Lessons learnt from

landslides of
Uttarakhand Disaster (June 2013)
A. Sundaramoorthy
Director General
Geological Survey of India

Uttarakhand
Landscape

7000
400

Rugged mountain chain with high relief

Varied geomorphic landforms: Glacial/ glacio-fluvial and fluvial
Dominance of erosional & gravitational processes
Lies in Zone IV & V of Seismic Zoning map of India
Known to be one of the most landslide prone states in India
Rainfall & Earthquake are the main triggering factors for slope failures

Geological set up

Active tectogene the Himalayan Fold-Thrust-Belt (FTB)

Varied litho-assemblages of Proterozoic to Holocene Age (Sedimentaries to Crystallines):
Folded, fractured and weathered
Colluviums, Scree and terraces of variable thickness
Suffered multiple stages of deformation and metamorphism
Traversed by major thrusts like Main Central Thrust (MCT), North Almora Thrust (NAT) besides
many other faults/shears

Sequence of events culminating into the June 2013 disaster

Heavy precipitation in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand (15th 17th June)

Bursting of glacial lakes
Increased debris laden discharge in trunk streams
Rising of water level upto 5-7 m
Heavy toe erosion and flooding
Fresh landsliding along steep river banks & slopes
Colossal loss of properties and lives & road links

Heavy incessant rainfall a trigger for

Uttarakhand Disaster
Heavy rainfall in the higher altitude areas
325 mm in 24 hours between 5 PM 15th June and 5 PM 16th June at
Chorabari Lake (3960 m asl) as against 272 mm in 3 days (15-17 June) at
Ghuttu (~1430 m m asl)
(Dobhal et al, 2013)
Sudden increase in daily rainfall in the month of June 2013 as compared to
total rainfall of June for last 5 years
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

400

113.25

5.66

15.28

18
0

Rainfall in June (mm)

Rainfall (mm)

180

369.6

300
200

148.9

166.6

100

95.4

17.8
0
2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Increase & pattern in river discharge a

trigger for bank erosion and landslides
2500

200

Bhagirathi Valley
(Uttarkashi)

180
160
140

1500

120

100
1000

80

Rainfall (mm)

Discharge (Cumecs)

2000

60
500

40
20

0
14.06.13 15.06.13 16.06.13 17.06.13 18.06.13 19.06.13
Discharge (Cumecs)

Rainfall

River discharge is mixed with huge supply of debris from upper reaches:
yielding tremendous momentum & erosive power

Nature of damages
(Along river courses and on neighbouring hill slopes)
Damages within active flood plains
Erosion caused by the debris-laden flood discharge in trunk streams

Damages on banks of trunk streams

Erosion caused by toe cutting

Damages along hill slopes

Caused by headward and channel erosion
Debris flows with longer run outs
Shallow translational landslides on slope

Damages within flood plains

(an example from Kedarnath)

Source: Bhuvan Portal, ISRO

Damages within flood plains

Kedarnath

Landslides on banks due to toe erosion

Debris slides & flows on banks

GSIs immediate response 1

Preliminary assessment of disaster affected areas in
close association with Uttarakhand Government &
NDMA officials
Immediately constituted a team of 10 Geologists and
deployed in field for reconnaitory survey of damage &
causative geo-parameters
Studied landslides and slope instabilities at several locations
in Mandakini, Alaknanda, Bhilangana and Bhagirathi valleys
Carried out preliminary geoscientific
Kedarnath Temple & township

assessment

of

Identified areas of extreme vulnerability for further detailed

surveys

GSIs immediate response 2

Preliminary assessment of disaster affected areas in close
association with Uttarakhand Government & NDMA officials
Formulation & initiation of five formal programs (involving 20 field
geologists) of geological investigations in five worst affected districts
Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Bageshwar & Pithoragarh
Consultation of existing literature & database
Landslide inventory mapping using Geo-parametric format
Preliminary identification of areas for relocation/ rehabilitation &
selection of sites for detailed investigation
Identification of NH/SH road stretches needing restoration
Identification of damaged road stretches needing detailed
investigations

Lessons learnt 1
Extreme event of this nature in the Himalayas is imminent if
heavy and very heavy rainfall occurs in the upper
reaches, where loose unconsolidated glacial/ glacio-fluvial

material is the predominant slope forming material

(Kedarnath area)
Moraine- dammed Lakes (e.g. Gandhi Sarovar) pose high
vulnerability to lake-burst or breach during such heavy rains
Core-zones of Flood plains, Outwash plains are the most
hazard-prone

areas

for

flash

floods

(e.g., Mandakini, Bhagirathi river courses)

and

deluge

Lessons learnt 2
Encroachment immediately below and above the high flood
line of the trunk streams and areas in the immediate vicinity
of prominent depressions on slopes - extremely risk prone

Damages by mass wasting not only restricted to the zone of

depletion of material but also observed along its long run
outs and in its depositional zones

Tehri Dam stood as a real saviour in storing about 22 m

increase in water level in its reservoir saving many
settlements in lower reaches from inundation

(Source: THDC Ltd.)

Lessons learnt 3
A robust and strong Disaster Preparedness including increased awareness
amongst all the stakeholders during planning and management in hazardprone areas is essential
More stress on identification of landslide susceptible areas on macro scale
(1:50,000/25,000) needs to be given.

Codes for landslide zonation should also take into account the domino
effects of flash flooding and effects of landslide run outs
Creation of norms, regulatory mechanisms and strict compliance of land

use zoning regulations in the mountains based on landslide zonation maps.

Constructions should be restrained from entering into active river regime
and fluvial geomorphology.

Action to be taken
New land use development including road construction in
Himalayan mountains should mandatorily consider the geological
and

geotechnical

slope

stability

conditions

and

landslide

susceptibility zones
Excavation or slope modification and protection measures for
modified slopes should go hand in hand for ensuring slope stability

All moraine-dammed lakes in the Himalayan catchments be mapped

and their geotechnical stability be assessed
Weather forecast in the landslide prone areas of the country to be

improved by IMD through installation of more number of state-ofthe-art AWS and closely spaced Doppler instruments for regular
monitoring & developing Early Warning system

How GSI is contributing

Being nodal agency on landslide studies, GSI is committed to assist TAC
(MoM) & NDMA and help other Organisations / Universities for capacity

building on vulnerability zonation and other related landslide studies

GSI recently constituted a Geohazards Research & Management Cell at CHQ
to launch specific R&D Projects, co-ordinate and spearhead all the above
activities
Can share a substantial quantum of work-load on multi-scale landslide
zonation with a priority to cover the risk-prone areas and important locales
including

site

specific

studies,

road

alignments,

updating

of

inventory, developing early warning system, and related research activities

GSI is wiling to collaborate based on its available resources employed in this
field with other government agencies engaged in such studies including
research based investigations

GSIs commitments in Uttarakhand

On-going assignments (FS 2013-14)
Preliminary investigations in five worst affected districts
(Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh)
with an objective to prepare the inventory of landslides, to
assess the vulnerability of 24 villages for restoration/
resettlement and geoscientific work in Kedarnath areas (20
Geologists are presently engaged in Uttarakhand)
Future planning (FS 2014-15 onwards)
Detailed investigations as envisaged and proposed in the
preliminary investigation will be taken up from April 2014
onwards (FS 2014-15)