{"id":33373,"date":"2023-01-16T05:10:02","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T23:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=33373"},"modified":"2025-04-19T21:44:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T16:14:56","slug":"avalanches-warning-in-jammu-and-kashmir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/avalanches-warning-in-jammu-and-kashmir\/","title":{"rendered":"Avalanches warning in Jammu and Kashmir"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is an Avalanche?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What are the Main Types of Snow Avalanches?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What are the Factors that Destabilise the Snowpack?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What are the Avalanches Prone Areas in India?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What are the Measures to Control Avalanches?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A day after two workers were killed in an avalanche near the Zojila tunnel in Sonamarg, Jammu and Kashmir, the area was struck by twin avalanches.<\/li>\n<li>The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) issued a warning regarding avalanches above 2,000 meters over Anantnag, Bandipora, Baramula, Doda, Poonch, etc., in the next 24 hours.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is an Avalanche?<\/strong><br \/>\n\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/LV4ZDfaM95niRIUQOueLX1Vf4hsTo6hdxS9bmHe_bmInCN6LroKGtWAKIeUMLF8CG97_AEuZW4Fwpnb0ttcYNknp_cf0cKSX3xfU8rFruv1_H63919JrmXICjPhuqcQQU1rxP5C-7M-dNZtKi1jwVg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Caption: Mechanism behind an Avalanche<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When a mass of snow, rock, ice, soil, and other material <strong>slides rapidly down a mountainside<\/strong> it leads to an Avalanche.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Avalanches of rocks or soil are often called <strong>landslides, <\/strong>while <strong>snow slides<\/strong> are the most common kind of avalanche.<\/li>\n<li>A snow avalanche <strong>begins when an unstable mass of snow breaks<\/strong> away from a slope and picks up speed and more snow as it moves downhill, producing a river of snow and a cloud of icy particles that rises high into the air.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>A large, fully developed avalanche can weigh as much as a million tons and can travel faster than 320 kms per hour and may lead to <strong>loss of life or property.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are the main types of Snow Avalanches?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sluff Avalanches<\/strong> is a small slide of dry, powdery snow that occurs when the <strong>weak layer of a snowpack is on the top<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Slab Avalanches<\/strong> occur when the <strong>weak layer lies lower down in a snowpack<\/strong> and when it breaks off it pulls all the layers on top of it down the slope.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are the Factors that Destabilise the Snowpack?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Snow avalanches are most likely to occur<strong> after a fresh snowfall adds a new layer <\/strong>to a snowpack.<\/li>\n<li>Avalanches can be triggered by<strong> natural forces<\/strong>, such as the pull of <strong>gravity <\/strong>on a steep slope, earthquakes, warming <strong>temperatures (<\/strong>weakening the bonds between the layers<strong>),<\/strong> wind, <strong>terrain, vegetation and general snowpack conditions<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>They can also be caused by <strong>human activity<\/strong>, such as the load of a skier, construction\/development activities or by use of explosives (to set off hazardous slopes) as part of avalanche control.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are the Avalanches Prone Areas in India?<\/strong><br \/>\n\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/voNScwtdwoKxhfeNFRKxxR0ocYQSf2MfqbiHLOrM-6QcxWGT2FXUKGF8VyXWUHBcnfPE8eFkA7gPWhlEnCrbsZJnCpHXZEcx_VOQ5slx_pBrx9g4RRwv5arBlkWphf7Rf81-ngyxj7EbM2lutuAFLg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Caption: Most Vulnerable Avalanche Prone Area in India (Western Himalayas)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Himalayas<\/strong> are well known for the occurrence of snow Avalanches particularly <strong>Western Himalayas<\/strong> &#8211; the snowy regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Western Uttar Pradesh.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>There are three types of snow avalanche zones<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Red Zone<\/strong>: The most dangerous zone that have an impact pressure of more than 3 tonnes per square metre.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Blue Zone<\/strong>: Where the avalanche force is less than 3 tonnes per square metre and where living and other activities may be permitted.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Yellow Zone:<\/strong> Where snow avalanche occurs only occasionally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are the Measures to Control Avalanches?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Currently, scientists are <strong>not able to predict <\/strong>with certainty when and where avalanches will happen.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>However, they can<strong> estimate hazard levels and designate vulnerable zones <\/strong>by checking on the snowpack, temperature and wind conditions.<\/li>\n<li>By building large, sturdy structures to anchor snowpacks and <strong>ban unsustainable developmental and tourism<\/strong> activities in Avalanche hazardous zones.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What is the difference between a snow Avalanche and a Landslide?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When a mass of snow, rock, ice, soil, and other material slides rapidly down a mountainside it leads to an Avalanche. Avalanches of rocks or soil are often called landslides, while snow slides are the most common kind of avalanche.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What are the causes of a snow Avalanche?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Avalanches can be triggered by natural forces, such as the pull of gravity on a steep slope, earthquakes, warming temperatures, wind, terrain, vegetation and general snowpack conditions. They can also be caused by human activity, such as the load of a skier, construction\/development activities or by use of explosives as part of avalanche control.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/jammu\/jammu-kashmir-twin-avalanches-hit-sarbal-no-loss-of-life-8382190\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Jammu &amp; Kashmir: Twin avalanches hit Sarbal, no loss of life reported<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/news\/india\/authorities-warn-of-avalanches-in-11-districts-of-jammu-and-kashmir-read-here-11673780895142.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Mint<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/education.nationalgeographic.org\/resource\/avalanche\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>National Geographic<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/himachal.nic.in\/WriteReadData\/l892s\/172_l892s\/2-39186387.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Himachal.nic.in<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Video:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EsmmLMf9LW0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EsmmLMf9LW0<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Avalanches of rocks or soil are often called landslides, while snow slides are the most common kind of avalanche.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":33374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}