Glacier burst near ITBP post in Uttarakhand's Joshimath; no casualties reported yet

A glacier has burst near Uttarakhand’s Joshimath on the India-China border, govt-owned Prasar Bharati News Service said, quoting an official of the Border Road Task Force. There have been no reports of casualties yet. “A glacier has burst near Uttarakhand’s Joshimath on India-China border,” Colonel Manish Kapil, Commander of BRTF said, according to Prasar Bharati News Service.

A glacier has burst near Uttarakhand's Joshimath on India-China border: Colonel Manish Kapil, Commander, Border Road Task Force

— PB-SHABD (@PBSHABD) April 23, 2021

A report in India Today, however, said that the glacier burst took place “along a road leading to the India-China border” in the Sumna area of Chamoli district. “Senior officials of the Border Road Organisation are trying to establish contact with workers who were involved in road-construction activities in the area,” the report in India Today added. Another report said that the incident took place near an ITBP post along the India-China border. The Uttarakhand Police also tweeted that efforts are underway to collect more information with regards to the glacier burst, however, no contact has been established due to poor weather. Wintry conditions returned to Uttarakhand on Friday as snowfall in the hills and rain in the lower areas led to a sharp fall in temperature at various places, according to PTI.

भारत चीन सीमा के पास ग्लेशियर टूटने की सूचना के संबंध में जानकरी जुटाई जा रही है। खराब मौसम के कारण दूरभाष से संपर्क नही हो पा रहा है। स्थिति का जायज़ा लेने के लिए टीमों को भेजा गया है। आधिकारिक पुष्टि होने तक धैर्य व संयम बनाये रखें व अफवाह फैलाने से बचें।#Uttarakhand #Chamoli pic.twitter.com/niHV4Dy6lz

— Uttarakhand Police (@uttarakhandcops) April 23, 2021

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The famous temples of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri in the Himalayas received a fresh spell of snow while it rained intermittently in the lower areas including Dehradun, where the temperature fell by more than three notches, the meteorological office said. The Uttarakhand Police also said that teams have been dispatched and requested people not to spread misinformation.

Unfortunate that a disaster has struck Reni Village of Uttarakhand owing to a glacier burst on Dhauliganga river.

I am monitoring the situation closely. CWC is on alert and a team led by a secretary level officer has taken charge of the situation.

— Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (@gssjodhpur) April 23, 2021

Earlier this year, a glacier bust at Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district had led to massive flooding killing in the river Rishiganga, which washed away the Rishiganga small hydro project of 13.2 MW. The flash flood also affected the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project, a downstream hydroelectric project of the NTPC at Tapovan on the river Dhauli Ganga, which is a tributary of the river Alaknanda. The floods also caused large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas. The govt had on 17 February announced 136 missing people as presumed dead while 67 bodies had been recovered. This is a developing story. More details are awaited.