Dam Breach in Northeast India Results in Frigid Floodwaters, Claiming At Least 31 Lives

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In the early hours of Thursday, a catastrophic flood event in the Himalayan region of northeast India resulted in the loss of at least 31 lives, according to government officials. The deluge of icy water tore through mountainous communities, eradicating homes and infrastructure, and led to the evacuation of thousands of residents.

The calamitous flooding was initiated shortly after midnight on Wednesday, triggered by a glacial lake high in the mountains that overflowed following substantial rainfall. This resulted in the rupture of a six-year-old dam, the largest in the Indian state of Sikkim, sending torrents of water surging through the towns in the adjacent Lachan Valley.

This is just the most recent tragic flooding event in northeast India, a region that has seen an anomalous amount of heavy monsoon rains this year. Previous flash floods and landslides in the state of Himachal Pradesh claimed nearly 50 lives in August, while extraordinary rainfall in July resulted in over 100 fatalities across northern India within a fortnight.

The Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority had produced a report in 2019 which identified Lhonak Lake as particularly susceptible to flood events, presenting a high risk of causing substantial harm to both life and property in areas downstream. The report also cautioned that flash floods could potentially rupture dams.

From the time of its inception, the design and location of the Teesta-3 dam have been subjects of intense debate. Environmentalists and local activists contend that the effects of climate change make the construction of dams in the Himalayan region exceedingly perilous. A joint study in 2021 by researchers from India, the United States, and Switzerland highlighted the increasing flood risks posed by the dam, particularly in the context of accelerated glacial melting due to climate change.

Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asian Network for Rivers, Dams and People, a non-governmental organization, commented that despite being the state’s most significant project, there were no early warning systems in place, even though the risk of a glacier overflow was known.

India’s National Disaster Management Agency announced plans on Friday to establish real-time alert systems for most of the country’s 56 identified at-risk glacial lakes. Thakkar remarked that the authorities did not heed the lessons from a 2021 dam failure in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, where 81 people lost their lives, thus allowing a disaster of striking similarity to transpire.

Neither the dam’s operators nor local agencies responsible for dam safety have responded to inquiries for comment as of Friday. Although the Indian federal government passed legislation in 2021 mandating emergency planning for dams, the Teesta-3 dam was notably absent from the list of dams monitored by India’s principal dam regulator, the Central Water Commission.

While the cause of Wednesday’s breach remains unclear, speculations and government reports suggest that either intense local rainfall or a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in nearby Nepal on Tuesday could have been the trigger.

Gyatso Lepcha, the general secretary of the Affected Citizens of Teesta, an environmental organization based in Sikkim, issued a statement warning that similar disasters could occur with other dams and called for a comprehensive safety review.

In the wake of the flood, more than 2,000 individuals were rescued, and 26 relief camps were established for over 22,000 people affected by the floods, according to the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority. Search operations for nearly 100 missing individuals, including 22 soldiers, continued into Thursday.

Vinay Bhushan Pathak, the highest-ranking bureaucrat in the state, stated that 26 people were hospitalized due to injuries, while almost 3,000 tourists and 700 taxi drivers found themselves stranded in flood-affected zones. Evacuations are being carried out via military and air force helicopters.

Infrastructure damage includes the destruction of 11 bridges in the Lachan Valley, and the floodwaters also severely impacted pipelines and obliterated over 270 homes across four districts.

Several towns in the Teesta basin, including Dikchu and Rangpo, experienced flooding, leading the state’s education department to close schools in four affected districts until Sunday.

The floods also caused significant damage to military installations, submerging vehicles in deep mud, according to visuals released by the Indian Armed Forces.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged government support to state authorities in the aftermath of the disaster. Despite the risks, the federal government aims to increase hydroelectric output in India by 50% to 70,000 megawatts by the year 2030.

Flood and landslide disasters are a recurrent issue during the monsoon season in India’s Himalayan region, a phenomenon that scientists warn is becoming more frequent due to global warming.

“This is yet another example of a cascading series of hazardous events that intensify as they propagate downstream,” said Jakob Steiner, a climate scientist with the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development.

The Indian army is currently providing medical assistance and telecommunication services to civilians in the areas most affected by the flooding, including Chungthang, Lachung, and Lachen in north Sikkim.

The Teesta 3 hydropower project was completed in 2017 at a cost of $1.5 billion and has the capacity to produce 1,200 megawatts of electricity, sufficient to power 1.5 million homes in India.

Earlier this year, a report by Steiner’s organization indicated that up to 80% of Himalayan glaciers could vanish if global warming continues unabated.

Last month, dam failures caused by Storm Daniel inflicted devastating damage in the Libyan city of Derna.

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The article is reported from Bengaluru, India.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Dam Breach in Northeast India

More about Dam Breach in Northeast India

• Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority Report 2019
• National Disaster Management Agency of India
• 2021 Study on Himalayan Dam Risks
• India’s Dam Safety Laws
• International Center for Integrated Mountain Development Climate Report
• Report on Previous Flooding Incidents in Northeast India
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Statement on the Flooding
• Affected Citizens of Teesta Organization Statement
• Indian Central Water Commission
• Press Trust of India News Agency Report on the Incident