Lake forms on Rishiganga River in Uttarakhand, alert sounded

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government on Friday sounded an alert after satellite images detected the formation of a large lake in the catchment area of the turbulent Rishiganga river which had caused a deluge on February 7.

"We have to remain alert as satellite pictures show the formation of a 400-meter long lake at Rishiganga," Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said.

Top government officials said people have been asked not to go near Rishiganga river and take all precautions.

On the other hand, the government also sent a team to see the formation of the lake and suggest measures. The team comprising personnel of the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force personnel will trek through the tough terrain to take first-hand information of the lake formation in the higher altitudes of the Himalayas.

"This team will trek to see the exact location of the lake and submit a report in this regard," state police spokesman, DIG Nilesh Anand Bharne, said.

The government has also asked scientists of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology and the Geological Survey of India to depute teams to Rishiganga valley to make detailed reports on the lake's formation.

Reports pouring in from different areas of Chamoli district said the flow of Rishiganga has abruptly increased many times since Thursday afternoon that also forced the authorities to suspend the search operation inside the disaster-hit tunnel of NTPC's 520 MW Tapovan-Vishnugadhydel project. Rishiganga is a tributary of Dhauligangariver on which the Tapovan project is being built.

Since Thursday morning, villagers around the Rishganga project which was destroyed in the heavy floods had been complaining to the district administration about the formation of the lake.

"The people in our Reni village are very scared ever since they heard about this lake. We hope the administration will take necessary steps in this regard," said Bhagwan Singh, village pradhan of Reni. "We are having sleepless nights," said AshishRawat of Saldhar village which lies close to the Rishi Ganga.

The village pradhan, said some people in Reni who were badly affected by the disaster are so terrified that they are not going homes even at the night and sleeping on cold wintery nights in higher areas.

Congress general secretary Harish Rawat has also asked the government to take prompt steps on the lake formation issue. Over 200 persons went missing after the deluge last Sunday morning that had hit the two hydel projects in Chamoli district. (IANS)

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