Commemorating the 'Teesta Valley GLOF of 04Oct2023' with photos of the event and its aftermath.

A woman washes the money she recovered while scavenging for lost property in a flood affected area of Rangpo (Sikkim) on 06Oct2023 - photo credit Praveen

As I write, it is very early morning on 04Oct2024 and it was exactly at this time last year that I was up at my home in Kalimpong, trying to contact and verify with people, mainly in Sikkim, about whether a GLOF had actually taken place in the Teesta valley.
In the meantime my cellphone was receiving images and videos of the floods as the wall of water tore down the valley. Just verifying what was happening in order to report and record it accurately  kept me engaged the entire day and next, while my young friend and photographer Praveen Chhetri visited Teesta Bazar which the GLOF hit around 4am. He recorded the impact of the GLOF as it happened.
I did not know then that this process of recording the GLOF and its impact would keep us busy for an entire year but it has - and has required numerous visits to many parts of the Teesta valley including one trip made in Nov2023 to Chungthang where the 1200mw Sikkim Urja hydroelectric dam was destroyed by the GLOF.
What we have in this blog is perhaps the most comprehensive photographic record of what was the largest GLOF which took place in the Himalayas. Praveen and I certainly have hundreds of images, many videos and voice recordings of the interviews of affected people that we did during the course of the year.

    Interviewing an affected person who had lost everything to the GLOF - Rangpo (Sikkim), 06Oct2023.

This post, where I publish some photos is only to commemorate that momentous event which changed the lives of so many
Lest we forget...

Army personnel recovering buried vehicles at Bardang (Sikkim) on 06Oct2023. 22 army persons who were a part of a convoy were swept away by the GLOF here

Landslide affected areas of Naga, a village between Mangan(district headquarters, North Sikkim) and Chungthang in Nov2023 (telephoto image from opposite hill). The village was almost entirely evacuated during the monsoons of 2024.

A man crosses the Teesta river on a bamboo bridge at Toong, North Sikkim in Nov2023. The bridge connecting Chunthang to Mangan was torn down by the GLOF

GLOF affected areas between Chungthang and Lachen town where there was no impact of the Sikkim Urja dam burst. The scale of the devastation caused by the GLOF alone is apparent in the photo - photo courtesy Dathup, Lachen.

GLOF eroded parts of NH10 between Teesta bazar and Melli in Oct 2023. With the Teesta river running 4-5m above the pre-GLOF levels, the erosion of NH10 increased remarkably in 2024.

Debris and vegetation which the GLOF had dumped on top of the NHPC Stage V 510MW dam at Dikchu, SIkkim. The Teesta river 'over toppled ' ie went over the dam at this site.

Tree stumps and debris inside the NHPC Stage VI dam at Sirwani, Singtam (Sikkim), Nov2023

Vehicles strewn around like battered toys, on the banks of the Teesta at Singtam (Sikkim).

Part of Teesta town (Krishnagram or Bhasuwa) literally sliding slowly into the river - Sep2024

A marooned COVID hospital on the banks of the Teesta and Rangeet rivers at Tribeni, (Darjeeling district) - Sep2024. There is no road access to the hospital with the Teesta river having kept large parts of the access road submerged after the GLOF.

Rangpo town in Sept24. One year after the GLOF, parts of the town are still trying to recover. The river still flows uncomfortably close to the town and the police checkpost (green roofed structure on the top left is literally tilting into the river.

Undoubtedly one of the most iconic images of a GLOF.

Drone image taken by Praveen at around 11.00am on 04Oct2023 from the Teesta bridge when the GLOF was passing thru the area. As can be seen much of the Teesta bazar was already submerged.

Documentation of parts of the above report was supported by Royal Enfield, as part of their Social Mission Initiative


With
Praveen Chhetri (9733185815)

Praful Rao
SaveTheHills
9475033744
savethehills@gmail.com

SaveTheHills activities in 2021 - landslide surveys

One of the most important roles of STH over the years is to document landslide occurrences in our region so that this information though not technical in nature is available to scholars, government departments and others.
Unfortunately, due to the lockdowns and restrictions imposed during COVID peaks we could not carry out these surveys in landslide affected areas very far from Kalimpong however, our Whats App group 'Hazard Alerts' proved extremely useful as a crowd sourced information hub where people reported landslides and heavy rain as they occurred and we were able to record these events in our database.

03Jan2021 : A visit to Mungpel village

See here for details

17April2021: Reporting a lightning strike
Hanuman Mandir, Kalimpong

04Jul2021: Landslide survey around Kalimpong town

22Jul2021: Survey around areas NE of Kalimpong town ie Algarah town

Algarah is satellite town located approx 15km NE of Kalimpong. It has long had a serious  subsidence problem and each year a central part of the town literally sinks. We surveyed the road to Algarah  (which has numerous subsidence zones) and the areas in the vicinity.

31Jul2021: Survey of landslide affected areas in Kalimpong after extreme rainfall of 29Jul

We had some of the heaviest rainfall of the monsoons in July 2021 and that resulted in a large number of landslides in Kalimpong on 30Jul2021. We surveyed the affected areas.

This 👆 is undoubtedly one of the largest landslide in the entire Darjeeling - Kalimpong district.

06Aug2021: Berrick dara (NH10)

After a report on the local media (Kalimpong TV) that a large landslide at Berrick Dara on NH10, was causing instability and cracks to the homes of Berrick village we made a visit to the place on 06Aug2021.
Berrick on NH10 has had a long standing problem with landslides.

25Sep2021: Landside Survey in Kurseong with GSI Team

STH member Mr Sachin Tamang from Kurseong (Darjeeling district) was with GSI team surveying landslides along NH110 at Sukna, Tindharia, Pagla Jhora and Kurseong

02Oct2021 : Landslide Survey in Kalimpong district with GSI Team

I have participated in many landslide surveys with the GSI over the years and it was a pleasure to be with geologists Sumit and Ankur  during their visit to Kalimpong district.

21Oct2021: Surveying NH10 from Teesta to Rangpo and back via Munsong

28Oct2021: Surveying the landslides along NH717A

The deluge of 18/19Oct2021 caused a large number of landslides along the NH717A, a highway being constructed as an alternate to NH10. 

18Nov2021: Fatal landslide at Darjeeling SDO's quarters.

The landslide which damaged part of the SDO Darjeeling quarters (which lies above  the  District Magistrate's office and below Raj Bhavan) occurred on 19Oct2021. The watchman (chowkidar) died when he was buried by the slide. 

 

Many of the surveys are covered in more detail in this blog (pl check blog for the month and date).
Otherwise thanks to Ms Shreya Gurung of STH, we have a data base of landslides where we have recorded the coordinates/rainfall/ damage caused by the landslide. They are here

Landslide catalogue

Landslide Survey on NH717A done on 28Oct2021

Praful Rao
SaveTheHills
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalayas