Rishiganga is a river in the

Chamoli district Chamoli district is a district of the Uttarakhand state of India. It is bounded by the Tibet region to the north, and by the Uttarakhand districts of Pithoragarh and Bageshwar to the east, Almora to the south, Pauri Garhwal to the southwest, Ru ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, India. It springs from the Uttari Nanda Devi Glacier on the

Nanda Devi Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India, after Kangchenjunga, and the highest located entirely within the country (Kangchenjunga is on the border of India and Nepal). It is the 23rd-highest peak in the world. Nanda Devi was consid ...

mountain. It is also fed from the

Dakshini Nanda Devi Glacier Dakshini Nanda Devi Glacier is a glacier in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India. With Uttari Nanda Devi Glacier, Dakshini Nanda Devi Glacier flanks Nanda Devi peak and also feeds the Rishiganga river. Nanda Khat is also near. Dakshini Nanda Dev ...

. Continuing through the

Nanda Devi National Park The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 is a national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7816 m) in Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, in northern India. The entire park lies at an elev ...

, it flows into the

Dhauliganga River The Dhauliganga is a turbulent Himalayan river which rises in the border regions of India and China and flows south into the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India. It joins the Alaknanda, the major source stream of the Ganges river. Cours ...

near the village Rini.

2021 glacial outburst flood

Starting approximately 10:45 a.m. IST on 7 February 2021, a flooding disaster occurred all along the river and its

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

following a landslide, avalanche or

glacial lake outburst flood A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake. An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier, is called a jö ...

. Flash flood on February 7 in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, claimed at least 72 lives with at least 200 missing. Now, Geological Survey of India (GSI) has submitted its report on causes of the disaster. Key findings: Flash flood was due to a large mass of snow, ice and rock avalanche along with a hanging mass of rock crashing into the Raunthi Garh valley floor. This impact pulverised the combination of rock, snow and ice causing a rapid flow downstream of Raunthi Garh and into the Rishiganga valley leading to the deluge. A contributory factor was unusually warm weather in the region. There was no evidence of a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) having caused the event. What happened on February 7th? A glacial break in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand led to massive Flash Flood in Dhauli Ganga and Alaknanda Rivers, damaging houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project.

Gallery

Rishi Ganga gorge - Shipton-Tilman team climbing buttress.jpg, photograph from the

Shipton–Tilman Nanda Devi expeditions The Shipton–Tilman Nanda Devi expeditions took place in the 1930s. Nanda Devi is a Himalayan mountain in what was then the Garhwal District in northern India, just west of Nepal, and at one time it was thought to be the highest mountain in the ...

Dhauliganga and Rishiganga Valleys.jpg, The Rishiganga and Dhauliganga river valleys in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

External links

* https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/297368683

References

Rivers of Uttarakhand Rivers of India {{India-river-stub