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Hydrological Characteristics of 7th February 2021 Rishi Ganga Flood: Implication towards Understanding Flood Hazards in Higher Himalaya

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Journal of the Geological Society of India

Abstract

A flash flood that originated from Raunthi Gad-a tributary of the Rishi Ganga river, in Garhwal Himalaya, caused unprecedented loss to lives and damaged two hydropower projects on 7th Februray 2021. In order to asses the flood magnitude, the flow parameters of the flood were calculated using the super-elevation of the flood marks preserved in the flood affected valleys.

The textural characteristics of the flood deposits in the upper reaches of the valleys indicate dominance of debris flows. The peak discharge upstream of the confluence of Rishi Ganga and Dhauli Ganga was around 1.1×105 m3/s, which was four order of magnitiude higher than the normal peak discharge (∼ 3 m3/s). The flow achieved a velocity of 30±3 m/s. An exponential reduction in the flow velocity (from ∼37 to 2 m/s) with distance is observed. For which the river gradient and increase in sediment load is implied flow that along its entrained way downstream between Raini and Tapovan. Considering the sensitivity of paraglacial zones to climate change, the paper calls for detailed studies pertaining to the response of paraglacial zones to extreme weather events. Importantly, it is necessary to have more hydrological data covering multiple valleys for predictive model simulation of the nature and magnitude of such disasters in future.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the DST grant number DST/CCP/MRDP/187/2019(G) dated 29/06/2020 for carrying out this study. We thank Vice-Chancellor of HNB Garhwal University for extending her support for this study. N.R. thanks Dr. R.S. Gusain for long profile construction, and people of Raini, Paing and Lata for various cooperation during field work. We thank the anonymouss reviewers for their constructive feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rural Technology, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, 246 174, India

    Naresh Rana

  2. Department of Geology, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, 246 174, India

    Yaspal Sundriyal, Firoz Khan, Sameeksha Kaushik & Dhirendra Singh Bagri

  3. Department of Geography, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221 110, India

    Shubhra Sharma

  4. Department of Geography, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, 151 401, India

    Pritam Chand

  5. Department of Basic and Social Sciences, College of Forestry, Rani chauri, Tehri Garhwal, 249 199, India

    Saraswati Prakash Sati

  6. Kabir Enclave, Bopal, Ahmedabad, 380 058, India

    Navin Juyal

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  1. Naresh Rana
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Correspondence to Yaspal Sundriyal.

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Rana, N., Sundriyal, Y., Sharma, S. et al. Hydrological Characteristics of 7th February 2021 Rishi Ganga Flood: Implication towards Understanding Flood Hazards in Higher Himalaya. J Geol Soc India 97, 827–835 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-021-1781-4

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