Abstract:
After prolonged drought Or three years in the Bundelkhand and other surrounding regions in Uttar Pradesh and allowed by continuous rainfall in early June 2008, there had been several incidences of deep earth cracking. These earth crackings were 150-200m long, 0.3-0.75m wide and 1.5-2.0 m deep. The incidences of deep earth crackings occurred in black and red soil regions. Such cases were rare in the alluvial soil region. Continuous occurrence of drought drove the heat waves deep in the soil layer and exhausted the soil moisture. Early continuous rain cooled down the soil surface and sealed it by the rain fall drop beating action. Strong heat and water vapour pressure or the methane gas produced pressure build up from the deep subsurface towards the surface. The pressure followed the path of least resistance to escape that lead to development of the deep earth cracks. There have been several unsubstantiated school of thoughts, but the hydrological relevance to the incidences of deep earth cracking is substantiated. The hydrological driven situation did occur for the first time, hence, it can not be assigned any probability of occurrence. Nevertheless, this study finds remedial pre deep earth cracking occurrence measure such as venting with perfirated pipes around valuable properties and post occurrence measure such as closure of the deep earth cracks by refilling and ridging the site to avoid engulfing of runoff water. Artificial rain making (ARM) seams to be the only way to reduce adverse effects of prolonged droughts. However, the ARM needs experimentation and perfection of the practice. Thus, it is established that hydrology is highly relevant to the cause of problem of deep earth cracking, devising remediation and preventive measures for the problem emerging as a new dimension of global warming.
