The Hindu : National : Red alert issued in Himachal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 10, 2004

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National

Red alert issued in Himachal

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 9. Armed and paramilitary forces have been put on red alert in Himachal Pradesh as the artificial lake that was formed on the Chinese side of the India, China border after a landslip last month has started spilling over and can burst any time threatening hundreds of human and animal life and property.

Even the 1500 mw Nathpa Jhakri hydel project in the State is at risk as a discharge of 12,000 cubic metres per second is expected at Jhakri if the dam bursts.

The storage in the artificial dam is assessed to be about 50 million cubic metres.

PM briefed

The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, today kept himself posted of the developments and the preparedness of the State. Steps have been taken to ensure adequate supplies of food, drinking water and medicines for the people who have been evacuated to safer areas.

Following the overflow from the lake, the visit of a four-member technical team — comprising a mining expert, two members from the Central Water Commission and an expert from the Nathpa hydel project — to the site has been put off.

The team was to have inspected the site and blasted some portions to release pressure and enable controlled releases of water.

Since it has been raining incessantly in the upper reaches of Tibet and the water body has started spilling over, the team's visit would be ineffective for the moment.

`Clearance awaited'

However, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman today said even as the team was awaiting clearance from the Chinese side, its visit also depended on the physical conditions following the landslip.

He said India had been receiving useful information on the artificial dam that had been created, both from the contact point at Spanggur and from the Indian Embassy in Beijing. "Both sides are concerned about the situation. The idea is to wait and do whatever is possible."

Water discharge

Technical water experts said the lake was formed by a landslip on the river Pareechu in Tibet which meets Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.

It is expected that at the confluence of Spiti and Sutlej in Khab in Himachal Pradesh — about 110 metres from the landslip — there would be a discharge of 13,000 cubic metres per second if the dam bursts, and the water level would rise by 12 metres. Likewise at Rampur, there would be a discharge of 11,000 cubic metres per second and the water level would rise by 9 to 10 metres — much, much higher than the mandatory danger-level.

Asked if anything could be done to minimise the impact, experts said the situation could only be saved if another artificial lake was to form by continuous landslips downstream that works as a barrier to the floods.

In a similar situation in 2000, Himachal Pradesh was inundated by flash floods killing 100 people.

The discharge then at Rampur was 5000 cubic metres per second. This time it is expected to be more than double.

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