A cloudburst over the Kheer Ganga River (a tributary of Alaknanda River) led to flash floods in Uttarkashi district. 

• Such events are becoming more frequent in Uttarakhand, with the 2013 Kedarnath disaster being a significant example. 

What is a Cloudburst?

• If 10 cm rainfall is received at a station in one hour, the rain event is termed as cloud burst.
• They are difficult to predict due to their small scale and short duration.
• Monitoring requires dense radar networks or high-resolution weather models.
• Though possible in plains, they are more common in hilly areas due to the terrain.
• National Disaster Management Plan, 2019, provides for Cloudburst Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategy. 

Reasons for vulnerability of Himalayan states

• Geographical: 
  • The steep slopes force warm, moisture-laden air from the Arabian Sea to rise rapidly, a process called orographic lift. 
  • These forms towering cumulonimbus clouds that can sustain large rain droplets.
  • As this moist airflow is being lifted, and the cloud gets bigger and bigger, and with no chance of having rainfall, it becomes so heavy that at a point, it starts bursting,
• Anthropogenic: Overall, extreme rainfall events have increased in India as global temperatures rise.
  • A study on the Kedarnath floods found that over half the rain was likely due to greenhouse gases and aerosols.