From Sikkim today : 24Sep2012

Photo credits : Mr Wangchuk Dorjee
                    : Mr Chewang Lepcha


Praful Rao

Fatal landslide in N Sikkim : 24 dead on 22Sep2012

Comments by Praful Rao
We have been witnessing an extraordinary rainfall pattern over the last few weeks in this region.
In Kalimpong, we were terribly deficient in rain  from 01-09Sep2012 but between 10-17Sep2012 due to the monsoon trough shifting close to us and an upper air cyclonic circulation over Jharkhand, we received around 84% (343mm) of our monthly rainfall for Sep (410mm) in just 7 days and by 20Sep we crossed out monthly average.
What is worrisome is that this intense rainfall comes at the end of the monsoon season when the earth is totally saturated with water -  creating an ideal recipe for landslides.
Sikkim receives much more rain than Kalimpong and I do know that this month they have gone well past the monthly average there.
Placed above is the IR image of 22Sep2012  of 1600hrs (ie of yesterday when the landslide/ flashflood occurred) which shows dense clouding over Sikkim.

National Conference on Disaster Management 17-18Sep2012, Gangtok Sikkim

I had the privilege of attending  Day-II (18Sep2012) of the two day National Conference on Disaster Management at Chintan Bhavan, Gangtok. The conference was organized by Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority to mark the first anniversary of the 18Sep2011 Sikkim earthquake and as such was focused more or less totally on earthquakes.

I was, however allowed to talk on landslides and extreme weather events like the recent Sept rains which dumped 84% of the monthly rainfall in just one week.

The conference had delegates and speakers from Bihar, Odissa, Manipur and representatives from UNDP, UNICEF, IITs, NDMA, NDRF, officers of the army, BRO, para military or and many more organizations.

The keynote address on Day-1 was given by Shri KM Singh, Member NDMA and on Day-II by Shri Karma Gyatso (IAS), Chief Secretary, Sikkim.

Some of the outcomes of Day-II were :-

1. 18Sep would be observed as “Disaster Reduction Day” in the state of Sikkim from now on and one year (ie Sep2012-Sep2013) would be observed as “Preparedness Year”.
2. Special importance would be given to school safety and disaster management studies would be introduced into school curriculum without delay.
3. Similarly safety of hospitals and other life line structures would be given paramount importance.
4. The socio-economic aspects of the 18Sep2011 earthquake would also be studied.
   
   
   Praful Rao

A day of rain & our frailty exposed

1. Between 13Sep afternoon & early14Sep2012, an upper air cyclonic circulation together with the monsoon trough lying near the foothills of our region (see satellite image above) dumped nearly 160mm of rain in Kalimpong.
2. This rainfall amounting to nearly 40% of the normal monthly rainfall (410mm as per IMD) for the month of Sep, grossly exposed how unprepared and frail we were:-
a) A landslide at the old Leprosy hospital, Kalimpong area has compelled the administration to evacuate a village (Chota Bhalukhop) directly below it since more rain is forecast tonight (see slide 2 from top).
b) Rock and debris brought down by a slide at Mahakal dara had blocked the road to the village and rocks were still hurtling down even as I photographed villagers there. (see slide 3 from top).
c) At East Main road, Kalimpong a slide which took place at 2am this morning had destabilized the foundation of 5 houses. The distraught families were talking of moving to a school tonight.
(see slide 4 from top).
d) At 14th Mile in Kalimpong, the jhora or mountain rivulet had pulled down parts of the mountain side and also caused severe subsidence in parts of the Kalimpong - Algarah road. (see slide 5 from top).
e) Again at East Main Road a bamboo thicket next to a church had collapsed, pulling down the foundation (see slide 5 from top).
f) At Bara Bhalukhop 2 houses were partially damaged by slides.
2. The only saving grace, was there were no casualties.

Praful Rao

Rainfall stats, Darjeeling district : Aug2012

The monsoons have been unusually mild this year and Aug2012 was another month of deficient rainfall in this region (along with May/Jun2012).
What is also strange is that thus far, there has been no major weather activity in the Bay of Bengal and as such we have not observed any low pressure/depressions or cyclones in the bay during this entire season.

No major landslides took place in the Darjeeling - Sikkim Himalaya in Aug2012
Praful Rao

New study (2012) reveals landslides kill 10X more people than previously thought

Studies done by Dr David Petley of Durham University (UK) have revealed that the number of deaths caused by landslides is almost ten time more than previous estimates.
Stating that "global loss of life from landslides is poorly quantified", Dr Petley's study done over a seven year period (2004-2010) has found that as many as 32,322 people may have perished in 2620 fatal landslides during this time as against an earlier estimate of 3000-7,000.
Quoting Dr Petley, "The upshot is a lack of quantification and thus appreciation of the true impacts of landslides, resulting in poor prioritization of global-scale landslide research and mitigation".
What should worry those of us living the Himalayas is that in the above map showing the spatial distribution of fatal landslides, the cluster of black dots is the thickest in our region (ie "Along the southern edge of the Himalayan Arc"), yet our efforts towards managing this disaster form remains largely academic (being confined to the hallowed confines of IITs and other scientific institutions/departments) with virtually no work being done at the grassroots level ie where the landslides are killing people.

Praful Rao

STH would like to thank Dr David Petley for sharing  his article entitiled "Global patterns of loss of life from landslides" article with us.

The good and bad news : El Nino is around.

 

It is now official that El Nino conditions will prevail over the the northern hemisphere at least until Nov2012 and it is widely speculated that this will lead to a shortfall in rainfall in India even as the south westerly monsoon slowly withdraws from the sub-continent.

As if to prove this point, we are experiencing extraordinary weather in this part of world with rainfall again running woefully short in Aug2012 (we had deficient rain in May & Jun2012) and with no major weather system (ie formation of low pressure/depression or cyclone) developing in the Bay of Bengal thus far in 2012.
Whereas this maybe good news as regards landslides in this region (we had no major landslides or casualties except for the Tindharia and Pagla Jhora slides), I shudder to think of what it portends for our drinking water and power situation in the summer of 2013 (not to mention impact on agri/horticulture over the winter months etc).

Praful Rao


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Rainfall stats, Darjeeling district :July2012

As usual Kurseong took the first place with a whopping 125cm of rainfall, whereas at both Darjeeling and Kalimpong the rainfall was more subdued.
No major landslide was reported in July2012 in this region and there were no fatalities

Praful Rao

"The times, they are a changin" - extreme weather-related events in the past week

• Large parts of India are reporting deficient rainfall even as July2012 (our rainiest monsoon month) is ending- as such the spectre of drought looms large over many parts of the country (see top map- source http://www.imd.gov.in/section/hydro/dynamic/seasonal-rainfall.htm).
• The bread basket of the US reels under severe drought conditions (see bottom map - source http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/).
• In the week beginning 21July2012, 77 people died due to flooding in Beijing in the heaviest rainfall recorded since record keeping began 60yrs ago.
• NASA reports "strange and sudden massive melt in Greenland" when the ice melt area went from 40 percent of the ice sheet to 97 percent in four days. You can read about it here

Praful Rao

100mm of rainfall & World Heritage site in peril : Tindharia (19July2012)

STH has covered the Tindharia landslides earlier (see here and here). On 19July2012 following approximately 100mm of rainfall (as per our ARG at Kurseong), a portion of the ground adjacent to the workshop collapsed endangering the famous 100yr old Darjeeling Himalayan Railway workshop located at Tindharia.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DARJEELING HIMALAYAN RAILWAY WORKSHOP AT TINDHARIA (KURSEONG)

The construction work including rail track of Darjeeling Himalayan Railways started in May 1879 and completed from Siliguri to Tindharia in 1880. The Governor General of India, Mr. Lord Litton inaugurated the train running in March 1880. Narrow Gauge train was operated upto Darjeeling in 1881. A miniature workshop was built at the present location of loco shed TDH in 1881. Tindharia workshop was built temporarily in the last part of the 19th century for maintenance of NG locomotives and carriages and wagons of DHR. Installation of Tindharia workshop at the present location started in 1913. The workshop came into operation in 1925. The total area of the workshop is 6670 sqm, out of which 3810 sq.m. is covered. DHR was initially tagged with NE zone and was subsequently transferred to NF in the year 1958. The world heritage committee at its 23rd session at Marrakesh, Morocco decided to inscribe Darjeeling Himalayan Railway site on the world heritage list. This was done on 26.11.2000 and it has deepened Indian Railways’ commitment towards the preservation of steam heritage on this system.

Photo credit : STH Member Bhushan Chhetri and Mr Kundun Yolmo (Siliguri)

Praful Rao