ISRO to find out cause of Uttarkashi flash floods

New Delhi: To investigate the root causes of the recent devastating floods in Uttarkashi, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has requested the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to examine the situation and provide technical insights that could help clarify the triggers of the disaster.

In a separate development, the Union government also held deliberations on strengthening Uttarakhand’s climate action plan to better prepare for and prevent similar disasters in the future.

So far, neither the central nor the state authorities have been able to pinpoint the precise cause of the flooding. Officials have stated that it remains unclear whether the event was the result of a cloudburst, a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), or other contributing factors such as continuous rainfall and landslides.

While the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has reported no evidence of a cloudburst—citing its technical definition, which requires 100 mm of rain within an hour over a 10 sq km area—experts have raised concerns about the reliability of the data due to the limited number of rain-gauge stations in the region.

IMD data from five stations in the area only recorded light to moderate rainfall in the preceding two days, TNIE reported.

A meeting chaired by the MHA brought together experts from the National Disaster Management Authority, IMD, and IIT Roorkee. Sources familiar with the discussions noted that all parties acknowledged the urgent need to identify the real cause of the floods in order to take appropriate measures.

It was also suggested that cloudbursts could have occurred on a micro scale, potentially escaping IMD’s ground-based detection but possibly observable through satellite imagery. The situation has drawn comparisons to the 2013 Uttarakhand tragedy, prompting calls for a comprehensive investigation and response.