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Around 105 hectares (1.05 sq km) of South Lhonak Lake in Sikkim was drained out after a cloudburst that triggered flash floods on Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has observed with satellite imagery. “It is observed that Lake is Burst and about 105 hectares area has been drained out (28 September 2023 image versus 04 October 2023) which might have created a flash flood downstream,” an ISRO statement said.
ISRO compared images of the South Lhonak Lake taken on September 28 (before it burst) and October 4 at 6 am (after the burst). The images were captured by the RISAT-1 (ISRO’s Radar imaging satellite) and Sentinel-1A (European radar imaging satellite). On September 28, the lake covered an approximate area of 167.4 hectares (1.674 sq km) and on October 4, after the glacial lake outburst, it covered 60.3 hectares (0.603 sq km).
On Wednesday, at around 1 am, major flooding was observed at Teesta River in Chunthang, a town in Sikkim. According to the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority, this was the result of the outburst of South Lhonak Lake. “The Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in portions of Lhonak Lake, Mangan District, which caused the rise of water levels with very high velocities downstream along the Teesta River Basin in the early hours of October 4, 2023, has caused severe damage in Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong, and Namchi Districts,” the disaster management authority said in its press release.
The glacial lake outburst flood was triggered by heavy rainfall in the region. According to a PTI report, officials at the Central Water Commission are also exploring whether the earthquake in Nepal on October 3 may have caused the lake to burst.
As of Thursday morning, as many as 14 people had been killed due to the flash floods, and over 100 remained missing. Of those missing, 22 were Army personnel — one was rescued on Wednesday night.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall over Sikkim and parts of West Bengal over the next two days.
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