LUCKNOW: The glacier burst in Reni village of Chamoli in Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand on Sunday is unlikely to have any adverse impact on river water levels in Uttar Pradesh.
According to experts from the Geological Survey of India, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences and other scientific institutes in the city, the effect of the outbreak will fizzle out by the time it reaches the plains, therefore, water levels of river Ganga in Allahabad, Varanasi, Kanpur and other UP cities are not expected to go above danger mark.
Glaciologist and former deputy director general & head of northern region, Geological Survey of India, Siddharth Swaroop said, “Prima facie, it appears that the glacier burst in Rishi Ganga catchment eventually resulted in reservoir collapse and consequential flash floods.”
He said Rishi Ganga was a tributary of river Dhauliganga, which has its confluence with river Alaknanda, near Joshimath.
“Downstream of its confluence with Bhagirathi river at Devprayag, it is called Ganga which flows through major UP cities like Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi. Check on the flow of Bhagirathi river and other adequate measures undertaken by SDRF and NDRF teams, the river with reduced flow and velocity is not expected to rise above danger mark in UP,” he added.
Director (Glaciology division) of the Geological Survey of India, Rakesh Mishra, said the water flow would lose force by the time it reaches the plains.
As per the inventory prepared by GSI on glacial lakes in Uttarakhand, at least 71 lakes of different size and types are there in the upper reaches of Rishiganga and Dhauliganga valley. GSI needs to find out the focal point of the flash flood, Mishra added.
“It is not clear if the flood is a typical Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) or some temporary damming due to a landslide and avalanche that might have blocked the mainstream to form a temporary lake which bursted. Once the water level recedes, a team of experts will assess the damage as well as the factor that triggered the disaster,” he said.
Former scientist at Remote Sensing Application Centre (RSAC), AK Tangri, who has been carrying out research in the field for last three decades, said: “The impact is likely to be observed in upper reaches and may even increase the water level to some extent at Rishikesh and Haridwar but would not leave much impact in Uttar Pradesh.”
Similar views were expressed by glacier expert and senior scientists at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences, Anupam Sharma.
“The Ganga meanders as it enters the plains due to which the velocity of water goes down. Since there is no rain, there is no likelihood of any adverse impact in the state,” environmentalist Venkatesh Dutta said.