Experts say that glacier burst might not be the reason behind Uttarakhand disaster
Landslide seems to be the probable reason as satellite images failed to spot any glacial lakes
Tue, 9 Feb 2021
-Some of the experts are of the opinion that a large mass of debris or rock might have triggered the avalanche.
-Had it been a glacier burst, then we would have experienced a continuous flow of water but the water level is normal now.
The recent opinion of scientists and experts about the Uttarakhand disaster is quite shocking. They are of the opinion that there are all the probabilities that the cause of disaster in Uttarakhand is landslide and not glacier burst.
Explaining the glacial burst, it occurs when a breach in the glacial lake causes an outpour downstream. Such lakes are formed when glaciers erode land, melt and over time become a large mass of water in the depression formed and these can be breached, causing floods downstream. However, several scientists based on an analysis of satellite images have failed to spot any such lakes.
The scientists are still discussing the disaster considering all satellite images that do not spot any such lakes. There are probabilities that some rock or debris might have strongly hit the glacier and eventually triggered the avalanche. The Central Water Commission (CWC) monitors and prepares monthly reports of water bodies and glacial lakes via satellite and the report says that nothing out of ordinary was witnessed in the satellite images. The Director of CWC said that it there is a mystery and some time is needed to determine the actual cause of the disaster.
It has also been stated that a sudden glacial burst would result in continuous flow of water but now since the water flow has normalised, glacial burst does not seem to be the actual reason behind the flash floods.
The satellite images also show that the snow cover that was very significant on Saturday suddenly reduced the next day and this was shocking. The experts are now trying to find out what happened upstream. The road has been so damaged that it is difficult to access the glacier area.
(The satellite image has been tweeted by Dr Dan Shugar of University of Calgary, he specialises in high altitude glacial and geologic environments)
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