CHANDIGARH: The Himachal Pradesh government has urged the Centre to carry out in-depth studies, through institutions such as the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Geological Survey of India (GSI), on the causes of natural disasters in the state. Since 2018, the state has witnessed 148 cloudbursts, 294 flash floods and over 5,000 landslides.Sources said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had recently ordered the formation of a multi-sector team comprising experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indore, to study the reasons behind the recent cloudbursts and flashfloods in Himachal Pradesh.A meeting of the Multi-Sectoral Central Team (MSCT), constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs to investigate the increasing incidents of natural disasters in Himachal Pradesh, was held in Shimla on Thursday.Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) KK Pant said that Himachal Pradesh’s geographical conditions are different from other states, making it necessary to revise the norms related to disaster recovery and rehabilitation in the region. He stressed the need for institutions such as the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to conduct in-depth studies on the causes of natural disasters while being stationed in the state.He highlighted the importance of assessing disaster-prone areas and focusing on early forecasting of such events. He said that emphasis should be laid on pre-disaster planning rather than post-disaster response in order to minimize loss of life and property. He also called for the installation of advanced sensors to improve data collection across the state.Pant said that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has also been advocating for a detailed study on the increasing incidents of cloudbursts since 2023. He further emphasized the need to set up a flood forecasting unit in the state, with the support of the Central Water Commission, to enhance hydrological monitoring and study glacial lakes.Dr Neeraj from DGRE-DRDO and Atul from GSI participated in the meeting virtually. The MSCT team urged DGRE-DRDO to provide data related to high-altitude regions and asked GSI to focus more on the issues of sudden floods and landslides, which were the two major natural disasters occurring in Himachal Pradesh.Special Secretary (Revenue-Disaster Management) DC Rana gave a detailed presentation on various natural disasters in the state. He said that since 2018, Himachal Pradesh has witnessed 148 cloudbursts, 294 flash floods and over 5,000 landslides. He said that districts such as Kullu, Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur and Mandi were extremely vulnerable to such events.
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