The search for Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel, who swept away on Monday in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli flash flood intensified, officials said on Tuesday.
Key Factors
Road connectivity to the Niti valley was also disrupted after a newly constructed Bailey bridge over the Tamak Nala washed away following a rise in the water level due to heavy rainfall. The washout cut off road access to a dozen border villages in the Niti Valley, including Malari, Gamshali, and Niti. “The situation at the site is being monitored continuously and teams are coordinating with security agencies while keeping weather conditions and the water level of the stream in mind.
Officials said efforts are underway to restore connectivity using hume pipes, which are precast reinforced cement concrete (RCC) pipes. Road connectivity will hopefully be restored by Wednesday evening if everything goes well,” he said.
Evidence and Data
The institutions have been asked to study the upper catchment of Tamak Nala and identify the source of the sudden increase in water discharge. The investigation will determine whether the surge was triggered by normal rainfall, exceptionally intense local rainfall, a cloudburst, heavy surface runoff or another hydrological phenomenon. They will examine whether landslides, land subsidence, slope failures, rockfalls or other geomorphological processes in the upper catchment contributed to the incident. The agencies have been asked to use modern technologies, including satellite imagery, high-resolution remote sensing, drone surveys and GIS-based analysis, to compare the condition of the area before and after the incident. Rainfall patterns will also be examined using satellite and radar-based data, local rain-gauge records and other meteorological information.
