cm/year and slamming into a wall-like Tibet in extreme slow-motion along the Himalayan boundary that decelerates it from 5 cm/year at Bangalore to 4.7 cm/year in North Sikkim; the Himalaya is the front end of this colliding and continuously crumpling car. The difference of 0.3 cm of motion is being absorbed into the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya as strain energy every year since millions of years. The accumulated strain keeps getting released as earthquakes when it crosses a particular threshold determined by the strength of the rocks. Given this fact, not experiencing a great earthquake is not good news. It merely points to the fact that the strain that has gone into the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya has not been released in a significant manner.

The front-end of the colliding car has not finished crumpling! Every new crumple results in a major earthquake. This is the backdrop against which the September 18, 2011 earthquake occurred.
The good: There were a number of good things about this earthquake. First, its epicentre was located in the Kanchenjunga Range far away from populated regions and not in Mangan. So, the location of the epicentre was fortuitous. Second, the earthquake was a moderate 6.9. Not quite a great earthquake but, as Bharat Mani Pradhan put it, “Powerful enough to shake us and hopefully stir us into some action”. The third good thing about this earthquake was that it was a strike-slip earthquake which is basically similar to the motion of rubbing your hands when held vertically. In terms of the colliding car, it was not a new crumple developing in its front end but just a big scrape on its side during the process of frontal head-on collision.

Would the scrape on its side slow its forward motion and prevent new crumple zones from developing? That is a question that future GPS measurements will be able to address. For now, we have to view this earthquake as a wake-up call and get our act straight.
The bad: It is obviously the confirmation of our worst fears and the resultant death and destruction that was caused by the earthquake.

Reinforced cement concrete (RCC) buildings are bad in seismically active zones. The risk of having concrete over our head was established beyond doubt for Darjeeling- Sikkim during this earthquake. Earthquakes also trigger landslides and the double whammy of earthquakes and landslides is something we have to be aware of, expect and plan for in Darjeeling-Sikkim. The less we mess around with intact rock in widening roads or tunnelling deep into the mountains, the better. The fact that tunnels collapsed in Chungthang and multiple landslides impeded the ability to transport relief and rescue teams has to be viewed with extreme seriousness. An honest evaluation of the performance of the dams during the earthquake must be carried out to assess how they will behave when earthquakes of higher magnitude strike the Darjeeling-Sikkim hills. Will the dams increase the speed of our colliding car and cause it to crumple sooner? That is again a question that needs to be revisited in the aftermath of September 18, 2011. The earthquake has forced us to address some tough question sooner rather than later.
The ugly!: This has to be the realisation that we are grossly under prepared to tackle a calamity that would descend upon us if a great earthquake with an epicentre in the Teesta Valley would strike us. Also, it confirms what GPS results are telling; the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya is continuously getting strained and it is only a matter of time before we get a great earthquake. The ugly truth of the situation is that we cannot predict earthquakes in human time-scales because the processes in the earth operate in a super-slow mode spread over millions of years. However, science is letting us know that we are overdue for a great earthquake in our space. The other ugly part of the situation is that a vast majority of us have already committed our lifetime’s savings into constructing the spacious and “pucca” RCC dream houses. Can we financially afford to abandon the houses that we have built even after the realisation that we may be living in buildings that may end up being tombs? Like it or not, we have to make very tough personal decisions. We have to decide if we want to risk it all and continue to live in our RCC houses and hope that we can find a “triangular space of life” in our collapsed concrete structures when the big ones strikes. A real “Ram Bharose” or “whatever will be, will be” existence as Wing Commander Prafulla Rao put it. The other choice is to cut our losses and go back to not having concrete over our heads. That is the tough and ugly personal choice each and every one of us will have to make. The least we can do is to not build any new concrete over our heads and keep the earthquake hazard in mind when making decisions on all future developmental activities in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya. We owe it to each and every person who had to sacrifice their lives on September 18, 2011 to give us this wake-up call and this lesson. This has to be the lasting legacy of this tragic event and the best way to pay our respects to those who were taken away from us on September 18, 2011.

- Published in the Editorial of Bengal Post (04Oct2011)

Dr Malay Mukul is an ex-student of
Dr Graham’s Homes, Kalimpong & is presently
Associate Professor,
Department of Earth Sciences,
IIT (Mumbai)

Praful Rao

To insure or not to insure (your home)

2011-10-01T14:35:00.010+05:30

One of the after effects of the 18Sep2011 earthquake in our area will be that the insurance companies will be thronged by people who will want to insure their homes or buildings against earthquakes and maybe landslides. This is a good thing and I strongly advise insurance of homes and assets.
However, a word of caution - insurance companies can be tricky people and not all of us have the time or patience to read the small print in the "terms and conditions", so more often we end up signing on the dotted line and leaving the rest to the insurance agent.
Having had personal experience of this earlier, here are some words of advice :-

If possible visit the insurance company office, talk with the Branch Manager and ask him to send an agent who is responsible and a good service provider.
When the agent arrives, confirm that the insurance policy covers landslide and earthquake damage. (A reputed insurance company representative told me last week that they may stop insurance against these hazards in this area since we are in a high risk zone and they would lose large sums of money if they continued the insurance)
Confirm that the retaining walls of the house/building will also be covered by the insurance.
Check the depreciation that will be levied on your building/structure and be sure that old buildings will be valued at considerably less than what you might think!
While filling up the insurance papers, be specific and list each building/structure separately – with dimensions.
Some companies require details of contents of the building/home to be listed out before insuring –provide this information if necessary.
Ask the insurance agent about the procedure to be followed in case of claim :-

o An FIR is to be made at the police station immediately after damage.

o Land ownership documents and site plan will be required.

o Approved building plan also will be required.

When your building is damaged, intimate damage on telephone and writing immediately to the agent and Insurance Company office. DO NOT START REPAIRS.

Photograph all damages and cracks with a camera which has a date stamp.

On getting your intimation, the company will send a representative to assess the damage. Discuss the claim procedure with him and commence repairs only after getting his clearance. Go thru the claim form that he hands over to you and clarify any doubts. You will require an engineer to be available to prepare an estimate of the costs.

Comment by Praful Rao
Would appreciate any comment on the above since financial wizardry is not exactly my forte...

Will there be another big earthquake tonight? plus this and that...

2011-09-28T11:25:00.004+05:30

Judging by the periodicity of occurrence of mega-quakes shown above, it is extremely unlikely that a big quake will occur here in the near future.
So those who are busy spreading rumors about another big one rattling us tonight, just shut up and let ordinary people get on with their lives and more importantly, let the relief and reconstruction work go thru without people jumping out of their skins at the slightest noise or vibration by a passing vehicle.
And there is no volcano in north Sikkim (despite the hot springs which exist there) so where is the question of one erupting ?
What is far more likely to happen is, there will be landslides if it rains the way it did two days ago (yes! the monsoons are still active in this region and the cyclone season in the Bay of Bengal lasts upto Nov - see here). The reason for this is obvious :-

The soil is absolutely saturated after almost 5 months of rain.
Many places are cracked and weakened by the recent 6.9 Richter earthquake and are likely to crumble in intense, heavy downpours.

So with all our buildings and homes cracked and damaged, I think we all learnt a lesson and should get our home insured as soon as possible, right?
Wrong!
What I was told by an insurance company representative is that most probably insurance companies will stop insurance against earthquakes and maybe landslides too in this region (since it makes poor business sense to insure property in a high risk area).
So before you dole out the premium to the insurance agent, just turn the page and check the fine print – you might just end up insuring your house against fire and theft only !

Praful Rao

Image of the day (26Sep2011)

2011-09-26T20:32:00.005+05:30

48hr rainfall statistics of Darjeeling
26Sep2011 - 44mm
25Sep2011 - 37mm

Impact on Education
Since the landslide makes the school, St Joseph's School, North Point, virtually unapproachable by taxis and conventional transport, the administration has declared an extended Puja festival vacation from today (26Sep2011) until 17Oct201.
Mt Hermon School, in the same area, is another institution which will decide on whether they should close early.

Praful Rao

Photo credit : Mr Mohan Lama (Darjeeling)

STH storm watch : Bad news - Low pressure west of Darjeeling / Sikkim

2011-09-26T11:30:00.004+05:30

I have been tracking this depression/low pressure since 22Sep2011 (see here). After moving inland on 22Sep, it has somehow swerved towards us and now lies to the west of us (red dot). As per meteorologists the system is likely to move in a northeasterly direction and may come over the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya which has already had heavy and incessant rain for 24hrs. This is certainly bad news for us, who are struggling to cope with the aftermath of the 6.9 Richter EQ of 18Sep2011 and also because the heavy rain is coming down on earth which is thoroughly saturated after 5 months of rain.
I urge all readers of this blog from this region to remain updated about the movement of the system from this page.
Rainfall in Kalimpong for the past two days has been :-

26Sep2011 - 28mm till 11.30am
25Sep2011 - 52mm
24Sep2011 - 31mm

Praful Rao

Images from Kalimpong : 6.9 Richter Earthquake on 18Sep2011

2011-09-23T15:24:00.001+05:30

Praful Rao

STH storm watch : Depression in the Bay of Bengal, 22Sep2011

2011-09-22T14:04:00.001+05:30

Since most of the landslides in this region are rain-induced, it is our business to keep a close track of developments in Bay of Bengal in order to give early warning of adverse weather.

Placed below is the Infra -Red image of a depression in the Bay along with the IMetD forecast.

“The well marked low (WML)over Nothwest Bay off Orissa-West Bengal coast has further concentrated into a Depression over North Orissa -West Bengal Coast and lay centered this morning at 0830 hrs IST near latitude 21.5 deg North and longitude 87.5 deg East. 50 km SSE off Digha and 50 km ESE off Balasoere. The system likely move West Northwest direction and cross coast between Balasore and Digha by today evening dated 22.09.11.”
- Source http://imd.gov.in

Praful Rao

Detailed report from IMetD on Earthquake (M:6.8),18Sep2011 in Sikkim-Nepal border

2011-09-22T06:23:00.009+05:30

An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 occurred on 18th September at 18:11 hrs IST in Sikkim-Nepal Border region. The preliminary hypo-central parameters of this earthquake, as estimated by the Seismic Monitoring Network of India Meteorological Department (IMD) are given below:

Date of occurrence : 18/09/2011

Time : 18:11 hrs (IST)

Magnitude : 6.8

Focal depth : 10 Km

Epicentre

Latitude & Longitude : 27.7o N & 88.2 o E

Region : Sikkim-Nepal Border region.

The event, which comes under the category of “Moderate earthquake”, was also reported widely felt in Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, northern parts of West Bengal, Bihar, parts of other eastern and northern regions of India. The epicentre lies in a seismically known and active belt called, Alpide-Himalayan seismic belt. The location of the earthquake is shown on the seismicity map of Sikkim and neighbouring areas given at Annexure-1. The main shock was followed by a few aftershocks. A list of aftershocks of magnitude 3.0 and above recorded till 09.30 hours IST of 19th September, 2011, is given below. It may, however, be mentioned that the magnitude and frequency of aftershocks will reduce with the passage of time.

S.No.	Date	Time of aftershocks Hr:Min (In IST)	Magnitude
1	18.09.2011	18 :42	5.3
2	18.09.2011	19:24	4.6
3	18.09.2011	20:35	3.0
4	19.09.2011	00:57	3.4
5	19.09.2011	03:21	3.8

The earthquake source parameters have been disseminated to all concerned state and central government agencies related with initiating relief and rescue operations in the region. The information is also put on IMD‟s website for public use. The aftershock activity is being continuously monitored and information on significant aftershocks is being transmitted to all the concerned agencies.

The source parameters of the event are estimated using data of a total of 77 seismic stations in India and across the globe spread more or less in all azimuths (Annexure-2). The details of various magnitude estimates are given in Annexure-3. The preliminary faulting mechanism of the subject earthquake, as estimated through Centroid Moment Tensor (CMT) and Moment Tensor (MT) solutions are given in (Annexure- 4 & -5). The faulting mechanism indicates reverse faulting associated with the tectonic processes related to the collision of Indian and Eurasian plates along the major thrusts in the region. The centroid moment depth indicated by the CMT solution (10 km.) for the present event matches well with the hypo-central estimates. The CMT and MT solutions are obtained from waveform modelling making use of Body and Surface waves respectively.The process essentially involves in simulating the synthetic seismograms by assuming a known source, path and instrumental characteristics. These synthetic seismograms are then matched with the observed ones at various stations in an attempt to arrive at the characteristics of the source, which produces the best synthetic seismograms matching with the observed ones.
2. A slight magnitude earthquake (M:3.9) also occurred at 06 hours 22 minutes IST on 19th September, 2011 in the Latur district of Maharashtra. This event is located about 1500 kms away from the epicenter of the earthquake in Sikkim-Nepal border region of 18th September, 2011 and hence felt not directly related to it.
3. Strong Motion Accelerographs (SMAs), meant for recording strong ground vibrations of the kind experienced during the subject event, are deployed by academic institutions, viz., IIT (Roorkee), IIT (Kharagpur), etc. in the Himalayan region including northeast India through sponsored projects supported by MoES. These data sets would provide valuable information for designing earthquake resistant structures in the region in future.
4. Past seismicity of the region
Historical and instrumentally recorded data on earthquakes show that the Sikkim and adjoining area lies in a region prone to be affected by moderate to great earthquakes in the past. Some noteworthy earthquakes that have affected the region are:
(i) Cachar earthquake of 10.01.1869 (M: 7.5),
(ii) Shillong plateau earthquake of 12.06.1897 (M: 8.7),
(iii) Dhubri earthquake of 02.07.1930 (M: 7.1),
(iv) Bihar-Nepal Border earthquake of 15.01.1934 (M: 8.3),
(v) Arunachal Pradesh – China Border earthquake of 15.08.1950 (M: 8.5),
(vi) Nepal-India Border earthquake of 21.08.1988 (M: 6.4)
(vii) Sikkim earthquake of 14.02.2006 (M: 5.7)
(viii) Bhutan earthquake of 21.09.2009 (M:6.2)
The Sikkim and adjoining region is known to be part of the seismically active region of the "Alpide-Himalayan global seismic belt", with four great earthquakes of the world of magnitude 8.0 and above occurring in this region. The occurrence of earthquakes in the region is broadly associated with the tectonic activity along well known faults in the Himalayas, namely, Main Boundary Thrust (MBT), Main Central Thrust (MCT). Other prominent geological / tectonic features in and around Sikkim include: Tista lineament, Kunchenjunga lineament, Purnea-Everest lineament, Arun lineament and Dhubri fault in the southeast.
In the seismic zoning map of India prepared under the auspices of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS code IS: 1893: Part I 2002), by a committee of experts representing various scientific institutions including India Meteorological Department (IMD), the entire area of Sikkim lies in Zone IV. The seismic Zone IV is broadly associated with seismic intensity VIII on the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale. It may be mentioned that the seismic intensity VIII on MMI scale corresponds to a horizontal ground acceleration range of 51-350 cm / sec2 or an average acceleration of 172 cm / sec2 in any direction. The ground acceleration and hence the intensity of an earthquake at a place depends on magnitude of earthquake, distance from the focus, duration of earthquake, type of underlying soil and its damping characteristics and liquefaction potential. The damage to the buildings founded on soft soil or filled up earth is higher than that in the similar type of buildings having their foundation on hard bedrock. Also, the damage will be higher for higher magnitude and long duration earthquakes, less epicentral distance soft soil conditions and areas with high liquefaction potential.
Presently, there is no scientific technique available anywhere in the world to predict occurrence of earthquakes with reasonable degree of accuracy with regard to space, time and magnitude. It is, therefore suggested that appropriate steps may be taken to ensure that the dwellings and other structures in the region are designed and constructed as per guidelines laid down by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to minimize the losses caused by earthquakes. The choice of seismic factor to be adopted for designing and engineering the structures depends on horizontal ground acceleration and various other factors including type of structures, the ground conditions and also importance of structures. For important and critical structures, site specific spectral studies have to be carried out before assessing the seismic design parameters. Suitable seismic design parameters may be adopted as per recommendations of National Committee on Seismic Design Parameters (NCSDP) for designing and engineering Hydroelectric Projects.
5. Causes of earthquakes
Earthquakes are the result of a process, wherein the underground rocks suddenly break, along a plane of weakness called „fault’, when the prevalent stresses exceed the elastic strength of the rock. The buildup of stresses and subsequent release of the strain energy in the form of earthquakes is a continuous process, which keeps repeating in geological time scale. A number of theoretical assumptions that explain the forces, which cause accumulation of stresses inside the earth include: drifting of continents and mountain building process, shortening of Earth‟s Crust due to cooling and contraction, disturbance of mass distribution on the Earth‟s surface as a result of erosion of high lands and deposition of sediments in the sea and generation of heat by radioactive material inside the Earth‟s Crust.
6. Classification of earthquakes
Based on magnitude (M), earthquakes may be classified as Micro- (M<3.0), Slight- (M:3.0 -4.9), Moderate- (M:5.0-6.9), Great- (M:7.0-8.0) and Very great- (M>8.0). Earthquakes may also be classified as shallow-focus, intermediate-focus and deep-focus depending upon their focal depths. Shallow-focus earthquakes, which constitute about 80% of total energy release on the globe, have their foci at a depth between 0 and 70 km. and occur along collision and subduction zones, oceanic ridges and transform faults. Intermediate-focus earthquakes (focal depth between 71 and 300 km.) and deep-focus earthquakes (focal depth greater than 300 km.) occur in subduction zones, such as Andaman-Nicobar island region and northeast India. Most earthquakes originate within the crust and beneath the Moho, the number falls abruptly and dies down to zero at a depth of about 700 km. On an average, it is expected that about two earthquakes of M~8.0, ~20 earthquakes of M~7.0, ~100 earthquakes of M~6.0 and ~3000 earthquakes of M~5.0 are likely to occur every year over the globe. A list of significant earthquakes in the recent past in and around India is given below:

Uttarkashi earthquake of October 20, 1991 (M: 6.6).

Latur earthquake of September 30, 1993 (M: 6.3).

Jabalpur earthquake of May 22, 1997 (M: 6.0).

Chamoli earthquake of March 29, 1999 (M: 6.8).

Bhuj earthquake of January 26, 2001 (M: 7.7).

Sumatra earthquake of December 26, 2004 (Mw:9.3)

Muzaffarabad earthquake of October 8, 2005 (Ms:7.6)

7. Seismic Zoning of India
Bureau of Indian Standards [IS-1893 (Part-1): 2002], based on various scientific inputs collected from a number of agencies, has grouped the country into four seismic zones, viz. Zone-II, -III, -IV and –V. Of these, Zone V is seismically the most prone region, while zone II is the least. The Modified Mercalli (MM) intensity, which measures the impact of the earthquakes on the surface of the earth, broadly associated with various zones is as follows:
               Seismic Zone MM Intensity
              II (Low intensity zone) VI (or less)
              III (Moderate intensity zone) VII
              IV (Severe intensity zone) VIII
              V (Very severe intensity zone) IX (and above)
Broadly, Zone-V (12% of land) comprises of entire northeastern India, parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, parts of North Bihar and Andaman & Nicobar islands. Zone-IV (18%) covers remaining parts of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, Union Territory of Delhi, Sikkim, northern parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, parts of Gujarat and some portion of Maharashtra near the west coast and Rajasthan. Zone-III (27%) comprises of Kerala, Goa, Lakshadweep islands, remaining parts of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal, parts of Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Karnataka. Zone-II (43%) covers remaining parts of the country.
8. Seismic Hazard and Risk Microzonation
Microzonation is the process of dividing a geographic domain into small units of likely uniform hazard level and nature. This classification is done based on Geoscientific, Geotechnical, Seismological and Engineering seismological parameters. The Hazard micro zone map is transformed into seismic risk microzonation map with inputs on Vulnerability of Built environment and Anthropological / Sociological inputs. As earthquake prediction is not possible precisely in time and space, seismic Hazard microzonation provides an important tool for generating parameters for site specific structural designing, land use planning and disaster mitigation. Seismic microzonation studies have been completed for Delhi (1:50,000 scale), Guwahati (1:25,000 scale), Sikkim (1:25,000 scale) and Bangalore city (1:25,000 scale). Microzonation map for NCT of Delhi is further being refined at 1:10,000 scale. It is planned to take up microzonation studies for all State Capitals and cities with a population density of half a million lying in Zones III, IV and V. The work will be taken up in phased manner and 30 cities have been indentified to start with. In this connection, detailed guidelines have been prepared for standardization of procedures / methods for adoption taking up these studies.
9. Disaster mitigation
Loss of lives during an earthquake is mostly due to damage or collapse of houses/ structures. However, any structure can bear the vibration from an earthquake if it has enough strength and sturdiness. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has published criterion for construction of
earthquake resistant structures. The design of structure should be such that the whole structure behaves as one unit at the time of vibration rather than assemblage of parts. Important structures like hospitals, fire stations etc. should be made earthquake resistant. However, it is not economical to demolish and reconstruct most of the poorly built structures; for such poorly built structures BIS has prepared guidelines for their retrofitting. In addition to this, HUDCO & BMTPC have also published guidelines and brochures for construction and retrofitting of buildings. Further, losses due to earthquakes can be considerably reduced through proper planning and implementation of pre- and post-disaster preparedness and management strategies by respective state government agencies by working out the possible earthquake effects for various seismic zones.
10. National Program on Earthquake Precursors (NPEP)
It is now recognized that earthquake generation processes are so complex and site specific that often, no two different tectonic environments behave in similar manner in terms of providing clues about the ongoing physical processes in the earthquake source region. It is, thus, necessary to adopt an integrated approach of generation, assimilation and analyses of a variety of earthquake precursory phenomena in critical seismotectonic environments in the country in a comprehensive manner. Towards meeting this objective, a National Program on Earthquake Precursors (NPEP) has been initiated recently by MoES through a multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary mechanism. As part of this, a suite of Multi-Parametric Geophysical Observatories (MPGOs) have been set up at Ghuttu, Shillong and Koyna to monitor various earthquake precursory phenomenon such as, seismicity patterns, crustal deformations, gravity anomalies, electrical resistivity changes, electromagnetic perturbations, water level changes, geo-hydrochemical changes, Radon and Helium anomalies and thermal anomalies, etc. Preliminary analyses of these data sets have provided useful leads on the ongoing tectonic processes in the Koyna-Warna region. It is proposed to intensity these investigations during the XII FYP.
11. Deep drilling program in Koyna region
The Koyna Dam located in Maharashtra, western India is the most outstanding example of Reservoir Triggered Seismicity (RTS), where triggered earthquakes have been occurring in a restricted area of 20x30 sq km since the impoundment of Shivajisagar Lake in 1962. These include the largest triggered earthquake of M~6.3 on Dec 10 1967, 22 earthquakes of M>5, about 200 earthquakes of M~4, and several thousand smaller earthquakes since 1962. Considering the importance of deep borehole investigations, it is proposed to undertake a suite of observations in deep borehole(s) in the Koyna area. The work will be carried out in collaboration with ICDP and the observations will include stress regime, pore fluid pressure and its variations, heat flow and its variation, orientation of faults, study of chemical properties of fluids, before, during and after earthquake. The proposed investigations through the borehole will facilitate i) observation and analysis of data, generated through the operation of borehole for 4-5 year of time, when it is anticipated that a few earthquakes of magnitude ~3 would occur in the immediate vicinity of borehole, ii) continuous observation to study the data in the far and near field of the earthquake and temporal variation w.r.t. occurrence of earthquake and iii) development of a model of RTS mechanism.
12. The critical structures viz., nuclear power plants and dams in the country are designed taking into consideration the past seismicity and the expected ground motions in the region, estimated through a detailed site specific analysis using probabilistic and deterministic approaches carried out by earthquake engineering community.
13. Efforts are being made to improve the understanding of earthquake processes and their impacts towards better management and mitigation of the effects of earthquakes in future. A document detailing the proposals planned to be taken up during the XII FYP is attached for kind information.

My thanks to Mr GN Raha of IMetD (Gangtok) for this report, the pdf version is here

Praful Rao

6.9 Richter Earthquake in Darjeeling - Sikkim Himalayas : The Kalimpong Chapter

2011-09-20T21:22:00.005+05:30

Rainfall data of Kalimpong from 14Sep -19Sep2011.

14Sep - 16mm
15Sep - 57mm
16Sep - 25mm
17Sep - 11mm
18Sep -114mm ( mostly from 9am to 2.30pm) . The quake hit us at 6.10pm
19Sep - 14mm
Total rainfall from 14-19Sep2011 - 237mm
Average rainfall for Sep (Darjeeling district) - 388mm ( Source http://imd.gov.in)

Thus we received approx 61% of the monthly rainfall in just 6 days and the quake struck us barely 4 hrs after a spell of very heavy rainfall.

Fact Sheet :-
As on date there were 4 fatalities in Kalimpong caused directly or indirectly by the quake.
There has been huge damage to infrastructure all over Kalimpong sub-division with most of the damage being to older type homes/ buildings.

Why we escaped :-
The quake lasted barely 20secs.
The first 10days of Sep2011 was more or less dry hence despite the heavy rain (see above), there were no major earthquake-induced landslides.
The timing (6.10pm IST) of the quake ensured that all were wide awake and that we could help each other.
There was absolutely no rain during or after the quake so we could wait for some hours in the open for the after shocks to get past.
On 18Sep2011 night (after the quake), it was cool outside and not the depth of winters when we would have frozen while remaining out doors.

What did not work :-
Cell phones :- They just went dead and for hours we could not get any news from any one.
The reasons could be technical malfunction or congestion on the lines with too much traffic from anxious people.
Possible solution 1 :- Making people aware about making short, precise calls and avoid jamming the networks with long avoidable chats.
Possible solution 2 :- Use land line phones where possible.
Power supply :- Whether intentional or accidental, the power blinked off so we were left with what ever backup systems (battery powered inverters) we had and sooner than later they also packed up leaving us in the dark.
Possible solution 1 :- Solar powered backup lights.
Possilbe solution 2 :- See "What worked" below.
Internet -Never the most dependable or stable means of communication - the net also packed up.

What worked :-
The warmth of people who helped, cared and phoned or called.
The much forgotten and neglected Kerosene hurricane lamps.
Candles and matchsticks.
Warm clothes.
Transistor radio.
A hot meal!

What we could do better and lessons learnt
Never assume it cannot happen to us.
Learn to be self reliant and try to survive the disaster and 3 days after without external help.
Get a family survival kit ready.
Get the community involved - they are the weakest link which could transpose into the strongest one.
Make a disaster management plan at the family and community level and REHEARSE the plan with all members ie go thru mock drills!
Don't spread rumors - no one knows when the next quake will occur, but being prepared will help.

Praful Rao

The 2nd Indian Landslide Congress (2ILC), Guwahati, 15-16Sep2011

2011-09-18T13:57:00.001+05:30

We attended the 1st Indian Landslide Congress in Lucknow last year and it was again a unique privilege to attend the second one in Guwahati, in the state of Assam, on the 15-16Sep2011.
The Congress was the initiative of Indian Landslides (NIIM, Shillong) with Dr RK Avasthy (former Director, Geological Survey of India) as the convenor - and it was backed to the hilt by NEC member, Shri PP Shrivastav (IAS).
There were 24 presentations made in 4 technical sessions and what emerged from the Congress was :-

Recognition that landslides are perhaps the most devastating of disaster forms (because of its frequency of occurrence and destruction of life and property) and also the most neglected - as such the necessity to give it much more importance.
The North East India had along with landslides, multiple hazards such as earthquakes which could trigger landslides and hence the necessity of developing a holistic strategy to combat these hazards.
All the north eastern states (ie the 7 sisters and the lone brother ie Sikkim) were supposed to submit the geographical location and details of two major landslides which were impacting human lives and property to the Member, NEC (Shri PP Shrivastava, IAS) by 31Oct2011. Further analysis of these landslides with respect to early warning and landslide prediction would be undertaken by IIT Mumbai under the stewardship of Prof TN Singh.
I am glad to say that they have agreed to include 2 landslides from Darjeeling district also even though the district is in West Bengal and as such not a part of NEC. I shall be forwarding the required details to Member NEC soon.

My grateful thanks to Dr RK Avasthy, Convener of the 2ILC and Shri PP Shrivastava (IAS), Member, North Eastern Council (NEC) for organizing this congress and bringing to focus what is a long neglected issue.

Praful Rao

Rainfall data and landslide report - Aug2011

2011-09-06T16:51:00.002+05:30

Rainfall was more or less normal for all three towns in the district with Kurseong again receiving the heaviest rain. The only landslide which took place in Darjeeling was in the town on 24/25Aug2011 with no casualties. It was a different in west Sikkim where a landslide killed 3 during the heavy downpour of the same period. In both cases it was not only the heavy rainfall which caused the landslides - anthropogenic factors such as road construction and lack of drainage were also the main causative factors.
Regrettably, I could not get either the rainfall data nor photos from the landslide in West Sikkim

Praful Rao

Garbage dump landslides

2011-09-02T16:17:00.001+05:30

You can read more about the garbage dump landslide in the Philippines in Dr David Petley's blog here and I have covered the Alaichikhop landslides in this blog here

Landslide in Darjeeling town (25Aug2011)

2011-08-25T17:25:00.000+05:30

What is worth noting is that we have not have continuous heavy showers in this region in Aug2011 and as such we have had virtually no major landslides during this month in Darjeeling district.
Also, it was extremely fortunate that the above landslide took place sometime past midnight this morning and as such we had no casualties in an area (located below the famous, heritage Windamere Hotel) which is otherwise thronging with tourists and pedestrians all thru the day.

Rainfall in Darjeeling on 24Aug2011: 129mm
Rainfall in Kalimpong on 24Aug2011 : 6mm
Rainfall in Gangtok on 24Aug2011 : 7mm

Photo Credit : Mr Mohan Lama, Darjeeling

Praful Rao

A quick way to check the weather : Google Maps

2011-08-22T07:43:00.003+05:30

Google has just updated the Google Maps with a weather overlay that provides users with current weather condition around the world and forecasts for the next five days as well.
All one has to do is go to our area of the world and select the weather layer on the top right hand corner of the page to get the picture shown above.
The weather reports on Google Maps’ are sourced from weather.com and U.S. Naval Research Lab empowers the feature that shows cloud coverage on the map.
For people who want a more detailed satellite images and forecast I still suggest the IMD website

Praful Rao

A great NEW website from IMD

2011-08-09T15:24:00.000+05:30

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) website and its many links provides a wealth of information about rainfall throughout the country along with satellite images - the latter being useful for early warning about the onset of adverse weather phenomena.
I just came across a NEW (judging by the number of hits till date) website which give updates from the numerous Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) and Automatic Rainfall Gauges (ARGs) installed by the IMD all over the country. It is great to have such tools to monitor weather and rainfall. The website is here

Praful Rao

Rainfall data July 2011

2011-08-07T11:21:00.003+05:30

Since most landslides in our area are rain induced, keeping a tab of the rainfall in the Darjeeling district is one of our roles.
In Jul2011 in keeping with the clear trend which is emerging, Kurseong received the heaviest rain followed by Darjeeling and then Kalimpong. Mercifully, few landslides ( see here and here )were recorded and there were no fatalities.
Starting August we will include the rainfall data of Gangtok also in the above chart.

Praful Rao

Landslide update (Darjeeling- Sikkim Himalaya) : 20Jul2011

2011-07-20T20:10:00.001+05:30

The rainfall data (for the past 24hrs) from the 3 Automatic Rainfall Gauges (ARGs) at Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong reveals that it rained heaviest in Darjeeling (200mm+), followed by Kurseong (110mm+) and then by a rather dry Kalimpong (50mm).
The landslides which resulted are shown above.

Photo credits :-
Darjeeling Town - Mr Mohan Lama (Darjeeling)
NH31A - Mukesh

Praful Rao

STH activities Jul2011

2011-07-19T12:31:00.000+05:30

Praful Rao

From the Press (The Statesman) on 05Jul2011 : Move to create a safer Hills

2011-07-09T22:29:00.007+05:30

Darjeeling,5July :-
Starting from tomorrow, the newly formed disaster management committee for the Hills will survey the municipal wards and different blocks every Wednesday. The 15 member disaster management committee that was formed on 23June has members from the Darjeeling Municipality, Civil Defense, Relief department, the Public Works Dept (PWD) and Public Health Engineering (PHE).
The incessant rainfall in the hills has triggered landslides in Kurseong and other parts of the hills. Last month a landslide in Kurseong claimed 4 lives.
Recently, on a visit to the landslide affected sites, the north Bengal development minister, Mr Gautam Deb said that the disaster management system in the hills was not well equipped and lacked trained people.
"The members of the committee will make a study and inspect the municipal wards and blocks every Wednesday. Sewage, drainage system,pipelines construction of buildings will also be checked" said Gopal Rai, a civil defense official......
To create awareness among common people on disaster management issues, campaigns will be organized across the hills from 08 July starting from Takdah block, 25km from Darjeeling.
"The committee will do its best to raise awareness among the people of the hills and steps will be taken to mitigate the outcome of natural disasters....."
"Negligence of locals have often contributed to natural catastrophes, for example the recent landslide in Nepali Girls Higher Secondary School, Darjeeling took place due to the leakage of pipeline of the hotel located above the school" said the official.

Statesman News Service

STH would like to thank Compuset (Darjeeling) for the photo.

Image of the day (05Jul2011) : National Highway 31A

2011-07-05T21:08:00.003+05:30

The National Highway31A links Siliguri (in North Bengal) with Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. Today, the STH ARG installed in Kalimpong (which is almost 4000', directly above this area) recorded 80mm of rainfall, mostly between the wee hours of the morning and 1100hrs.
This was the result.

Comment by Praful Rao
Photo credit of road breach near Rangpo, Sikkim : Sikkim Express

Rainfall data Darjeeling, Kurseong & Kalimpong - June2011

2011-07-04T10:58:00.012+05:30

* - Fatal landslide at St Mary’s, Kurseong where 4 people died.

** - Rockfall at Goethal’s in Kurseong, one house damaged, one injured.

(23Jun2011) 16 Deaths at Pelling (W. Sikkim) due landslides, unfortunately rainfall data during this period at Pelling is not available.
District Wise Rainfall Distribution for some North Bengal Districts
(01.06.2011 TO 29.06.2011)
Dist                     ACTUAL      NORMAL     %DEP       CAT
                               (mm)          (mm)
Cooch Behar         369.6           643.0            -43%            D
Darjeeling              575.5          510.1             13%           N
Jalpaiguri               516.4          633.2            -18%            N
Malda                   310.9           206.3              51%           E

(Source http://www.imd.gov.in/section/hydro/dynamic/rfmaps/districtwise.htm - where
D - Deficient; N-Normal; E -Excess)

My thanks to Ms Kanta Pradhan of Compuset (Darjeeling) and Mr Bhushan Chettri (Kurseong) for the rainfall data.

Praful Rao

Milestones : Workshop on the "Role of Media in Disaster Risk Reduction" at Rumtek (Sikkim), 01-02Jul2011

2011-07-03T19:27:00.002+05:30

Comment by Praful Rao
STH wishes to thank the organizers for making the few hours that we spent at Rumtek most meaningful and memorable; we also request our friends in the Sikkim Press Club to join us in highlighting the long neglected issue of landslides in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya so that it may be viewed in the correct perspective at the national and even at the international levels.
The first day's program (01Ju2011) can be viewed here

Two Seminars in Disasters and Landslides (at Gangtok and Guwahati)

2011-06-30T11:43:00.004+05:30

Comment by Praful Rao
STH will be attending both the above seminars

Landslides in Pelling (West Sikkim) - 23Jun2011

2011-06-26T21:22:00.006+05:30

Pelling in West Sikkim, was a quaint little town, better known for its breath taking views of the Kanchenjunga ranges, the awesome beauty of the landscape which surrounds it and the numerous waterfalls.
Today, it is a tourist hotspot and as such over the recent years, multi-storey hotels and buildings have mushroomed in the town and so when it had a rather unwelcome visitor recently, people died.

A five hour torrential downpour (from approx 7.30pm to a little past midnight on 23Jun2011) in Pelling and its neighbourhood caused numerous relatively small, landslides in the region which nevertheless resulted in 16 or more deaths and again, the landslides had a familiar commonality to most of those occurring in this region in the recent past - they were related to or caused by excessive human interference in these mountains.
According to an elder citizen of Pelling, he had not seen anything like this happen for the past 70yrs!

Comment by Praful Rao
The story and photos are from a citizen of Pelling who prefers to remain anonymous.
Also jhoras are natural rivulets or drains which today are a major source of soil erosion in the region since they are charged with large volumes of high velocity surface runoff rainwater from increasing paved areas as the urban sprawl expands on the crests of mountains.

Landslides in W.Sikkim (23Jun2011)

2011-06-25T14:02:00.005+05:30

‘Secure’ house turns graveyard for 14 at Khurong Kewa Dara

Reported By Pratima Rai

GEYZING, June 24: Sixteen persons were killed in multiple slides which broke out in various places of West Sikkim yesterday night due to torrential rainfall between 8:30 pm to 11 pm collapsing the entire inter-district connectivity, power and water supply, said authorities.

The heaviest death toll was reported from Khurong Kewa Dara along Pelling-Dentam road, some 15 kms away from Geyzing, the District headquarters of West Sikkim where 14 people including an unidentified three months old toddler were buried.

Two persons were also killed by slides at separate places, Tikjuk and Lower Pelling in West District.

“Fourteen people were buried when a house in which they had taken shelter at Khurong Kewa Dara collapsed after being hit by a massive slide at around 11:30 pm. Two more persons were killed at other locations by slides”, West District Collector Santa Kumar Pradhan said.

Pradhan informed that multiple slides which broke out due to heavy rainfall between 8:30 pm and 11:30 pm have virtually collapsed the entire inter-District connectivity along with power and water crises in various parts of the District. Even the District headquarters at Geyzing is suffering from power and water supply problems.

“We are trying to restore connectivity with the rest of the State by opening the Legship-Gangtok road by evening,” said the District Collector before his mobile went off due to empty battery.

According to the details pieced from disaster management officials and local volunteers, the heavy casualty at Khurong Kewa Dara took place due to a misplace notion of security among the victims. There are some seven houses in this village and four families living in kutcha houses had taken shelter in a two-storied wooden house belonging to Indra Maya Gurung yesterday night. The house was the only shop in the village.

“The families who were living in kutcha houses were scared of slides taking place due to heavy rainfall and they had taken shelter in the wooden house considering it to be a secure place. However, a heavy slide peeled off the road above and with boulders and crashed into the house which collapsed”, said disaster managed officer Zigmee Bhutia.

Eight bodies have been dug out so far, said the official adding the local volunteers, police, fire personnel and other agencies are on the task. If the victims had remained in their houses, they would have survived.

Eleven others had escaped death by either managing to scamper to safety or being a ‘foot away’ when the building crashed under the weight of the slide. Four of them including house owner Indra Maya Gurung have been admitted to District hospital at Geyzing for treatment.

“The moment I felt that a slide had broken out in the road above, I grabbed my two kids and along with my wife ran away outside. Moments later, the slide came crashing down from 100 feet above the road. The road simply broke off and I felt that a whole hill side was coming down”, said survivor Nima Tamang (23), a Nepal resident who was working as a labourer in the village Meanwhile at Tikjuk in West Sikkim, a physically challenged woman was killed when she was trying to escape a slide in her village at around the same hour. Deceased Man Maya Subba (55) was running along with her sister from the slide near their house when she was buried in the slide, officials have informed.

At Lower Pelling, Raj Kumar Thakur, a barber by profession was also killed when his katcha house was hit by a slide, police sources informed. Communications like road, mobile and telephone have been severely crippled in the District due to slides.

Comment by Praful Rao
The fact that 16 people died in the slides indicates that the affected area had a fairly dense population. I have yet to get details of the amount of rainfall or the probable cause of the slides.
What I find perturbing is that this year landslides are occurring in the first week or two of rains which has been preceded by a long dry spell ie from from Oct2010 till almost now.
My thanks to Sikkim Express for the report and photos.

A happy picture for you !

2011-06-24T15:09:00.006+05:30

I suppose one needs a break from the depressing weather and grim stories which spew out from STH blog during the monsoons.
So here is a happy photograph for you!
SUMI, the largest and one of the oldest schools in Darjeeling district, is celebrating its 125th anniversary. As a part of this and in keeping with World Environment Day theme this year ("Forests : Nature at your service"), the school undertook planting of over 5,000 tree and vetiver grass saplings at two landslide prone areas of Kalimpong.
On 20Jun2011, almost 700 students of the school planted 2,700 tree saplings at Bhamey gaon in Sindebung, an area which has been repeatedly featured on this blog.
On 23Jun2011, students of the school again planted 2,100 saplings in Lower Bong bustee, a village which has been featured here
I am glad to state that STH was involved with the school in this venture for acquiring the vetiver grass, selection of the areas for plantation and also liaising with the village people.

Praful Rao

From the "Telegraph" today -21Jun2011

2011-06-21T08:32:00.002+05:30

Landslide hits school - Finger at hotel drains

Darjeeling, June 20: A landslide allegedly triggered by poor drainage system in a hotel dumped debris and muck in the compound of Nepali Girls’ Higher Secondary School in Darjeeling, about an hour before students were to gather on the campus for assembly.
The landslide at 6.45am completely destroyed the school’s assembly shed, where students were to gather an hour later, and the muck from the hotel Camino’s septic tank entered the institution’s premises.
“On rainy days we conduct our assembly at the shed and it is by God’s grace that students escaped the disaster today,” said Aditi Biswas, the headmistress of the girls’ school.
The school, which was founded in 1890, has more than 1,700 students on its roll. “Mud and slush has also entered the school building. The entire septic tank of the hotel has crashed into the school building and the hostel,” said Biswas. The government-aided school managed by the Church of North India has around 80 boarders. But all the boarders escaped as the rubbles fell on a different portion of the hostel.
“Our repeated complaints to the hotel authorities about the poor drainage system have been in vain. Some years ago, pine trees, too, had crashed on the school building. but luckily no one was injured even then,” said the headmistress.
Following the landslide, the school was closed today for the summer vacation and it will reopen on July 3.
“The school was to close for summer holiday after a few days. We have, however, decided to close it from today itself as it would be dangerous to open the school as more landslides could occur anytime because of the rain. Unless proper protection work is done and the slush cleared, there is no question of keeping the school open,” said Biswas.
C.B. Pradhan, owner of hotel Camino along Gandhi road, said the landslide had occurred as the school authorities had recently fell pine trees just below the hotel.
“They had felled the trees only recently and the landslide was triggered because of heavy rains. Nevertheless, we will start clearing the mud and constructing a retention wall on a war footing from tomorrow morning,” said Pradhan.

Praful Rao

Landslides in Kurseong (19Jun2011) and Darjeeling (20Jun2011)

2011-06-20T19:06:00.001+05:30

After the landslide fatalities of 17Jun2011, rain continued to lash the entire district in varying amounts. Kurseong received the brunt of it and this resulted in more slides taking place the already vulnerable area of St Mary's Hill there. Fear stricken residents of the area fled to safer areas. Photos from the area placed below :-

High intensity rainfall has continued in the entire district today (20Jun2011) and it clocked 152mm by 7.45am at Darjeeling whereas Kalimpong and Kurseong received approx 60mm during a 3hr period.

The torrent in Darjeeling resulted in a nightmare coming true :- a landslide in a densely populated urban setting - and as in cyclone AILA in May2009, the causes for the slide evidently being related to drainage and other human activities. The only silver lining was that because the landslide took place quite early (7.40am), there was little human activity and the Nepali Girls Higher Secondary School some parts of which were buried by the slide was closed at the time. As such there were no deaths or casualties. Some of the buildings seen in the photos have been evacuated for the time being. Photos of the landslide are placed below :-

Credits

My thanks to STH member, Bhushan Chettri for his enthusiastic response, story and photos from Kurseong and to Mr Tenzin Sherpa of ATREE, Darjeeling for the photos from Darjeeling

Praful Rao

STH storm watch :- The last update for the depression (hopefully)

2011-06-19T11:57:00.012+05:30

Excerpt from the IMD Cyclon e page

BOB 02/2011/16 Dated: 19.06.2011

Time of issue: 1100 hours IST

Sub: Depression over Jharkhand and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal.

The depression over Jharkhand and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal has moved further northwards and lay centred at 0830 hours IST of 19 June 2011 near lat. 23.5⁰ N and long. 85.5⁰E, about 50 km southeast of Ranchi. The system would move west-northwestwards and weaken gradually.

Under its influence, rain/thundershowers at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places would occur over Jharkhand, north Chhattisgarh and east Madhya Pradesh during next 24 hours. Rain/thundershowers at many places with isolated heavy to very heavy fall would occur over north Orissa, Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar and east Uttar Pradesh during the same period.

Rain/thundershowers at most places with isolated heavy to very heavy falls would occur over south Chhattisgarh, west Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha during next 48 hours.

The system is under constant watch and concerned state Govts are being informed accordingly.

Rainfall (in mm)

                     16Jun2011   17Jun2011      18Jun2011        Total
Darjeeling    3             56    80 139

Kurseong      108    201    39    348

Kalimpong    2    31    81 114

Average monthly rainfall
for Jun (Darjeeling district) - 495.8mm (Source)
Source of rainfall data : STH Automatic Rainfall Gauges
Praful Rao

A photo from NH31A and an update on the depression- 18Jun2011

2011-06-18T17:19:00.002+05:30

Traffic along the National Highway 31A (NH31A) remained disturbed for the second consecutive day due to landslides, even though the the Border Roads Task Force was quick to respond.

The depression too remained depressingly static, churning around east of Kolkata again for the second consecutive day while Kolkata received 154 mm rainfall, the highest for any single day in June in the last decade.

Praful Rao

One day of rain - 17Jun2011

2011-06-18T05:40:00.008+05:30

It seems incredible that just a few days ago I was blogging (see here and here) about the deficient rainfall this year in the hills of Darjeeling and Sikkim (which has resulted in many of the perennial springs in this region drying up) and on17Jun2011, just a couple of days later, in a spell of rain lasting not more than 12hours, three children and a young father lost their lives to landslides in Kurseong (Darjeeling dist).

The rains also triggered a small slip near the 27th Mile, Stage III, NHPC Lo-Dam. Small though it was, it brought all the traffic on National Highway 31A to a grinding halt for 5 hours or more with 500 odd vehicles being stranded on either side of the slip.

The above incident speaks volumes of the state of our disaster preparedness or the lack of it, considering that in Feb2011, Severe Cyclone YASI, a storm bigger than KATRINA, smashed into Queensland in Australia but resulted in only one death thanks, to the excellent early warning and awareness amongst the people.

Miles to go before we sleep!

Some photos of 17Jun2011 are placed below :-

Rainfall stats of 17Jun2011:-
a) Kurseong :- 180mm (source STH ARG at Dow Hill, Kurseong)
b) Kalimpong :-31mm (source STH ARG at Tirpai, Kalimpong)
c) Darjeeling :- 54mm (source STH ARG at Gandhi Road, Darjeeling)

Comment by Praful Rao
My thanks to our young STH member from Kurseong, Bhushan Chhetri for the photos of Kurseong and the story.

STH storm watch update :- Tracking the storm

2011-06-17T18:35:00.000+05:30

Placed below are 3 Infra-red images of the depression taken from the IMD website at 0900h GMT (2.30pm IST), 1030h GMT (4pm IST) & 1130h GMT (5pm IST). The movement of the system is clearly discernible..more on the predicted path and track is available here and here

Praful Rao

STH storm watch :- The first depression of 2011 in the Bay of Bengal update

2011-06-17T10:49:00.001+05:30

Sub: Deep depression over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh.

The deep depression over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh remained practically stationary and lay centred over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh at 0530 hrs IST of today, the 17 June 2011, near lat. 22.5⁰ N and long. 89.0⁰ E, about 130 km northeast of Sagar Island, 80 km east of Kolkata and 150 km west-northwest of Khepupara (Bangladesh). The system is likely to move north-northwestwards initially and then west-northwestwards and weaken gradually into a depression during next 24 hours.

Under its influence, rain/thundershowers at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places would occur over north Orissa, Jharkhand and coastal districts of West Bengal during next 48 hours. Isolated extremely heavy falls (25 cm) would also occur over north Orissa during the same period. Rainfall at most places with isolated heavy to very heavy falls would occur over south Orissa, Chhattisgarh and remaining parts of Gangetic West Bengal during next 48 hours.

Squally winds with speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph would occur along and off north Orissa and West Bengal coasts during next 12 hours. Sea condition will be rough to very rough along and off these coasts. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the Sea off these coasts during next 12 hours.

The system is under constant watch and concerned state Govts are being informed accordingly.

Comment by Praful Rao

As per information received, landslides triggered by the heavy down pour in the early morning today have caused 4 deaths in Kurseong and traffic jams along NH31A. We should be able to give a more correct report soon.

STH storm watch :- The first depression of 2011 in the Bay of Bengal

2011-06-16T21:44:00.002+05:30

One of the primary roles of STH is to maintain a close watch (using the Internet and SMS) on all the adverse weather developments in the Bay of Bengal. Today, the first depression of the season (2011) formed.
An excerpt from the IMD Cyclone website is placed as under :-

Excerpt from the Cyclone warning page of IMD website

Sub: Deep Depression crossed West Bengal coast.

The depression over north Bay of Bengal off West Bengal & Bangladesh coast moved northward, intensified into a deep depression and crossed West Bengal coast near about 100 km east of Sagar Island between 1630-1730 hours IST. The deep depression lay centred at 1730 hrs IST of today, the 16^th June 2011, over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh near lat. 22.0⁰ N and long. 89.0⁰ E, about 100 km east-northeast of Sagar Island, 100 km southeast of Kolkata and 130 km west of Khepupara (Bangladesh). The system is likely to move north-northwestwards initially and then west-northwestwards and weaken gradually into a depression during next 24 hours.
       Under its influence, rain/thundershower at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places would occur over north Orissa, Jharkhand and coastal districts of West Bengal during next 48 hours. Isolated extremely heavy falls (25 cm) would also occur over north Orissa during the same period. Rainfall at most places with isolated heavy to very heavy falls would occur over south Orissa, Chhattisgarh and remaining parts of Gangetic West Bengal during next 48 hours.
       Squally winds with speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph would occur along and off north Orissa and West Bengal coasts during next 12 hours. Sea condition will be rough to very rough along and off these coasts. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the Sea off these coasts during next 12 hours.
     The system is under constant watch and concerned state Govts are being informed accordingly.

The Infra-Red (IR)satellite image of the area is placed below

Praful Rao

Of rainfall or the lack of it.

2011-06-15T06:56:00.004+05:30

Most, if not all the landslides in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas are rain induced, so keeping a track of the amount of rainfall & rainfall intensities is very much a part of our role.

2010 was a year of deficient rainfall in our area and as such, as far as landslides are concerned - it was a good year.
Rather alarmingly though, we seem to be following this trend in 2011 as well and thus far, rainfall has again been deficient in most places in this area. The deviations from normals for some of towns in this region is given below :-

Rainfall data upto 14Jun2011
	Normal	Actual	%departure

CoochBehar	299.3	150.5	-050.0
Bagdogra	205.6	209.1	002.0
Darjeeling	196.6	64.2	-067.0
Kalimpong	147.7	40.8	-072.0
Jalpaiguri	242.4	152.8	-037.0
Gangtok	326.2	293.9	-010.0
Pedong	186.1	137.0	-026.0

(Source I Met D, Sikkim)

And for those interested, I have placed two charts which explain what the Met pundits mean when they talk about rainfall intensities :-

Praful Rao

Monsoon worry for hill roads - From the Telegraph today.

2011-06-10T15:56:00.001+05:30

RAJEEV RAVIDAS
Kurseong, June 9: Residents of Kurseong and Darjeeling are worried about the bad condition of the two main roads, connecting the places to Siliguri, that are likely to worsen during the monsoon.
Of the two stretches, NH55 also called the Tenzing Norgay Marg, has been shut since June after a landslide near Paglajhora damaged a stretch on the highway.
Although vehicles are plying Rohini Road, the stretch looks nothing more than a dirt track. A few days of heavy showers can make the road unusable even for light vehicles.
If both these stetches are shut during the rains, the only other Siliguri-Kurseong-Darjeeling road link will be the Pankhabari Road. However, since the route is narrow and steep at several places only small vehicles can ply the route.
Heavy vehicles like trucks carrying essential commodities to Kurseong and Darjeeling will then have to take the circuitous Siliguri-Kalijhora-Mungpoo road.
The detour takes around two hours more. Normally the journey to Kurseong and Darjeeling can be completed in around three hours.
Local residents blame the heavily loaded trucks for turning Rohini Road into a potholed dirt track.
“The up-bound trucks are supposed to take the Mungpoo Road but they do not do so. Most of them drive up to the hills in the night,” said S. Pradhan, the secretary of the Janmukti Chalak Mahasangh, Kurseong, a unit of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.He said they would meet Morcha president Bimal Gurung and apprise him of the condition of the roads. “We have already requested the three MLAs from the hills to raise the matter in the next session of the state Assembly,” Pradhan said.
However, since the monsoon has already arrived, it is unlikely that major repair works on the Rohini Road would be taken up now.
The highway (NH55) is in no better shape because the landslide prone area near Paglajhora, which is also a sinking zone, will again get affected once the rains start.
Although the PWD (NH division-9), which maintains the road, said the 475-metre stretch on the road that was breached after the mudslide has been reconstructed, driving through it is unsafe as huge boulders keep falling on the road from the hill side.
“The road is not safe for driving. We are, however, confident that breaches on the road will not occur again,” said Nirmal Mandal, the executive engineer of PWD (NH Division-9).
Residents of the area are, however, worried about the condition of the highway which they think will worsen once it starts raining. They are also apprehensive that the prices of commodities would rise since the vehicles have to take a detour to reach the destinations.
“What were the people responsible for maintaining the roads doing during the dry season? They should have repaired the road before the onset of the monsoon. They should actually compensate for the additional expense that we will have to incur due to the rise in the prices of essential commodities once both the roads are closed,” said Robin Thapa, a resident of Dow Hill.

Comment by Praful Rao
STH has blogged about the landslide at Paglajhora after visiting the place on 10May2011

05Jun2011 - World Environment Day in Kalimpong

2011-06-06T09:37:00.000+05:30

W.E.D on 05Jun2011 was celebrated in Kalimpong with a flurry of activities ranging from planting of tree saplings to an art competition and a clean up of the town by volunteers comprising of school children & community groups.

I am glad to say that STH was involved in a number of these activities.

Praful Rao

Quake report :- 6. 23AM, 03Jun2011

2011-06-04T08:05:00.002+05:30

We had a minor earthquake here in Kalimpong on the date and time mentioned (which I think was also felt thruout the Darjeeling-Sikkim area.) No damage has been reported.

Praful Rao

Rainfall May2011 - running deficient again.

2011-06-03T08:04:00.006+05:30

Rainfall Data of May 2011

Darjeeling (126mm) Kurseong (291mm) Kalimpong (91mm)

Normal rainfall for Darjeeling district in May - 258.7mm (Source)

Note :STH ARGs are located at Gandhi Road in Darjeeling, Dow Hill in Kurseong and Tirpai in Kalimpong.

As in this period in 2010 we have had a deficiency in rainfall this year.

Praful Rao

From the Telegraph today :- 27May2011

2011-05-27T14:01:00.000+05:30

Clean-up before rains

- SOS to beat landslides

Gangtok, May 26: The East district collectorate today asked all agencies concerned to clean up roadside drains and jhoras and remove trees, which are likely to fall, before the monsoons to reduce chances of landslides and road blocks.
“If we manage to clean all the roadside drains and jhoras before the monsoons there is 50 per cent less chance of natural calamities (striking the areas). Most of the slides in East Sikkim had taken place when garbage blocked the drains and jhoras,” said East district collector D. Anandan during a pre-monsoon meeting here today.
Representatives of various departments including fire, civil defence, urban development, forest, power, PHE, police and the Border Roads Organisation attended the meeting. Monsoon in Sikkim usually begins in the second week of June and lasts till late September.
The district collector said water overflowing from the drains during the monsoon often gets blocked by garbage creating slush and triggering landslides. If the garbage is cleaned then the water can flow freely reducing chances of a mudslide.
Anandan is also the chairman of the district level relief committee that hands out compensation and sanctions for temporary restoration under the natural calamity funds. Last year the committee had sanctioned 163 projects for the restoration of damaged roads, telephone and power poles in the landslide affected areas of East Sikkim. Each project was of around Rs 50,000.
Multiple mudslides along NH31A between Gangtok and Rangpo in July last year had damaged the road for almost two weeks.
“Since maintenance of roads in urban areas is the responsibility of the urban development department, the department should clean up road side drains under its jurisdiction. Similarly, those jhoras in the urban areas which have not been cleaned by the civic body shall be cleaned for free flow of storm water,” said Anandan. He has also directed the BRO to clear drains along the area under its jurisdiction. Project Swastik of the BRO is responsible for the maintenance of NH31A, the North Sikkim highway, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg that connects Gangtok to Nathu-la. The district collector added that the BRO has been directed to build proper drains and take precautionary measures to limit chances of slides during road widening work.

“We have already told the government that the major hurdle for clearing drains is the cluster of water supply pipes which are running along side the drains,” he said.
The PHE department has been instructed to regulate the pipelines being laid down along the drains. The forest department has been asked to conduct a survey to identify trees, especially along NH31A, that are likely to fall during the monsoon.
“These trees should be removed at the earliest and resistance to remove such trees from private holdings shall be dealt (with) legally,” said Anandan.
The superintendent of police (East district) Mandeep Singh Tuli said a road block on the highway causes congestion in the town. “If there is a block for even 30 minutes on the highway, the traffic jam in Gangtok extends for almost 12km up to Ranipool,” he said.
The district collector said the administration will write to the BSNL authorities. “We will be writing to the BSNL authorities for ensuring good communication network which is very essential for timely rescue and relief measures. The BSNL should ensure that communications are always intact. They should also immediately restore telephone services disrupted because of natural calamities.”
All agencies have been directed to prepare their own line of action for responding to disasters. “In case of a distress call, the departments should be ready with their set of measures to be undertaken instead of coming up with impromptu arrangements,” said Anandan.

Comment by Praful Rao

Photo is from Kalimpong

At the Summit on Sustainable Mountain Development in Naini Tal (UttarKhand) - 21/22May2011

2011-05-25T06:53:00.004+05:30

It was my privilege to attend the 2 day Summit on Sustainable Mountain Development held on 21/22May2011 at Naini Tal, Uttarkhand. The summit was the brainchild of Dr RS Tolia (IAS) former Chief Secretary Uttar Khand and currently Chairman, CHEA.

Besides being an immense learning experience, it gave us a tremendous opportunity to interact with the huge pool of resource people and delegates who attended the seminar.

I would like to thank Mr PD Rai, MP of Sikkim for making this possible and Mr RP Gurung of ECOSS for all his help.

Praful Rao

Of rainfall and rainfall gauges

2011-05-18T06:36:00.006+05:30

Since most of the landslides in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya are rain induced, we have made it our business to monitor rainfall in the district's 3 main towns (Darjeeling,Kurseong & Kalimpong) using wireless Automatic Rainfall Gauges (ARGs) shown above. The device records rainfall data automatically for 9 days, displays outside and inside temperatures, is affordable (approx Rs4,700 in India) and is virtually maintenance free; it can also be bought online in India. I do believe many schools are interested in acquiring these devices as a part of their geography laboratory equipment.

In addition, I have learnt that India Meteorological Department will be installing Automatic Weather Stations in several towns in the district which includes Kalimpong and Pedong (Darjeeling already has an AWS for some time now) - these devices are, of course, a lot more expensive and record a whole lot of other parameters which can be read here

We have started recording the rainfall data since last month and rainfall for the month of APRIL 2011 is as follows :-

Darjeeling (82mm) Kurseong (67mm) Kalimpong(51mm)
(Gandhi Road, (Dow Hill, (Tirpai,

Darjeeling) Kurseong) Kalimpong)

We will upload monthly rainfall day wise from JUNE 2011

Praful Rao

Visit to Balasun and Paglajhora landslides - 10May2011

2011-05-14T09:55:00.002+05:30

This week, we were lucky to have Dr A Chakrabarti (retd Professor of Geology, Presidency University, Kolkata) and Mr A Kundu (Jadavpur University, Kolkata), who were here for three days (09-11May2011) to document the history of landslides in this area as a part of a Govt of W Bengal project.
Besides them STH also has Arhat Wakode, a 22yr old scholar from Jamshetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management, TISS, Mumbai who is interning with us for a period of two weeks.
After spending 09May2011 visiting the many landslide areas near Kalimpong and talking to affected people, we were in Kurseong on 10May2011 and visited the Balasun and Paglajhora landslides.
Despite having written about Balasun and Paglajhora landslides earlier I was shocked to see the sheer size of both these landslides; the adverse impact of which on the lives and economy affected people was very apparent. I therefore wonder how the media has only glossed over both disasters. I have uploaded large size photos to put both these in the correct perspective.

Praful Rao

From the Telegraph today :- 07May2011

2011-05-07T06:36:00.001+05:30

Grass test in landslide zone to protect soil

RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Vetiver plants distributed by the NGO in Kalimpong. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Kalimpong, May 6: A Kalimpong-based NGO has started a project on an experimental basis to promote the planting of a grass that can control soil erosion in landslide-prone areas.
The NGO, Save The Hills, has distributed 15 gunny sacks of vetiver or khas-khas grass at cost price to different groups for planting in the landslide-prone areas of Chibo-Pashyor and Sindebung on the fringes of Kalimpong.
The grass was also given to two other NGOs, which are working in remote areas of the subdivision, promoting agriculture and spreading awareness on the measures needed to arrest landslides.
“Vetiver is a tough grass native to south India. Even though vetiver is being used the world over to check soil erosion and for slope protection, this is the first time that we are trying out the grass in these mountains for erosion control and slope stability. This is very much an experiment since we found bamboo to be not too suitable for soil binding once the rainfall crossed a certain threshold,” said Praful Rao, the president of the STH.
Rao said if the experiment proved successful, the NGO may start vetiver plantation on a much larger scale, especially in the rural areas where farmers are losing land continuously because of erosion by jhoras.
“What is special about vetiver is that its dense fibrous roots go vertically into the soil over a four-five year period. Its roots are normally three-four metre long. Some call the grass ‘living soil nailing’ in reference to an engineering technique used to prevent landslides. The grass is also used as fodder and its stems as fuel,” he added.
Landslides are taking place with increasing frequency in the hills, killing people, destroying properties and eating up land. Although experts talk about a comprehensive landslide prevention plan, no initiative has been taken to put in place a mechanism to tackle the problem.
“Such a plan requires huge resources which would certainly require the government's involvement. Ours is a small attempt to help in landslide prevention,” said Rao.
Even though the STH was formed four years ago mainly to raise awareness on landslides, it has managed to set up an SMS-based early weather warning system and put in place automatic rainfall gauges in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong to continuously monitor rainfall.
The STH president regretted that even though the National Disaster Management Authority talked about a paradigm shift in disaster management from a relief-centric regime to one which believes in prevention and preparedness, the opposite is practiced at district and subdivisional levels.
“The district disaster management plan is nothing more than a contingency plan which lays down action by different government agencies in the event of a disaster,” he said.

Praful Rao

Landslides in Sikkim - 02May2011

2011-05-05T06:11:00.000+05:30

Photo and story courtesy : Sikkim Express

Of Rainfall, Weather Forecasts & Landslides

2011-05-01T18:48:00.061+05:30

Most landslides which occur in the Darjeeling - Sikkim Himalaya are rain induced and therefore knowing when, how much, and how heavy (ie intensity) of rainfall is important for us working on landslides in this area.
Fortunately, technology and the internet allows even the lay person to keep a tab on rainfall and here is an example of the weather forecast in this region, the actual weather/rainfall over Kalimpong and the satellite picture on 01May2011 around the time we had heavy rain:-

Kolkata Regional Weather Forecast of 01-05-2011 valid till noon of 02-05-2011
Fairly Widespread rain or thundershower may occur over Sikkim and Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar districts of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal.

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING DATED 01-05-2011
Thunder squall with wind speed reaching between 50 and 60 Km per hour may occur at isolated places over Bihar & Sub-Himalayan West Bengal during next 24 Hours.
(This warning was obtained from the IMD (Kolkata) website but a similar SMS-based warning has been sent by IMD (Gangtok) to thousands in Darjeeling district - see here)

Actual weather over Kalimpong
It was very breezy thru the day with very light drizzle taking place intermittently during the afternoon. However, between 1730h and 1815h, we had experienced sharp heavy rainfall (15mm in about 25mins) accompanied by gusty wind, lightning and thunder.
By 1830h the cumulonimbus (Cb) cells which caused the downpour had moved away but a light drizzle continued.

IR Satellite picture at 1730h on 01May2011

Comment by Praful Rao
The forecast, severe weather warning and the satellite photo are from here.

STH activities : Successes and a failure

2011-04-29T06:10:00.013+05:30

Successes

Establishing an SMS based early warning system in Darjeeling district
In the Darjeeling - Sikkim Himalaya most landslides occur during the monsoons and are rain induced. So if we are able to alert communities about periods of prolonged or intense rainfall which may trigger landslides, lives would be saved.
STH first tried SMS alerts in May2009 during cyclone AILA and right thru the monsoons of 2010, thanks to the initiative of India Meteorological Dept (see here) we did have a small but effective SMS based early warning network in place.
This was, in addition to STH storm watch, wherein we keep a watch on, report and track adverse weather developments in the Bay of Bengal on this blog (see example here).
In 2011, SMS based alerts have been expanded and already hundreds of organizations and individuals all over the district have started getting text alerts from IMD(Gangtok) on their mobiles; soon we will have thousands receiving these weather alerts for high wind speeds, heavy rain and other adverse weather phenomenon. In so doing we have given priority to NGOs, media personnel and institutions who would further disseminate the warning to others within their organizations.
STH is also working with a radio station to have these alerts broadcast on FM and I do believe that we will also have the SMS text messages being sent in the local dialect ie Nepali in the near future.
Landslide Documentary made available to 50 schools in the district and Sikkim.
In 2010 DECU of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) along with STH amongst others, had made a 22min documentary on Landslides & Avalanches aimed at an audience in the junior schools.
We have made copies of the CD and distributed it to 50 schools in Kalimpong/Darjeeling/Kurseong/ Mirik and also in Sikkim.
Vetiver grass saplings
10,000 saplings of non-aromatic vetiver grass should be reaching us within a week. This grass which is supposed to be an effective means of erosion control will be planted in landslide prone areas of Kalimpong during the monsoons of 2011on an experimental basis.

and a Failure
We regret to announce that we had to temporarily cancel our community based work due to many reasons; the most important of which being the all pervasive sense of apathy which afflicts us as a society (with the government mouthing nothing more than empty promises) - too bad, we never seem to believe that our luck can also run out.

Young men from Dhobi Dhara undergoing first aid training with the army. We have halted our community work in the area for the time being.

Comment by Praful Rao

I would like to convey our sincere thanks to India Meteorological Dept (Sikkim) and the Indian Army authorities at Kalimpong for their steadfast support and help.

Excerpt from the Telegraph : 11Apr2011

2011-04-13T08:22:00.000+05:30

Governor of W Bengal MK Narayanan rap for Disaster Centre

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Siliguri, April 10: Governor M.K. Narayanan yesterday told the North Bengal University authorities that not much had been done to set up the centre of excellence for disaster management that he had suggested last year.

“While addressing the last annual convocation I had urged the university authorities the need for establishing a centre for carrying out research on the disaster management. I thought that since this was a landslide-prone area, the university needs to make it its priority. But I think not much has been done,” he said at the convocation yesterday. Later Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was awarded the DLitt and S. Chandrasekaran, chairman of Indian Institute of Science, the DSc.

Praful Rao

Revealing the truth : Landslide survey in Kalimpong subdivision (Sinji, Suruk and Dong villages) - 03Apr2011

2011-04-10T14:23:00.028+05:30

Till date STH has (due to lack of resources) been restricted to reporting and commenting on the landslide situation in and around Kalimpong town only.
On 03Apr2011, however, we took a day long trip to areas south- southeast of our town ie to the villages of Sinji, Samalbong, Samthar and Suruk. These are remote areas of Kalimpong subdivision accessible only for another month or so by vehicle - during the monsoons the roads to these villages become veritable traps for all types of vehicular traffic.
The GPS unit told us that we had clocked 59.55km at the end of the survey of landslides.

The coordinates and elevation of the landslide zones are given below :-

a) Waypoint 095 (Samalbong-West) - N27° 01.171’ E088°29.859’. Elevation 923m.
b) Waypoint 101 (Suruk village) - N26° 58.876’ E088°28.284'. Elevation 752m.
c) Waypoint 103 (opp Dong village) N26° 59.357’ E088°28.412' Elevation 529m

What was plain to see was that in the absence of any worthwhile measures to mitigate or manage the landslides, it was only a matter of time before we would have a whole lot of landslide refugees and the only option would be relocation.

The question is where?

Comment by Praful Rao

I would like to apologize for the quality of some of the above photographs as there was plenty of haze and atmospheric obscurity on the day we carried out the recce.
Also whereas the entire area had a number of big and small landslides along roads and forested areas, we have not documented them here. Our purpose, for the time being to highlight those landslides which are directly impacting human settlements and require urgent attention.

Dong, a village living on borrowed time

2011-04-04T20:09:00.010+05:30

Yesterday (03Apr2011), several of my young friends from STH and I decided to check out the landslide situation in the eastern areas of Kalimpong town (where STH is based).
So we went for a grueling 8 hr drive into some of the remotest parts of the Kalimpong subdivision ie to the villages of Sinji, Samthar and Suruk of which I had only heard, despite living here almost 60 years .
I will post the detailed report of the reconnaissance along with entire GPS tracks on this blog within a day or two, but in the meantime placed above is a photo of one segment of a landslide scarred village called Dong ( approx Coord N 26°59.357’, E088°28.412’, Elevation 529m), located opposite Suruk in Kalimpong subdivision.

Praful rao

STH Activities : Hazard, Risk and Vulnerability Assessment trainees field visit to Kalimpong (25Mar2011)

2011-03-27T11:33:00.002+05:30

The West Bengal State IAG organized a 3 day training program at Siliguri from 24-26Mar2011 in which almost 30 participants from North Bengal received training on Hazard, Risk and Vulnerability Assessment. (Suraj Sharma and Bhushan Chettri from SaveTheHills (STH) also participated in the training program). On the 25Mar2011, the entire team headed by Ms Debadrita Sengupta (Coordinator, State IAG) along with participants drove upto Kalimpong and spent the entire afternoon and early evening visiting landslide prone areas of Kalimpong.
a) They were first taken to the massive erosion and landslides caused by the natural rivulets (jhoras) at Pashyor
(Slides 1&2).
b) We then visited Sindebung village to see the impact of landslides on a farming community. The team interacted with villagers who had lost land, property and livelihoods to landslides. The village has been featured on this blog many, many times (Slides 3&4).
c) This was followed by a visit to Dhobi Dhara village which is densely populated near the Sub-Divisional Hospital (Slide 5).
d) Lastly, the whole team was briefed by Wg Cdr Praful Rao (retd) on landslides situation around Kalimpong and landslides in general in a powerpoint presentation.

Comment by Praful Rao
All members of STH would like to thank the State IAG and all those took the trouble to visit Kalimpong to understand a serious problem which has otherwise been for all practical purposes been neglected by one and all.

STH Activities : North Bengal University (NBU) field visit to Sindebung :19Mar2011

2011-03-21T07:57:00.001+05:30

During the 2 day Seminar on "Disasters : Perception and Mitigation" held at NBU (Dept of Geography) on 11-12Mar2011, 90 odd geographers, geologists and students had visited some landslide areas of Kalimpong.
The fall out of this visit was that the Department of Geography (NBU) would make some more visits to landslide affected areas in Kalimpong.
As such on 19Mar2011, a team of professors and students lead by the Head of Department Dr (Mrs) Indira Lepcha, visited the Sindebung landslides almost for the entire day and interacted extensively with the affected community there (having lunch and tea at Sindebung amongst villagers).They were also shown the Pashyor landslide at 5th Mile Kalimpong prior to departing for the University late in the evening.

Comment by Praful Rao
Having attending numerous seminars, meetings and workshops at various levels on landslides, I find that there is a huge disconnect between the wonderful work geologists, geographers and scientists do and the conditions which exist at the grass root level ie in landslide affected communities. What is sad but true is that seldom does the work of the scientific community percolate down to the affected people whose lot has not changed in many decades despite massive advances in our understanding of the science of landslides.
To that extent I welcome this visit by this visit by the NBU where they witnessed first hand the problems felt by a farming community in Kalimpong which has been afflicted by landslides for more than 30 years now.

Working with the Communities 2011- Dhobi Dhara village (on the west face of Kalimpong). 13Mar2011

2011-03-18T11:59:00.000+05:30

Dhobi Dhara village is a densely packed hamlet consisting of almost 200 houses located on a steep slope on the western face of Kalimpong, just below the Scottish University Mission Institution.
People of the village are no strangers to landslides with slips taking place on a regular basis almost every monsoon.
STH has commenced community work in the village on 13Mar2011 when we had preliminary interaction with around 35 people of the village on how best to face the onslaught of the monsoons this year. We hope to proceed along the lines that we did while working in Chibo village last year.
I also went for an hour long tour of the area with two young volunteers who explained me the drainage pattern of the area and showed me vulnerable areas.

Praful Rao

Seminar on "Disasters : Perception and Mitigation", North Bengal University, 11/12Mar2011

2011-03-13T19:35:00.002+05:30

The 2 day Seminar on "Disasters : Perception and Mitigation" organized by the Dept of Geography, University of North Bengal in association with the Netaji Institute of Asian Studies (Kolkata) and SaveTheHills took place on the 11/12Mar2011.
The highlight of the seminar was the field visit on 12Mar2011, to landslide affected areas towards Kalimpong. Some 80-90 students, resource persons of eminence and faculty members of various universities took part in the day long visit and were shown the subsidence areas at the 27th Mile NHPC stage III Lo Dam and then the severe landslides and erosion caused by the jhora at Pashyor at 3rd Mile, Kalimpong.

I do hope and believe that prestigious institutions such as NBU will help us highlight the severity of the landslide problem in our area.

Comment by Praful Rao

Many thanks from the landslide affected people of Chibo-Pashyor (Kalimpong) and SaveTheHills to North Bengal University and Netaji Institute of Asian Studies for their concern and help in making this possible.

Seminar on Disasters : Perception and Mitigation, North Bengal University, 11/12Mar2011

2011-03-10T07:13:00.000+05:30

DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY & APPLIED GEOGRAPHY

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL

UGC SAP DRS I SEMINAR, 2011

DISASTER: PERCEPTION AND MITIGATION

First day: 11^th March, 2011

INAUGURATION: 10.30 A.M TO 11.15 A.M.

· Inaugural Song

· Welcome Address by Coordinator SAP and Convener of the Seminar: Prof. S. Sarkar

· Felicitation of the Guests

· Inauguration of the Seminar by Lighting up the lamp

· Inaugural Address by Dean Arts, Commerce and Law, University of North Bengal: Prof. J. Sankrityayna

· Keynote Address by Prof. V. C. Vaidya, Pune University

· Vote of Thanks by Deputy Coordinator, SAP & Organizing Secretary of the Seminar: Dr. S. Rohatgi

TEA: 11.15 A.M. TO 11.30 A.M.

FIRST TECHNICAL SESSION: 11.30 A.M. TO 1.00 P.M.

Chairperson: Prof. V.C. Vaidya

Rapporteur: Dr. D. K. Mandal, NBU

· Dr. Chinmoy Pal, GSI: Landslide Inventory Mapping in Sikkim Darjeeling Himalayas

· Mr. Saibal Ghosh, GSI: Selecting and weighting spatial predictors for empirical modeling of landslide susceptibility in the Darjeeling Himalayas (India)

· Wng Cdr Praful Rao, Save the Hills: Landslide Hazards in Kalimpong and our experience in working with the communities.

· Mr. Manv Prasad, Cdr 764 BRTF: Landslide problems on NH 31 A

· Mr G.N. Raha (IMD), Gangtok: Extreme rainfall events in this region in the past and likely trends

LUNCH: 1.00P.M. TO 2.00 P.M.

SECOND TECHNICAL SESSION: 2.00P.M. TO 3.30 P.M.

Chairperson: Prof. V. K. Kumra

Rapporteur: Dr. R. Roy, NBU

· Prof. Zahid Hussain Quereshi, NEHU: Fluvial hazards in Northeast India: Perception and Mitigation

· Prof. Arabindo Ghosh, Jadavpur Univsersity: Landslide Management in Hilly Areas

· Prof. A.K. Bora, Gauhati University: Flood hazard and its Mitigation in Lower Brahmaputra Valley

· Ms. Debadita Sengupta, Coordinator, State Interagency Group, West Bengal: Mitigating disaster impact through Interagency coordination

· Miss. Writuparna Chakraborty A.B.N.Seal College & Mr. Hirak Dam, Sadar Govt. High School, Cooch Behar: Disaster Management and Mitigation: With Reference to Earthquakes

TEA: 3.30 P.M. TO 3.45 P.M.

THIRD TECHNICAL SESSION: 3.45 P.M. TO 5.15 P.M.

Chairperson: Dr. Chinmoy Pal

Rapporteur: Dr. S. K. Bhattacharya, NBU

· Prof. D. K. Nayek, NEHU: Social construction of Natural hazards: A case of flood.

· Dr. Madhusan Karmakar, Maynaguri College: Disaster Management Planning at village Level: A study of North Bengal

· Mr. Prabir Kundu and Ms. Jayshree Sarkar, Siliguri Mahila Mahavidyalaya: The factor of slope instability and landslide: its mechanism and mitigation in Darjeeling Himalaya

· Mr. Somenath Haldar and Barnali Das, Kaliachak College: Disaster and Perception: a case study of 2000 flood scenarios of Murshidabad district with special reference to RS and GIS

· Miss Ranjita Roy Sarkar, K.G.T. College: Disaster Mitigation: Role of Communication, Leadership Coordination, Warehousing and Stockpiling

· Mr. Tamal B. Roy, Mr. Sanjay Saha, Mr. Bipul Chandra Sarkar: Atmospheric Disaster, Causes, Consequences and Mitigation Measures with special reference to devastating Tornado – A Case Study of Uttar Dinajpur.

Impact of landslides : Gandhi Ashram School at 6th Mile (Kalimpong) decides to shift

2011-03-08T12:29:00.002+05:30

Gandhi Ashram School at 6th Mile (Upper Tashiding) Kalimpong is a school which was founded in 1993 by the late Father Ed McGuire s.j, a Jesuit priest from Canada. It is a unique school in many respects and is a must-see site for any visitor to Kalimpong (read here). The Director of the school now is Fr Paul s.j.
I had the distinct pleasure of knowing Fr McGuire and it saddened me deeply to know that the school is now compelled to shift to a (hopefully safer) location due to subsidence in the entire school premises - the cause is scouring and erosion by a natural rivulet or jhora which runs just below the school.
I visited the school yesterday and talked to Fr Patel s.j who is the headmaster. He showed me around the premises and allowed me to photograph the damage caused by the subsidence.

Praful Rao

STH activities : Documentary film on Landslides

2011-02-15T16:34:00.000+05:30

Over the last two years STH has been actively involved with a number of agencies in producing documentaries on landslides hazards. In 2009 we made a documentary with the Mass Communication Department of St Joseph's College, North Point, Darjeeling and in 2010 we made two documentaries, one with the Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU) of Indian Space Research (ISRO) and another one with the Magic Lantern Foundation (see here).
While I have just received a copy of the CD from DECU (see above) the one made with Magic Lantern Foundation is still awaited. After taking due permission we will be distributing copies of the CDs to schools in this region

Praful Rao

The Writing on the wall...an excerpt from the Statesman

2011-01-28T11:45:00.003+05:30

High-rises and low concern

27 January 2011

Caught between the chaos of the Gorkhaland movement and the advantage taken of an uncaring administration by local builders, Darjeeling is quite literally in need of help, writes dipjyoti das

NESTLED in the vicinity of the towering Kanchenjunga, Darjeeling – known fondly as the “Queen of the Hills” — provides the perfect getaway for those wanting to be in harmony with nature. But the rapid construction of high-rise buildings, the majority of which are illegal, has led to a degradation of the soil texture in the region which, in turn, could result in landslides.
   The Darjeeling Hills lie in the Mahabharata Range or the Lesser Himalayas, at an average elevation of 6,710 feet (2,050 metres). The area has steep slopes and loose topsoil, and the rock structure is of comparatively recent vintage, giving rise to frequent landslides over the past few years. But in spite of strict rules and regulations, local builders seem to ignore the natural threat and public concern and continue to erect their high-rises. And the authorities concerned also couldn’t seem to care less and have failed to take appropriate steps.
   Meteorological experts fear that such unprecedented construction will eventually result in massive calamity in the near future, accounting for millions of lives.
   Immediate steps need to be taken by the government and the local authorities to curb and avoid any further construction.
   Strict regulations that apply regarding construction and “no-objection” certificates need to be sanctioned but somehow the norms are neither followed nor enforced by the authorities. The state government too has been ignorant about the entire matter and has allowed these constructions. Instead, West Bengal’s minister of state for urban development, Ashok Bhattacharya, lays the entire blame on the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council and the local municipal authorities.
   He recently pointed out that the state government could not interfere in the matter directly but would ask the local civic bodies to curb such constructions. He added that the law and order situation had denigrated in the Darjeeling hills over the past few years because of the renewed movement by the Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha for a separate Gorkhaland state. Local builders, he said, were taking advantage of the situation but he hoped the local authorities would take adequate measures once the situation gradually improved.
Another massive worry is also that the Darjeeling region is seismically very active, which can result in earthquakes. And given that the construction of a single high-rise creates further inroads into newer areas, the threat of landslides is exacerbated. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, Darjeeling town falls under Seismic Zone-IV, (on a scale of one to five, in order of increasing proneness to earthquakes) near the convergent boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates and is subject to frequent earthquakes.
   Particularly during the monsoon, heavy rains trigger landslide in the region, a calamity that has occurred in increasing number over the past few years. The entire picture of the hills was different during British rule, when no one was allowed to construct five- or six-storeyed buildings. But during the 1970s and ’80s there was a massive real estate boom in the country and Darjeeling was no exception.
   Subir Sarkar, a meteorological expert from Siliguri, expressed his concern at the major threats these constructions posed for the hilly region. “There is a twofold problem,” he said. “One, when you are constructing a huge building you are putting additionalpressure on the hill slopes; the construction of such a building also brings newer areas under the landslide threat. Due to the construction of one massive structure, innumerable human lives are under threat. Second, as we know, these hills are seismically very active and earthquake activities are also not uncommon. We are lucky enough nothing like that has happened till now here, but it can any time in the near future. If a major earthquake, like one measuring 7 on the Richter scale, should occur here, you can imagine how many millions of people would perish. During the monsoon, too, frequent landslides occur at various junctures along the highway.
   The government and the law enforcing agencies need to immediately look into the matter and take drastic measures to put heavy constructions on hold to avoid a major disaster. One must not forget that Darjeeling is different from the foothills of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri. In Darjeeling, the carrying capacity is much less than those areas.”
   He also questioned the role of the state government and the authorities concerned over their negligence and attitude towards such a significant issue.
   The Darjeeling hills and its administrative section have been seriously disturbed by the political turmoil that has been going on for the last few years because of the Gorkhaland movement which has, as mentioned, provided the opportunity for many builders to construct high-rises illegally. The locals too have been unaware of the threat posed by such constructions and the administrative negligence that has been a contributing factor to the current scenario.
   Given the massive number of tourist from all over the world, never mind the many from across India who visit Darjeeling on a regular basis to enjoy its scenic beauty and congenial climate, thereby contributing to the economy of the region, precautionary measures need to be adopted immediately so as to preserve and maintain the persona of the Queen of the Hills.

Comment by Praful Rao
Much has been written about building codes and improper land use in this area yet we seem to be hurtling towards impending disaster without a care in the world. I daresay that the entire dry period from the end of monsoons in 2010 till now has been wasted and virtually nothing has been done towards landslide prevention or preparedness in the entire district. You may read more about this here or check a previous blog

A most relevant video on Disaster Risk Reduction - Jan2011

2011-01-20T13:39:00.005+05:30

You might also like to read the last blog here

Praful Rao

Excerpts from Sikkim Express : Landslide Mitigation with Japanese technical help

2011-01-16T09:40:00.002+05:30

Meeting on landslide mitigation held

Focus on preparation of State Disaster Management Plan with special emphasis on landslide management

GANGTOK, January 13 (IPR): A meeting on the prospect of funding landslide mitigation through Japanese cooperation was held on January 6 in the chamber of Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Land Revenue & Disaster Management Department.

The meeting centered around how landslides could be tackled with the assistance and technology, to be provided by the Japanese government.
Dr. Surya Prakash, State Nodal Faculty for Sikkim from the National Institute of Disaster Management, was present on the occasion. He explained the purpose of his visit and provided the background as to how the State had been selected as one of the sites to be studied by a team of experts from Japan. He informed that a Joint Declaration by way of an MOU had been signed between the Government of India and the Japanese Government in October 2008 to work in possible areas of consideration and collaboration of which disaster management was one of the items apart from defence and science & technology, agreed upon by the two sides at the ministerial level. The Japanese have thereafter sought to work in landslide prone areas of the country of which 3 states including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim are the selected States, where landslide sites under the Border Roads Organizations(BRO) will be the working area with the Japanese teams.

My thanks to Ms Sarikah Atreya of Sikkim Express for the story

Praful Rao

A week of cataclysmic natural disasters

2011-01-15T12:25:00.010+05:30

To anyone even remotely interested in monitoring the weather, the week gone by has been one of exceptional and cataclysmic hydrological happenings the world over :-

Queensland in Australia saw some of the heaviest rainfall since 1974 which left 25 people dead, another 71 missing and billions of dollars of loss which is likened to be like the aftermath of a war. Unluckily they still have two months of rain ahead of them.

Widespread flooding and landslides in the Philippines claimed the lives of 40 people. The disaster, triggered by the northeast monsoon and a cold front, hit mainly the Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Southern Tagalog regions and affected more than 1.2 million people.

27 people died, 12 are missing and more than a million people were affected by the floods triggered by torrential rains in Sri Lanka, particularly in the eastern districts of Batticaloa and Ampara.
In Brazil at least 540 people have died due to landslides and flooding caused by torrential rain and another 10,000 people living in what used to be picturesque mountain towns popular with tourists have been affected by the torrential rains that began at the start of the year

I place below an excerpt of an article by Germaine Greer in the Guardian entitled :
Australian floods: Why were we so surprised?
Meteorologists warned Australians six months ago to prepare for a soaking. And nobody did a thing ...

What's going on in Australia is rain. British people might think that they're rain experts. Truth is that they hardly know what rain is. The kind of cold angel sweat that wets British windscreens isn't proper rain. For weeks now rain has been drumming in my ears, leaping off my corrugated steel roof, frothing through the rocks, spouting off the trees, and running, running, running past my house and down into the gully, into the little creek, into the bigger creek, and on to the Nerang river and out to sea at Southport. We've had more than 350mm in the last four days. My creek is running so high and so fast that I can't get out and my workforce can't get in…
The rain comes in pulses. When the noise abates, momentarily, I can see Mount Hobwee through veils of wet mist, and then I hear the advancing roar of the next pulse, and everything shuts down again. Behind my house a white cataract is charging down the gully through the rocks. When I'm in bed I can feel the thudding of its raw power through my bones.
The meteorologists will tell you that the current deluge is a product of La Niña. At fairly regular intervals, atmospheric pressure on the western side of the Pacific falls; the trade winds blow from the cooler east side towards the trough, pushing warm surface water westwards towards the bordering land masses. As the water-laden air is driven over the land it cools and drops its load. In June last year the bureau of meteorology issued a warning that La Niña was about "to dump buckets" on Australia.
Six months ago the meteorologists thought it was worthwhile to warn people to "get ready for a wet, late winter and a soaked spring and summer". So what did the people do? Nothing. They said, "She'll be right, mate". She wasn't.

______________________________

Comment by Praful Rao
Starting May2011, we will be engulfed by the SW monsoons once again and face 5 months of rainfall - I daresay, nothing; nothing whatsoever has been done by way of landslide prevention during the time when we should have been shoring up our defenses against the onslaught of the monsoons.

Too bad we never learn

Community based landslide warning systems

2011-01-13T10:17:00.002+05:30

Dr David Petley of Durham University (UK) has been a staunch friend of STH over the past 3 years and I consult him regularly on the many aspects of landslide hazards.
I reproduce part of his recent article on community based landslide warning systems; interestingly the article comes at time when we in STH will be starting work on the same topic in a small landslide prone village in Kalimpong - using much the same methods discussed in the article. The excerpt is placed below :-

"An increasingly important area of work in landslides is the development of tools to generate warnings to potentially-affected communities. Whilst technologically-led examples have been available for a couple of decades now, and have proven to be quite effective, the growing emphasis is on low tech approaches that can be operated by and within communities. This is entirely pragmatic – we know that most of the severe losses, whether measured in terms of lives lost or in proportion of per capita GDP, occur in less developed countries, particularly in Asia and Latin America. ... "

For those interested Dr Petley's full length article is available here

Praful Rao

Working with the Communities 2011- Dumsi Pakha village, Kalimpong

2011-01-09T16:42:00.003+05:30

Dumsi Pakha is a tiny village located within Kalimpong town's municipal limits and has been featured in detail in this blog here.
It has a population of approx 300 people with most of the adult males working as labourers. The houses in the area are densely packed with virtually no drainage system existing and the fact that two large natural drains (jhoras) plough through this area makes it inherently unstable.
As per the President of the village no one has worked in the area as regards capacity building or making the people more aware about landslide hazards even though as per him everyone spends sleepless nights when it rains heavily.

SaveTheHills carried out some community work last year in Chibo/Pashyor villages see here and with very positive results.
We hope to start similar work in Dumsi Pakha by February 2011 - preliminary ground work as regards arranging for training of volunteers in first aid, SAR etc is being undertaken currently.

Praful Rao

A positive ending to 2010

2010-12-31T07:48:00.001+05:30

If we must work against the huge landslide problem in the Darjeeling - Sikkim Himalaya, it must be on a multidimensional level where we improve our land use planning, utilize engineering and bio- engineering methods to mitigate landslides, mobilize and train our communities, create awareness at different levels, manage our drainage systems better, establish an effective early warning system and perhaps induct new technology where it is available and affordable.
Towards this end, some time in mid 2010, I came across what I believe is an effective and affordable means of checking soil erosion : Vetiver Grass.
Much is available on the soil binding properties and many uses of this plant on the internet, but SaveTheHills has decided to procure a small quantity (around 5-8000 saplings) of the grass and plant this grass in some very landslide prone areas of Kalimpong (CHIBO/PASHYOR and maybe SINDEBUNG) during the monsoons of 2011.
I am glad to state that we have identified the source and finalized the procurement formalities and we will undertaking the planting with the help of the many horticulture experts amongst us during the monsoons of 2011.

Praful Rao

A milestone : At the National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi

2010-12-13T05:34:00.002+05:30

NIDM in New Delhi is the country's premier institution for imparting training on Disaster Management, as such it was a privilege to be talking there on the "Landslide scenario in Kalimpong and our work with the community" during a 5 day comprehensive training program from 06-11Dec2010 on Landslide Risk Management.
The course was attended by 21 Government officials from 7 states and included geologists, engineers, state civil servants, BRTF personnel and scientist.
The course report in pdf format is here

Praful Rao

STH activities at Kolkata (30Nov2010) and New Delhi (10Dec2010)

2010-12-04T07:21:00.000+05:30

NIDM has organized a 5 day "Comprehensive Landslide Risk Mitigation and Management" training program at New Delhi from 06Dec-10Dec2010. STH will be participating both as trainee and a resource person.

Praful Rao