NDMA, Army create channel to drain out artificial lake in Zanskar

JAMMU: In a major breakthrough in dealing with flood threat in nearly 40 villages of Zanskar sub-division due to the Phuktal river blockage, the joint task force of the Army, Air Force and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) finally created a 75-metre-long channel through the landslide area to drain out water from the artificial lake in a regulated manner.

The Phuktal river blockage site at Zanskar in Kargil district. A Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 1

In a major breakthrough in dealing with flood threat in nearly 40 villages of Zanskar sub-division due to the Phuktal river blockage, the joint task force of the Army, Air Force and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) finally created a 75-metre-long channel through the landslide area to drain out water from the artificial lake in a regulated manner.

It took five days for the joint task force to create the channel by conducting controlled blasting at the landslide site with 175-kg explosive. The civil administration coordinated with the task force to avert any tragedy.

“Relentlessly working long hours in temperatures lower than -25°C with high wind chill, and unmindful of the risk to life, a 75-metre-long channel, 2 metres deep and 2 metres wide was created by controlled blasting over five days. An artificial channel was created through the landslide area that facilitated the flow of water to the downstream side,” said defence spokesperson Col S D Goswami. He said the water finally started gushing across the landslide in an uninterrupted manner from the lake formed. “The flow is currently being closely monitored,” he said, adding that due to the joint efforts of the Army, Air Force, NDMA and the civil administration, a major calamity had been averted.

On December 31 last year, a massive landslide, measuring 500-600 metres in length, had blocked the Phuktal river creating an artificial lake. After Governor NN Vohra urged the NDMA to constitute a multi-disciplinary expert group to evolve an action plan for dealing with the situation, an expert committee was constituted by the NDMA which visited the blockage site.

Following the recommendations of the NDMA, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Union Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, decided that an expert team would be deployed to the site to carry out controlled blasting to create a breach in the landslide and allow channelised flow of water. The landslide caused complete blockage of water in the river, resulting in accumulation of more than 30 million cubic metre of water and forming a 15-km-long lake along the river. It was feared that a sudden bursting of the landslide could lead to submersion of nearby villages.