The Geological Survey of India Chief, Ranjit Rath said a disaster of this magnitude that occurred in Uttarakhand is extremely difficult to prevent. While speaking to Times Now, Mr Rath said that saying what happened accurately may not be possible at the moment, possibly the Glacier burst was triggered due to a slope failure, landslide or a damming effect.
The GSI chief said, "We are talking about very narrow valleys in the Himalayan region, say about 6000 meters. And in such a situation when a deluge of water or a glacier outburst, forces its way through a narrow valley, there's a funnelling effect that takes place, which generates a huge amount of energy and that impacts the entire downstream and by the time it reaches the downstream the energy subsides.”
To prevent an event or natural disaster of such magnitude is extremely difficult added Rath.
A part of Nanda Devi glacier on Sunday afternoon broke, and caused sudden floods in Rishi Ganga and Dhauli Ganga rivers, resulting in 14 confirmed dead and at least 170 missings.
The GSI officials informed that they are trying to build alert systems in such regions so that a warning or alert can be sent to avert such tragedies.
The GSI has already taken up the matter, will work closely with the NDMA and SDMA. Successful implementation of two such observations in Nilgiri Himalayas and Darjeeling Himalayas has been made. “We have plans to roll out such an early warning system for landslides in Himalayan Region and the Western Ghats," added Rath.
"As a Geo-Scientist, I would reach out to everyone, that development or infrastructure development per se, accessibility per se for the habitation must coexist with the ecosystem. Our constructions are based on a thorough breed of construction design, so it has to co-exist and what has happened is primarily a natural disaster," the GSI chief said.
Construction projects in the hills have received criticism from the people, however, upon being asked if infrastructure development could be a result of the tragedy, Rath said that development and ecosystem must coexist.
Meanwhile, forming of a special team is in the process by the GSI to examine the sequence of events which motivated the calamity in Uttarakhand.
Besides Glaciology experts, specialities from landslides and engineering geologists, those geologists who have in-depth knowledge about Himalayan geology will also be a part of the study team.