NEW DELHI: When Ravi Chopra saw the devastating deluge of water and debris crash downstream from a Himalayan glacier on Sunday , his first thought was that this was exactly the scenario that his team had warned the Indian government of in 2014.and many are feared to have died. The deluge first smashed into a small dam, gathering more energy as it grew heavier from the debris it collected along the way. Then, it smashed into a larger, under-construction dam and gathered even more energy.
Experts say that the disaster underscores the fragility of the Himalayan mountains where the lives of millions are being altered by climate change. A view of the remains of Tapovan Hydro-Electric Power Dam that was swept away after part of a Himalayan glacier broke off Sunday sending a devastating flood downriver in Tapovan area of the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, on Feb 9, 2021. With warming, ice is also essentially becoming less frozen: Earlier its temperature would range between -6 degrees Celsius to -20 degrees Celsius and it it is now -2 degrees Celsius,, said Azam.
“The brute force of these things just kind of just really mind blowing," especially if they break, he said. “You cannot tame that tiger. You have to prevent that.”