Four people have died and another seven have recieved hospital treatment after a landslide hit a shelter occupied by a group of pilgrims and their guides on the Banganga-Ardhkuwari Road close to the cave shrine of Mata Vaishnodevi in Reasi District, Jammu and Kashmir early on the morning of morning of Saturday 6 August 2016. The deceased have been identified as Shashidhar Kumar (29) of Banglore, Bindu Sahni (30) and her son Vishal (5) of Chhattisgarh and local guide Sadik (32).
A victim of the 6 August 2016 Reasi landslide being treated for injuries. dna India.
The incident is reported to have been brought about by heavy rains; landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess
pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments,
allowing them to flow like liquids. Raeasi Distrct has a Monsoon Season that typically lasts from July to September, with peak rains occuring in August, when around 350 mm of rain tends to fall in the month.
Monsoons
are tropical sea breezes triggered by heating of the land during the
warmer part of the year (summer). Both the land and sea are warmed by
the Sun, but the land has a lower ability to absorb heat, radiating it
back so that the air above landmasses becomes significantly warmer than
that over the sea, causing the air above the land to rise and drawing in
water from over the sea; since this has also been warmed it carries a
high evaporated water content, and brings with it heavy rainfall. In the
tropical dry season the situation is reversed, as the air over the land
cools more rapidly with the seasons, leading to warmer air over the
sea, and thus breezes moving from the shore to the sea (where air is
rising more rapidly) and a drying of the climate. This situation is
particularly intense in South Asia, due to the presence of the
Himalayas. High mountain ranges tend to force winds hitting them
upwards, which amplifies the South Asian Summer Monsoon, with higher
winds leading to more upward air movement, thus drawing in further air
from the sea.
Diagrammatic representation of wind and rainfall patterns in a tropical monsoon climate. Geosciences/University of Arizona.
The
Jammu and Kashmir region is extremely prone to landslides, due to a
number of active faults in the area, these being driven by the northward
movement of the Indian Plate, which is pushing into Eurasia at a rate
of 40 mm a year. This causes earthquakes on both plates, as well as the
folding and uplift that has created the Himalayas and the Tibetan
Plateau. Typically this is more of a problem in the monsoon season in
July and August, when rainfall often exceeds 650 mm per month in many
areas, but the state has a fairly wet climate year round and rainfall in
excess of 40-50 mm per month in January-March is not unusual, while
about 85 mm is typical for April.
See also...
Kashmir landslide kills two. Two men have died in a landslide hit the hamlet of Baba Ghale
in Baramulla District, Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday 3 April 2015. Two
other people were reported to have been injured in the event. All four
were...
Seven confirmed deaths following landslide in Jammu and Kashmir. Seven people, including at least one child are known to have died
following a landslide which destroyed four houses at Laldan in the
Budgam District of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday 30 March 2015. It is
feared at...
At least 19 people have been killed in landslides and flooding along the border between the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistan State of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, associated with the monsoon rains this week. On the Pakistani side
Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.
