GANGTOK, August 05: The disappearance of a
Lake at Uttarey in West Sikkim within a span of 15 minutes yesterday has left
most of the villagers baffled.
Located about a kilometre from the Uttarey
Bazaar, the waters of Gompa Dara Lake suddenly disappeared along with the huge
bursting noise at about 12 noon yesterday. That has also left a lot of people
worried. According to the residents, who went to the lakeside immediately after
the incident, the oblong shape lake had a huge crack in the middle of the bed.
Villagers claim that all the waters of the Lake
drained into that crack. “A boat in the lake also flowed into the crack,” one
of the villagers told SIKKIM EXPRESS. Not being able to see where the water was
draining, the anxious villagers believed that some natural calamities like
flood or landslides may occur in two villages of Mukarung and Bandukey, which
is located just below the lake.
Experts have opined that the incident seemed to
have been a part of global warming and its resultant factors. Some say it could
be a geological phenomenon. A senior official of the State Mines and Geology
Department told SIKKIM EXPRESS that the Gompa Dara Lake, also called Uttarey
Jheel is actually a natural lake. The Department had done a survey on the Lake
about seven years ago. The Lake, which was later recreated into an artificial
lake for tourism purposes, may not cause severe damage if it has an exit point.
“The water of the Lake may flow into a river between
Uttarey and Dentam,” he said. He further hinted that the possible silting of
the lake may be the reason of its sudden disappearance adding that the true
cause could be identified only after an inspection.
Uttarey Jheel was recreated for tourism activities
like boating. Today, a team headed by AK Singh, Additional District
Collectorate, West, Prabhakar Rai, SDM, Jigme Dorji Bhutia, Disaster Project
Officer, BDO Dentam, Panchayats and the local gentries visited the lake.
While talking with SIKKIM EXPRESS over the phone
this afternoon, the DPO said the incident may have occurred due to loose soil
and incessant rains, which led to the development of crack in the lake.
However, till the filing of this report, the team was still unable to locate
the outflow of the water due to continuous rain.
Mr. Bhutia also informed that a temporary
restoration would be carried out for which the DC has sanctioned a fund under
natural calamity fund to seal the crack and also to fence the entire lake area.
The DC has also directed the Gram Panchayats not to let any water accumulate
nearby and also forbid people from going near the dried up lake. “We will
submit the report and will put a requisition to the State Mines and Geology
Department to inspect the lake,” the DPO said. The area MLA, Deepak Gurung also
visited the site today.
According to studies, rapidly appearing or
disappearing for some lakes is part of a natural process. For instance, the
lake in Chile did not exist 30 years ago, though global warming is likely affecting
the process now. Studies reveal that Global warming and melting of glaciers
seems to be the knee-jerk response lately whenever a dramatic environmental
change is observed.
Global warming has become a big concern for
lakes, as many bodies of water are experiencing receding water levels due to a
combination of low rainfall and high temperatures. “In the Magallanes province,
where the lake is located, the Tempano and Bernardo glaciers are shrinking, and
both of those glaciers contributed water to the lake. Experts like Gino Casassa
and Andres Rivera, both glaciologists, point to global warming as the cause of
the glaciers' melting, says a BBC report. Besides, scientists have considered
other possibilities. One theory scientists considered was that an earthquake in
the area opened a fissure in the earth, which sucked down the lake.
In a similar incident of the sudden disappearance
of a glacial lake in southern Chile, scientists believe that the region is
shaken by frequent earth tremors. “A strong quake which hit the neighbouring
region of Aysen in April 21 opened up the fissure in the bottom of the lake,”
they said.
www.sikkimexpress.com
pic: himalayandarpan
To suck down the watrs from the whole lake???????? Horrible.
ReplyDeleteHow big was the lake actually????
The scientific community must take this seriously and verify the factors immediately- what led to such a diasaster??
Well nothing is more known about it but most of them relate it to global warming, god knows what happened.
ReplyDelete