Alok Bhardwaj

Rainfall and landslide triggers of the Uttarakand Floods of 2013

The aim of my PhD project is to address the increasing vulnerability of the North West Himalayan region to natural hazards of landslides and large floods that are induced by high intensity rainfall. The study focuses on the landslides and large floods that happened in June 2013 in Uttarakhand, a state of India. During the 2013 large floods, unprecedented death to human lives and enormous loss to property happened. This was a jerk to the flourishing economy of the young state of Uttarakhand as this event adversely affected the tourism industry, anthropogenic activities and the huge public and private investment to harness natural resources. This study may evolve with time to understand at a deep level the interactions between rainfall and landslides that contribute to the huge sediment yield in the young North Western Himalayan mountain ecosystem. Hence, this research will not only enhance our understanding of the natural hazards dynamics for a rainfall fed mountain range but also try to answer the burning questions such as increasing vulnerability and disaster risk reduction in the Himalaya to the possible extent.