Zeitschrift für Geographie und Naturkatastrophen
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Study the 2013 Flood Damages and Risk Assessment in Kedarnath, Himalaya Area Using Geoinformatic Techniques

Prakash P

Recent climate variability has had significant impact on atmosphere and its produces uneven rainfall in high-mountain and glacial regions. On 16th and 17th June 2013, heavy rains together with moraine dammed lake (Chorabari Lake) burst caused flooding of Saraswati and Mandakini rivers in Rudrapryag district of Uttarakhand. A multi-day cloudburst centered in the Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and landslides becoming the country’s worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami, which was about 375% more than the benchmark rainfall during a normal monsoon. The resultant consequence is the damage of infrastructures, crops and forest areas etc. Apart from the social, political and economical losses these natural calamities modify the pre-existing landscape of Kedarnath area. To study the damaged area of Kedarnath, remote sensing and GIS techniques is used and damaged area classified as highly, moderate and low based on the intensity of the damages.