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Flooding in Northern India
In June 2013, the northern state of Uttarakhand, India experienced devastating floods. More than 5,000 people went missing and are presumed dead. This was the worst natural disaster to affect India since the 2004 tsunami.

Past Flooding
Flooding caused by summer monsoons is common to northern India. Monsoons are an annual occurrence in southeast Asia and are "traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation." However, the most recent flood of this disastrous magnitude was in 1943 in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. Between 5,000 and 10,000 lives were lost in this 1943 flood.

Possible Causes
The resultant changing rain patterns are most likely due to global warming. The article, “Warming Climate to Hit South Asia Hard with Extreme Heat, Floods & Disease, World Bank Report Says”, was published in June 2013. The article discussed how the warming climate would hit South Asia hard with heat, floods and disease. The world’s temperature over the next few decades is expected to rise by two degrees centigrade. The ecological effects could be major. While two degrees may seem insignificant, the South Asian region would see changes in the rain patterns. Isabel Guerrero, Regional Vice President for South Asia at the World Bank, stated that “some areas would be getting much more rain than they are today and others would be getting droughts”.

Another possible cause of landslides is tectonic plate movement which causes soil erosion. The article “Shifting of the Kosi River, northern India” focuses on how the tectonic plates affect the river systems in northeast India and this then changes flood patterns. While a different region of India, the article explains the scientific observations of tectonic plate movement affecting flooding. The article “Multicyclic History of the Northern India Continental Margin” also discusses how tectonic plates move and affect flooding. This article discusses northwest India and the Himalayan mountain range. Where the two tectonic plates meet between India and Pakistan and China is susceptible to flooding caused by shifting of the tectonic plates. When these tectonic plates move the river system throughout the Himalayan Mountains will change. Due to the great amount of unstable sediment in the Himalayan Mountains, the changing river systems may cause landslides.

Loss of Human Life
Death tolls are great during monsoon season in Asia not only caused by flooding but the resulting landslides. In Ives’ article, “Deforestation in the Himalayas,” the theory he refers to “can be best described as a series of interlinked vicious cycles, set in motion by rapid population growth of subsidence mountain societies after about 1950.” On average India’s population has increased by 2% each year since the 1960s. A possible consequence of a growing population is greater density. This can lead to a higher death toll caused by many people being in one place at once.

The Indian state of Uttarakhand is very densely populated, and even more so during high tourism seasons. Many Hindus take pilgrimages to Uttarkahand because of the temples that are located there are seen as very sacred. In Uttarakhand, India, in regards to infrastructure, there is no ”credible mechanism to assure compliance with environmental regulations. These are places where there is a heavy tourist influx”. With poor infrastructure coupled with a heavy or dense population, the death toll is going to be very high when a natural disaster occurs; until this infrastructure is made to withstand flooding and heavy winds, while not harming the environment more, there will continue to be a high death toll.

Economic
An economic consequence of the flooding in Uttarakhand is tourism has decreased. According to The Indian Economic Times, hotels are at extremely low occupancy (5-10%) even though their price rates have been cut up to 50%. This lack of tourism affects many aspects of the economy. With fewer tourists coming in to Uttarakhand to spend their money, the economy will suffer as a large portion of their economic revenue is earned from tourism.

Domesticated Animals
The main form of travel to Uttarakhand, India, as it is a highly mountainous region, is by mules. Mules were introduced to India by Britain in the mid-eighteenth century for service in agriculture. Today mules are still used for travel into mountainous areas, seen as important and well taken care of. During natural disasters mules may be abandoned in order for their caretakers to escape more quickly. A large percentage of the mules will not survive due to flooding or land slides. The main problem with using mules is they cannot reproduce as they are born sterile. Therefore, it is more difficult to sustain and replenish the population, especially after natural disasters where many are lost. Since mules are highly prized and necessary in northern Indian society, there should be more care given to animals during natural disasters. As humans are at the top of the food chain we often view our lives as the most valuable and worthy of saving; the animals we need are very important, however, and should be seen as worthy of saving also. Many do not realize the role animals play in our daily life, whether domesticated or not. The food chain is quite complex and we do not always see immediate consequences when species are lost or their numbers are reduced.

Agriculture
Rice is one of the most important crops in southeast Asia. Rice crops, once flooded, will be damaged. The extent of the damage is dependent upon growth stage, floodwater height, flood current and water turbidity. In flooding in Assam, a region of northern India, there were 6000 hectares of crops flooded.

Ecological
An Indian news website published an article about the flooding in Northern India. Also in the northern Indian region of Assam there was an animal sanctuary. Some of the animals that stayed there were lost due to the extreme flooding. One of the animals lost was a rhinoceros, which are threatened species.

Future
The fact that this flood killed more than 5,000 people appears to be evidence that preparation for natural disturbances in this area has been inadequate. This lack of preparation might be due to the region being a poor, eastern society. Infrastructure needs to be improved to build structures made to withstand high winds, heavy rains and floods. It is not that the technology does not exist; the prevention lies in the lack of funding. Also, agricultural practices need to improve. The slash-and-burn method causes horrible environmental effects, such as soil erosion, and in turn, worse landslides. If these practices are not improved then the future disturbances will only produce the same, if not worse, disastrous results.

In regards to funding, so much money is spent on relief efforts. The question should be raised whether this is the most efficient choice. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies alone donated nearly 400,000 euros to relief efforts. Much of the aid came from international organizations or foreign countries. Would it not be more efficient to work more on prevention than restoration? The countries that are donating the money towards relief efforts might be willing to spend the money they would have spent on restoration towards preparation and prevention. This would not cost them more financially while saving lives.

In order to help the future generations there should also be technological improvements in order to get more warning out before disaster strikes.