By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 3 Sep: The southwest monsoon may withdraw from Uttarakhand in the next few days, but the departing rains have once again left behind a trail of death, destruction and questions over the state’s preparedness to deal with its recurring disaster vulnerabilities. As many as 54 people have lost their lives in disaster-related incidents during the current monsoon, with 44 deaths attributed to rain-related incidents, which exposes the continuing threat posed by landslides, flash floods and intense spells of localised rainfall.
The latest fatalities have once again demonstrated that the danger in Uttarakhand is not determined merely by the total seasonal rainfall. Even when the overall rainfall remains around or below normal, intense rain over a particular valley or small area can turn streams into raging torrents, trigger landslides and sweep away roads, vehicles and houses.
On 1 September, five people died in rain-related incidents in Almora, while Dehradun also reported two deaths and Nainital and Uttarkashi, one each. In Udyuda village of Hawalbag area in Almora, debris brought down by heavy rain entered a house, killing a woman and her two children. In Dehradun, a car carrying students from Rajasthan was swept away by the powerful flow of a rain-fed stream, killing two persons.
The tragedy comes against the backdrop of widespread damage to infrastructure. As on 2 September, as many as 172 roads, including two national highways, have been reported blocked across the state. The affected roads included 23 in Almora, 11 in Bageshwar, 17 in Chamoli, two in Champawat, 15 in Dehradun, 40 in Nainital, 12 in Pauri, 12 in Pithoragarh, 11 in Rudraprayag, 15 in Tehri and 14 in Uttarkashi.
But the figures do not adequately convey the human cost of such disruptions. Behind every blocked road is a village cut off from the outside world, children unable to reach school, patients unable to reach hospitals and families living with the fear that the next spell of rain could bring down an unstable slope.
More disturbing is the fact that several of the vulnerable locations are not new. Maldevta in Dehradun, Pani Wala Bend and the Galogi Power House stretch on the Dehradun-Mussoorie road have repeatedly witnessed landslides and slope failures. Every monsoon, the sequence is almost identical. A landslide blocks the road, debris is removed, traffic is restored and the immediate crisis is considered over. The next heavy spell brings the same problem back and sometimes in a matter of just a few days again.
This cannot be called a permanent solution. Clearing debris is an emergency response, not disaster mitigation. A road that repeatedly gets blocked at the same location requires detailed geological and hydrological assessment, proper drainage, slope stabilisation and other permanent engineering measures. Yet, year after year, the same vulnerable stretches are allowed to remain exposed until the next landslide.
There was some movement in this direction yesterday when Dehradun District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan inspected vulnerable points on the Mussoorie road and discussed measures for a permanent solution. Such an initiative is welcome, but the larger question is why repeated landslides over several years have not already resulted in comprehensive remedial measures. Things need to be taken far more seriously than merely clearing debris after every landslide.
The problem is equally serious in the villages. A large number of habitations have been identified as vulnerable and requiring relocation, but the process has moved slowly. Recent official figures indicate that 62 villages involving around 1,050 families are awaiting relocation, while the state has already spent substantial sums on relocating families from other vulnerable settlements. Land availability, funding, geological clearances, compensation and administrative procedures have contributed to the delay, but for families living under unstable slopes, administrative delay can have very real and sometimes fatal consequences.
The state has also witnessed a particularly disturbing form of infrastructure neglect in remote areas. In many villages, local bridges washed away years ago have still not been properly replaced. During the monsoon, villagers and schoolchildren are forced to cross swollen streams and rivers at considerable risk. In other places, roads have remained damaged or unusable for years, leaving residents dependent on footpaths. When someone falls seriously ill, families are sometimes forced to carry the patient in a palki for kilometres to reach a motorable road or hospital.
Such conditions should be unacceptable in a state which has been dealing with disasters for decades. A temporary arrangement may be understandable immediately after a bridge is washed away, but it cannot become a substitute for reconstruction for years. Similarly, villagers cannot be expected to risk their lives crossing streams every monsoon simply because a permanent bridge remains pending in government files.
This is the situation, when it has rained below the normal range of rainfall this year. Uttarakhand had received 686.4 mm of monsoon rainfall by 8 August against the normal 703.9 mm, a deficit of around two percent. Yet this apparently modest deficit concealed episodes of extremely intense rainfall in specific locations. In reality, the state’s vulnerability is determined as much by the intensity and location of rainfall as by the seasonal total.
The comparison with 2025 is significant. Last year was considerably more destructive, with 77 deaths, 108 injuries and 95 people reported missing between 1 June and 1 September. As many as 1,828 houses were partially damaged, 229 completely destroyed and 71 suffered damage exceeding half their structure. Around 252 roads were also affected, while the state government’s preliminary assessment had put monsoon-related losses at more than Rs 2,500 crore.
But a comparatively less destructive monsoon cannot be an excuse for complacency. In fact, it provides an opportunity to address known vulnerabilities before the next disaster. Uttarakhand cannot continue with a response model in which authorities wait for a landslide, send machinery to clear debris, reopen traffic and then move on until the same location fails again.
The state needs to shift decisively from post-disaster response to pre-disaster prevention. Roads and slopes that have repeatedly failed must be subjected to scientific assessment and permanently treated. Vulnerable villages identified for relocation must not remain trapped in administrative files. Bridges serving remote villages and schools must be reconstructed on priority, while damaged roads must be restored within defined timelines.
Landslides cannot be eliminated altogether in Uttarakhand’s fragile mountain terrain. Nor can every natural disaster be prevented. But repeated deaths at known or already identified as vulnerable locations, prolonged road closures and the continuing hardship of villagers cut off from basic services are not simply acts of nature. The real test of disaster management is not how quickly a road is reopened after a landslide, but whether the same road remains safe when the next heavy spell arrives.
On the other hand, Disaster Management Minister Madan Kaushik has said that the final assessment of the damage caused by the monsoon would be available only after the season ends, as comprehensive figures are being sought from all districts. He claimed that the state has succeeded in its planning to prevent major losses this year, although roads had suffered the maximum damage due to the rains. If required, a detailed report on the losses would be submitted to the Centre, he said, adding that the immediate priority of the government is to ensure that there is no further loss of life due to the rains.
