{"id":22770,"date":"2024-07-15T23:47:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T05:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/?p=22770"},"modified":"2025-12-14T05:06:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T05:06:32","slug":"kedarnath-floods-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/kedarnath-floods-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"About Kedarnath floods 2013: A decade after is safer the temple?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>About Kedarnath floods 2013: A decade after is safer the temple?<\/h1>\n<p>The major Kedarnath floods at the pilgrimage site of Kedarnath in Uttarakhand raised safety concerns among experts, especially after a recent deadly landslide.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Kedarnath Floods:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Event<\/strong>: Kedarnath Floods<\/li>\n<li><strong>Date<\/strong>: June 16-17, 2013<\/li>\n<li><strong>Location<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kedarnath\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kedarnath Valley, Uttarakhand, India<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Cause<\/strong>: Heavy rainfall and melting of <strong>Chorabari Glacier leading to a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Impact<\/strong>:<strong> Over 6,000 deaths, widespread destruction of the Kedarnath Valley<\/strong>, and devastation of the 14km pilgrimage route to the Kedarnath Temple<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reconstruction Start<\/strong>: March 2014<\/li>\n<li><strong>Current Issues<\/strong>: Safety concerns due to heavy construction in an ecologically sensitive area, recent landslides, and ongoing risks from climate change and glacier fragmentation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Kedarnath Valley<\/h3>\n<p>The Kedarnath Valley, located above 3,500 meters in Uttarakhand, India, has undergone significant changes since deadly<strong> Kedarnath floods hit the area in 2013.<\/strong> A reconstruction project to rebuild Kedarnath, home to a famous temple, began in March 2014.<\/p>\n<p>However, delays, allegations of corruption, and the risks of heavy construction in this ecologically sensitive <strong>mountainous region have raised serious concerns about whether Kedarnath is safer now or more vulnerable than before the 2013 disaster.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A stark reminder of the area&#8217;s fragility occurred on the night of August 4, 2023, when a major landslide struck the Kedarnath pilgrimage route during heavy rains. <strong>The landslide destroyed several shops near <a href=\"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/kedarnath-trek-starting-point\/\">Gaurikund,<\/a> the starting point of the Kedarnath trek. The incident resulted in three deaths, with 16 people missing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22780\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22780\" style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22780\" src=\"http:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Kedarnath-Temple-Floods-2013.jpg\" alt=\"Kedarnath Temple Floods 2013\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22780\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kedarnath Temple Floods 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Kedarnath 2013 flood<\/h3>\n<p>The Kedarnath 2013 flood in Uttarakhand were one of India&#8217;s worst natural disasters, <strong>with a death toll of over 6,000. Heavy rainfall on June 16 and 17<\/strong>, combined with the melting of the <strong>Chorabari Glacier, caused a breach of the Chorabari glacial lake.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This led to a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), increasing the flow of the <strong>Mandakini River, flooding the entire Kedarnath Valley<\/strong> and downstream settlements, and destroying the <strong>14km pilgrimage route to the Kedarnath Temple.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Each year, thousands trek to the Kedarnath Temple, located 300 km northeast of India&#8217;s capital, New Delhi. Roshan, a former palanquin bearer, recalls the <strong>Kedarnath 2013 floods<\/strong> vividly: &#8220;<strong>I was at Rambara village near Kedarnath on the day of the floods. The whole village vanished in front of my eyes in seconds. The memories still give me chills.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Chorabari Lake<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Manish Mehta, a scientist at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, believes the risk of future GLOFs from the <strong>Chorabari Lake has decreased since the lake breached its boundaries<\/strong>, turning into a pathway that cannot hold water anymore.<\/p>\n<h4>Is reconstruction making Kedarnath unsafe?<\/h4>\n<p>Heavy construction in Kedarnath has raised concerns among experts<strong>. A 2014 study by the Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre, part of Uttarakhand&#8217;s Department of Disaster Management<\/strong>, warned against such construction. The study, conducted after the 2013 floods disaster in Kedarnath, <strong>advised against new constructions in the temple area.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> It recommended only small and light structures for essential temple<\/strong> services, as disturbing the freshly deposited debris and boulders could trigger landslides an<\/p>\n<p>However, environmental scientist Ravi Chopra warns that the impacts of climate change in the region remain dangerous. He cautions that glacier fragmentation could lead to the formation of new lakes around <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chorabari_Lake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Chorabari Lake,<\/strong><\/a> meaning the risk of glacial lake outbursts should never be ignored.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About Kedarnath floods 2013: A decade after is safer the temple? The major Kedarnath floods at the pilgrimage site of Kedarnath in Uttarakhand raised safety concerns among experts, especially after a recent deadly landslide. Kedarnath Floods:\u00a0 Event: Kedarnath Floods Date: June 16-17, 2013 Location: Kedarnath Valley, Uttarakhand, India Cause: Heavy rainfall and melting of Chorabari [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35085,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rishikesh-day-tour"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39315,"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22770\/revisions\/39315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rishikeshdaytour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}