A Perspective on Rishiganga-Dhauliganga Flash Flood in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Garhwal Himalaya, India

Kalachand  Sain; Amit Kumar; Manish Mehta; Akshaya Verma; Sameer  K. Tiwari; Purushottam K. Garg; Vinit  Kumar; Santosh  K. Rai; Pradeep  Srivastava; Koushik Sen

doi:10.1007/s12594-021-1691-5

Authors

Kalachand Sain
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (An Autonomous Institute of DST, GoI), 33, GMS Road, Dehradun – 248001
Amit Kumar
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (An Autonomous Institute of DST, GoI), 33, GMS Road, Dehradun – 248001
Manish Mehta
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (An Autonomous Institute of DST, GoI), 33, GMS Road, Dehradun – 248001
Akshaya Verma
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (An Autonomous Institute of DST, GoI), 33, GMS Road, Dehradun – 248001
Sameer K. Tiwari
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (An Autonomous Institute of DST, GoI), 33, GMS Road, Dehradun – 248001
Purushottam K. Garg
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (An Autonomous Institute of DST, GoI), 33, GMS Road, Dehradun – 248001
Vinit Kumar
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (An Autonomous Institute of DST, GoI), 33, GMS Road, Dehradun – 248001
Santosh K. Rai
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (An Autonomous Institute of DST, GoI), 33, GMS Road, Dehradun – 248001
Pradeep Srivastava
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (An Autonomous Institute of DST, GoI), 33, GMS Road, Dehradun – 248001
Koushik Sen
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (An Autonomous Institute of DST, GoI), 33, GMS Road, Dehradun – 248001

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-021-1691-5

Keywords:

No keywords.

Abstract

A ground-based and heliborne survey was conducted immediately after the disaster that took place on 7th February, 2021 in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Based on these observations and freely available Google Earth imagery, we have arrived at plausible causes of this catastrophe as detachment of a sizeable rock mass and overlying hanging glacier in the Raunthi catchment that dammed the Rishiganga River and led to the devastation of roads, bridges and hydropower projects in downstream.