9. Dev astating Events of Cloudb u r st Leading to Landslide Disaster and Its Consequences in Garhwal Himalaya

Each year natural calamities like floods, draughts, cyclones, earthquakes, avalanche, fire and industrial disasters put forth a challenge to scientific community and worry to each of us because such disasters does not simply come and go but leave heavy toll on human life and property. Likewise, a cloudburst, one of the most destructive climatic phenomena is another powerful external component, which contributes in not only event specific but also long term instability to the region wherever they occur. The cloudbursts are normally followed by flood, landslides, mudflows, debris flows and earth flows. There is hardly any monsoon passing without destruction due to unprecedented rainfall or cloudbursts. The after effects of the cloudbursts are even more serious and long living which help in weakening the economic development of the region. In this paper a few of the cases of cloudbursts of recent past and its after effects in a part of Uttaranchal region are described.