Cloudburst Hits Amarnath – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

What has happened?

• A cloudburst hit near the base camp of the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas on Friday, officials said.
• So far 16 persons have lost their lives and 40 are feared missing.
• The cloudburst hit the cave area at around 30 pm after heavy rains.

• Several tents and community kitchens, where pilgrims are served food on the route, came under the cloudburst.
• The yatra has been suspended.
• A cloudburst is a weather situation in which very heavy rainfall is reported over a short period of time in a limited geographical area.
• These clouds sometimes can cause flood-like situations.
• As per meteorologists, rain that comes from a cloudburst is usually the shower type that has a fall rate equal to or greater than 100 mm (4.94 inches) per hour.

How cloudburst occurs?

• Cloudburst takes place when moisture-rich air travels up a mountainous region, forming a vertical column of clouds known as Cumulonimbus clouds.
• These clouds usually cause rain thunder and lightning.
• While rainfall means rain falling from the cloud, cloudburst refers to a sudden heavy rainstorm.
• The basic difference between cloudburst and rainfall is the amount of rainfall recorded. Rain over 100mm per hour is categorised as a cloudburst.
• Cloudbursts are common in mountainous places such as Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
• As the warm air currents of a thunderstorm tend to follow the upward slope of a mountain, cloudbursts are more likely to occur in these places.
• During a cloudburst, the water is concentrated in valleys and valleys, causing a lot of destruction in mountainous places.
• Rapid and devastating flooding may occur as a result of mountain cloudbursts.
• A cloudburst may be mitigated by a number of methods, including those mentioned by the National Weather Service.
• Rather to residing in valleys, it recommends that people live on hills with solid ground.
• Rainwater and surface water infiltration should be checked in locations where ground cracks have occurred, and the proper procedures should be made to prevent it.

Rescue operations

• Rescue operation was immediately launched by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) along with associated agencies.
• Those injured were being airlifted for treatment.
• Police and other civil administration have launched a rescue operation as some langars were affected by the gushing waters.

• Pilgrim said, “When the cloudburst took place, we could not believe it.
• After a while, we only saw water and water. We were a group of seven to eight people, by Bholenath’s grace, we all got saved.
• However, we all had a harrowing experience as we witnessed people and bags swept away with the water.”
• “Within 10 minutes of the cloudburst, eight casualties were reported. The water carried a large number of stones with ”

Bad weather

• The situation is under control even as rains continue, said the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and the yatra could resume if the weather remained normal and makeshift arrangements were made on Saturday.
• Bad weather earlier this week, too, forced the Amarnath Yatra to be briefly suspended.

Began after 2 years

• The annual pilgrimage began on June 30, following a two-year gap due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The 43-day yatra commenced from the twin base camps — traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam in Anantnag and 14-km shorter Baltal in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal.
• The yatra is scheduled to end on August 11 on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

Amarnath temple

• Amarnath Temple is a Hindu shrine located in Jammu and Kashmir, India.
• The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft), about 141 km from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The cave, located in Lidder Valley, is surrounded by glaciers, snowy mountains and is covered with snow most of the year, except for a short period of time in summer when it is open to pilgrims.
• The Amarnath cave, abode of the Mahamaya Shakti Peetha, is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas,
• Temples throughout South Asia that commemorate the location of fallen body parts of the Hindu deity Sati.

Q) Sukreswar Temple is located in which state in India?

1. Assam
2. Gujarat
3. Madhya Pradesh
4. Tamil Nadu

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