A look at natural disasters that devastated Uttarakhand

A part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday and led to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga River. According to the latest media reports, a total of 32 bodies have been recovered while authorities put the official figure of missing persons at 197.

Apart from the loss of life and cattle, the flash floods also incurred heavy damage to the NTPC's 480 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad hydropower project and the 13.2 MW Rishiganga Hydel Project. The floods also swept away several homes. More than 600 personnel of The Indian Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in Chamoli district to carry out search and rescue operations.

Notably, the hill state has been hit by major natural disasters over the last three decades. Let’s have a look at a few of them here:

1991 Uttarkashi Earthquake

An earthquake of 6.8 magnitudes hit the undivided state of Uttar Pradesh in October 1991 in which at least 768 people were killed and thousands of homes destroyed.

1998 Malpa Landslide

The small village of Malpa in Pithoragarh district was wiped in the landslide in which about 255 people, including 55 Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims, were killed.

1999 Chamoli earthquake

An earthquake of 6.8 magnitudes has hit Chamoli district in 1999. Over 100 people were killed and the adjoining Rudraprayag district was also heavily affected.

2013 Kedarnath Floods

Nearly 6,000 people were presumed dead after a a multi-day cloudburst caused devastating floods and landslides in Uttarakhand. According to the state government, more than 5,700 people were presumed dead in the disaster. As bridges and roads were destroyed more than 3 lakh people were trapped in the valleys leading to the Char Dham pilgrimage sites.