Glacier break didn't cause Chamoli disaster: Uttarakhand CM

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today claimed that the Chamoli disaster was not caused by a glacier break as reported earlier. The Chief Minister said that ISRO told him that the deluge was due to several lakh metric tonnes of fresh snow sliding down into the river.

Dehradun (Uttarakhand): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Monday said that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told him that the Chamoli disaster did not appear to have been caused by a glacier break.

Rawat reportedly met with various officials from the ISRO, Disaster Management, and other departments of the government.

The ISRO officials reportedly told Rawat that the deluge was not due to the breaking of a glacier, but due to the falling of fresh snow into the river.

ISRO reportedly told the CM that in the pictures, there was no confirmation of the breaking of the glacier.

Further, the area where the glacier was said to have collapsed, is not prone to avalanches, the ISRO officials said.

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"ISRO said that there was snowfall 2-3 days earlier. Several lakh metric tonnes of fresh snow slid down into the river," the Chief Minister said.

Earlier yesterday, a deluge in the Alaknanda river system washed away hydroelectric stations and trapped scores of people.

It was earlier reported that a glacier plunged into the Raine village of the district Chamoli, causing the river to rise rapidly, leading to swollen water levels which caused damage to life, property and projects falling in direct contact of flow of the river.

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