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Express News Service
RAINI (UTTARAKHAND): Scientists and experts who inspected the disaster site in Chamoli have said that it is too early to determine the exact cause of the flash floods. So far, 32 bodies have been recovered and 174 are still missing. Kalachand Sai, director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology which has sent a team of experts to find out what caused the disaster, said: “At this stage, it is difficult to pin point the exact cause of the flash floods.
We are on the ground taking samples and examining everything. Once we analyse everything, then only we can tell what happened.” This team of five scientists from WIHG are in Tapovan, Raini and other locations to collect samples of muck, water and debris. They said that two causes glacier break and avalanche cannot be ruled out. “There can be multiple causes such as an avalanche or glacier break or may be both. We do not see any reason to determine it as a standard Glacial Lake Outburst Flood,” s
The state government has reportedly issued written instructions refraining the scientists and experts from making any comments or statements until something concrete comes out in any investigation.
Indo Tibetan Border Police personnel undertake rescue work at one of the hydropower project at Reni village in Chamoli district, in Indian state of Uttrakhund
DEHRADUN: Contrary to the initial claims that a glacier burst caused flash floods in Tapovan area of Chamoli district on Sunday, a fresh satellite assessment done by the Dehradun-based Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), which is part of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has indicated that a landslide in all likelihood triggered an avalanche, resulting in the flash floods.
The IIRS report which was submitted to the state government on Monday, says, “A landslide scar at an elevation of 5600 meters in the catchment of Rishiganga probably destabilised freshly- accumulated snow and initiated its downward movement.