What Is This Campaign About?

More documents

Recommendations

Info

of cards collapsing, knock-on effects would spread the impacts of the flooding to areas far removed from those actually under water; the estimated costs of “indirect” damage constantly rise the more they are studied in greater detail. Worst Case Scenario in Delhi (25 yrs floods) (fictional but possible) It is 20 th July 201…It has been raining incessantly for the last two days in Delhi. In the hills the rain had been unusually severe this monsoon. Unknown to most residents in Delhi, the waters in river Yamuna have been rising steadily over the last few days but since this morning the rise had taken menacing proportions and the authorities in the railways and the Delhi Metro have started to take precautionary measures for maintaining the services. The metereological forecast has at best been tentative but a storm accompanied by heavy rains in and around Delhi has been forecasted. By about 0900 hrs the authorities at the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana have informed all concerned that they can hold no longer and for the safety of the Barrage large amount of water would have to be released immediately into the main Yamuna river. By 1800 hrs the rising Yamuna waters in Delhi have resulted in sluices in the Wazirabad Barrage as well as the Yamuna and the Okhla Barrage to be opened in full. Surging Yamuna waters have breached all the minor embankments and spread all over its whatever remaining flood plains. Flood waters have entered the Sonia Vihar areas in East Delhi including the CRPF camp and the DJB water works colony. The unfinished Signature Bridge is tantalizingly perched over the torrential waters. The Yamuna Pushta embankment is about to be breached. All Metro operations to and from the Shastri Park and the Yamuna station have been brought to a complete halt. Waters have entered the Akshardham temple and emergency evacuation of men and material from there has been taken up on war footing. The residents in the CG village apartments and the shopping centre have been advised to move to safer places. With fading lights due to torrential rains the evacuation is proving to be difficult since the electric supply all over east Delhi has been put off as an emergency precautionary measure. By 1900 hrs the Yamuna waters have started to over top the Yamuna Pushta bund near Geeta Colony and the water has started to enter low lying areas in trans Yamuna localities of Geeta Colony and Laxmi Nagar. There is chaos all over with people in large numbers moving towards safer areas in Ghaziabad and beyond. The bridge over the Hindon in Ghaziabad is chocked with slow moving cars since the Hindon itself is in spate. By 2100 hrs the waters have started to threaten the Yamuna pushta embankment on the east bank of the river and the authorities are forced to create a breach to safeguard the embankment which immediately starts to flood the low lying areas in trans Yamuna areas even beyond the already submerged Geeta colony and Shastri Park. Water by now is all over the Shastri park Metro head quarters and the Metro operations have all but been brought to a stand still all over the city. All the bridges over the river have been declared unsafe with only the DND still operable. There is a real possibility that the trans Yamuna area might be cut off from the rest of the city. Similarly in the western bank of the river, flood waters have started to enter Model town and Mukherji Nagar mainly through the drains which are now flowing in reverse directions carrying as much the flood waters as the filth of the drains. Flood waters have spread all over the Samadhis and reached the ground floor of the Delhi Secretariat as also brought to a halt normal operations in all the power stations located in the west bank of the river. There is a sense of major catastrophe having engulfed Delhi something akin to that happened in Mumbai in the year 2005. The Prime Minister is in emergency meeting with all the concerned officials of both the centre and the Delhi administration including the Chief Minister and the Lt Governor of Delhi and an urgent action plan is being put into place to effectively monitor the situation and to provide immediate relief and succour to the affected. A flood monitoring control room is set up in the PMO with the disaster management group trying to come to grips and control of the situation. 8 What Is This Campaign About?
The dawn of July 21 is of little respite. Torrential rains all over north India continue to play havoc not just in Delhi with news of devastating floods from all over north and east India continuing to pour in. There has been a massive evacuation of people from affected areas in east Delhi with no immediate reliable information available about the extent of loss of life or property in that part of the city. There is no power available in most parts of the city which in turn has affected the supply of drinking water to large areas. All schools and colleges in the city have been closed down for a week. Attendance in offices has nose-dived. Rumours have started to run rife with human causalities figure reportedly rising by the hour. Media especially the TV continues to provide round the clock live coverage of the unprecedented flooding in the city. The situation changes little for another three days. It is only after 3 days of unrelenting mayhem from the flood waters that some semblance of respite is finally in place although occasional showers still abound. Affected people start to return to their homes to retrieve whatever is left untouched by the flood waters. It is not another week before skeleton Metro services are put back in operation. Gaping holes greet a commuter on the roads and the railways which had ceased operation for almost two days begin to operate again. The human casuality figure from the floods are reported to be in hundreds and the loss to property is topping thousands of crores of rupees. Soon reports of water borne diseases spreading across the city and in nearby suburbs occupy headlines with the administration coming under severe scrutiny for its apparent lack of preparedness and foresight. A high level enquiry committee after a painstaking deliberation of over six months reports that the major reason for the high devastation caused by the floods was lack of adequate flood plains remaining in the city with major chunks of it having been diverted over the years to alternate uses. Safety estimates about the embankments in the Yamuna flood plains were all found to be on unrealistically higher side and hence it was a wrong decision to permit development of the river flood plain including the permission granted to the DMRC, Akshardham, CG village and various other big and small structures, built in the flood plain. The committee has recommended immediate review of the presence of ALL structures standing in the river flood plain with an option to demolish or phase out all of them to allow the river flood plain to revert back to its natural self. NB: Clearly the Yamuna flood plains need to be declared inviolate and sacrosanct if for no other reason than its flood time critical role. Delhi is Vulnerable to Damage from Earthquake According to RN Iyengar (quoted in GISdevelopment.net) Delhi, which lies in Seismatic Zone IV, is currently experiencing mild seismicity. An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale, that was once considered hypothetical, is today a very real possibility. Keeping in view the forecast of a major earthquake resistant design consideration, it has become imperative to size up the earthquake scenario of the city and increase awareness of earthquake resistant techniques. Considering areas affected during past earthquakes of M - 6.5, it can be expected that such an earthquake occurring in Delhi could adversly affect the whole of it with damaging intensities and more than 50% of the Delhi Metropolitan Area - in terms of probable damage scenario, earthquake would be the worst natural disaster for Delhi. An issue of concern to development managers and citizens of the city today is that many groups of Indian and American scientists have forecast a major seismic upheaval of a probable magnitude 9 on the Richter scale in North India. The forecast is based on a detailed study of past Indian earthquakes and analysis of plate tectonics of the region. NB: It is well known that within Delhi it is the Yamuna flood plain area like the recently developed area of trans - Yamuna which is most vulnerable to damage from an earth quake. It is more the reason why no new structure should be constructed in the remaining Yamuna flood plain area. What Is This Campaign About? 9
Page 1 and 2: WHAT IS THIS CAMPAIGN ABOUT? It is
Page 3 and 4: preventing the revival of river Yam
Page 5 and 6: Water supply scenario in 2021 (MPD
Page 7: Flood vulnerability (Source: Taranj
Page 11: LONG TERM MEASURE - A people’s mo

What Is This Campaign About?

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?