The 23rd April '21 Snow Avalanche, Girthi Ganga post the 7th February '21 Rishi Ganga Flash Flood. Are they
linked?
The upper catchment of Dhauli Ganga valley (Chamoli district) in Uttarakhand Himalaya recently witnessed a large snow avalanche on the night of 23rd April 2021 along the Indo-Tibet border. This event followed the 7th February 2021 Rishi Ganga (debris flow induced) flash flood within less than three months. This note analyses the plausible causes of the avalanche using pre-disaster field survey data, supported by the limited geological and remote sensing based geomorphological investigations as the site could not be investigated due to remoteness of the location and travel restrictions due to COVID pandemic.