No lake formation near Gaumukh or along the course of river Bhagirathi: reports

The analyses of ISRO’s satellite data for October 17, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, showed “minor pondage” near the snout of the Gangotri glacier, but “no blockage” was observed in the Bhagirathi river.

A team of scientists who had visited the Gangotri glacier in October had also mentioned the formation of an artificial lake near Gaumukh.

Vikram Gupta, a scientist at the Dehradun-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) who was a part of the team that did the aerial survey on Thursday said, “While the course of the Bhagirathi has shifted slightly to the right due to the landslide in July, we didn’t observe any obstruction in the path of the river.”

Piyoosh Rautela, Executive Director of Diaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC), who was also a part of the three-member team said, “Debris had accumulated near the Gangotri snout after the July landslide, but it might have been washed off during rainfall since we didn’t witness much debris near Gaumukh.”

On December 12, a team was sent towards Gangotri glacier to see whether there was any blockade of the river due to lake formation near Gaumukh but because of heavy snowfall the team could not reach the Gangotri glacier, which is why an aerial survey was conducted on Thursday, Rautela said.

The report of the aerial survey states that there was “no imminent danger from the landslide that had occurred during the rainy season of 2017 near the snout of the Gangotri glacier and at present there exists no lake along the course of the river”.

On Wednesday, while hearing a PIL by Delhi-based Ajay Gautam the high court had instructed the state government to clear the lake near Gaumukh to prevent any future disasters like the one at Kedarnath in June 2013 where at least 4,000 people had died due to floods from a glacial lake breach.