Research Article
Orographic and Tectonic Control on Extreme Events with Special Reference to Uttarakhand Disaster of June 2013 in the Mandakini Valley, India
Nitu Singh*, Yogita Garbyal and Kishor Kumar
Central Road Research Institute - CSIR, New Delhi-110020, India
- Corresponding Author:
- Singh N
Research Intern, Central Road Research
Institute - CSIR, New Delhi-110020, India
Tel: +91-11-26848917
E-mail: Nitusingh0502@yahoo.com
Received April 22, 2016; Accepted May 03, 2016; Published May 06, 2016
Citation: Singh N, Garbyal Y, Kumar K (2016) Orographic and Tectonic Control on Extreme Events with Special Reference to Uttarakhand Disaster of June 2013 in the Mandakini Valley, India. J Earth Sci Clim Change. 7:346. doi:10.4172/2157-7617.1000346
Copyright: © 2016 Singh N, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
This study deals with the climate change and its impact on changing precipitation behaviour, consequent events of extreme rainfall (cloudburst), landslides and flash floods. In this work, TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) 3B42RT(real time) precipitation data for 16 (1998-2013) years was utilized to understand the present variation of precipitation and extreme events such as cloudburst, flash floods, and landslides in Western Himalaya. It was observed that the extreme events are mainly restricted to the south of higher Himalaya, coinciding with high precipitation. Since, the higher Himalaya is bounded by MCT (Main Central Thrust), it could be envisaged that this zone has been acting as orographic barrier hence most of high precipitation and extreme events are confined below the area. This orographic barrier plays a significant role in controlling the expectancy and extent of high rainfall and thus triggering of the associated hazards like landslides. A case of Mandakini valley where Kedarnath disaster of June 2013 has caused loss of over five thousand lives and properties worth billions has been studied.
