Sustainable and Safe Dams Around the World – Tournier, Bennett & Bibeau (Eds)

© 2019 Canadian Dam Association, ISBN 978-0-367-33422-2

Change in river basin morphology due to climate change led

extreme flood event

D.V. Singh & R.K. Vishnoi

THDC India Limited, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India

ABSTRACT: A flood event in June’2013 in India’s higher Himalayas, mainly due to exces-
sive rainfall concentrated in a small catchment area caused a very large transport/deposition
of sediments into downstream areas. The region is characterized by a fragile nature of terrain
formed by a continuous deposition of sediments caused by glacial retreat due to the impact of
climate change. The receding glaciers have left behind large amounts of unconsolidated loose
material of rock debris and sediment. Excessive rains/lake burst have caused large quantities
of sediments to be mobilized resulting in significant causalities amongst humans and animals.
The sediment movement along the Khirao Ganga (tributary of Alaknanda), was temporarily
blocked at a number of places. The risk of breaching this feature is anticipated to lead to amp-
lified flood surges down the valley over very short time intervals. Large boulders can be lifted
and transported down valley and cause clogging of the gates of downstream spillway struc-
tures. The paper provides the assessment of the risks of these large deposits being mobilized
along the Khirao Ganga at high altitude, and presents possible solutions for safe passage of
such large sediment flow through hydro projects. Furthermore, the paper proposes that a
comprehensive study of the entire basin be undertaken in order to make an estimate of sedi-
ments to mitigate future reoccurrences.

RÉSUMÉ: L’événement de crue de juin 2013 dans la partie supérieure de l’Himalaya en

Inde, due principalement aux précipitations excessives concentrées dans une zone plus
petite, a entraîné un énorme transport/dépôt de sédiments dans la zone en aval. La région
présente la nature fragile du paysage et le dépôt continu de sédiments par le recul des gla-
ciers en raison de l‘impact du changement climatique. Les glaciers en recul ont laissé une
grande quantité de débris de roche et de sédiments non consolidés. Ces matériaux, avec
l’aide de pluies excessives/d’explosions de lacs, ont provoqué l’écoulement d’une quantité
énorme de sédiments, ce qui a entraîné de lourdes pertes en vies humaines et animales. Le
mouvement des sédiments le long d‘un des affluents appelé Khirao Ganga a été temporaire-
ment bloqué à plusieurs endroits. Le risque de brèche de tels barrages de grande ampleur
devrait conduire aux vagues d‘amplification des inondations dans la vallée par intervalles de
temps très courts. Les gros galets seraient soulevés et transportés dans la vallée et causerai-
ent le colmatage des vannes des structures avec des galets et des débris. La vallée de Khirao
Ganga a une quantité extrêmement élevée de transport des matériaux par ruissellement
diffus et de matériel transporté par la rivière le long de son plafond. Deux options: l‘une
consiste à traiter ce tronçon de rivière et l‘autre consiste à prendre en compte un incident
similaire lors de la planification de projets futurs.

1 INTRODUCTION

The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in India (Figure 1) is vulnerable to multiple natural

hazards of which flood and flash flood are important ones. Floods and flash floods, caused
by cloudbursts or intense rainfall events, as well as by breaching of temporary lakes formed
by landslides and glacial moraine, are common in Uttarakhand. These have adverse impact

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Figure 1. Location Map of river basin in Uttarakhand, India.

on the life support strategy of the people of the state. During the period June 15 to 17, 2013,
cloudbursts and heavy (64.5 - 124.4 mm) to very heavy rainfall (124.5 – 244.4 mm) hit sev-
eral parts of the higher reaches within the State. This unprecedented rainfall resulted in a
sudden increase in water levels giving rise to flash floods in the Mandakini, Alakananda,
Bhagirathi and other river basins. Associated with these flash floods was extensive riverbed
and toe erosion, landslides at various locations and huge transport/deposition of sediments
to downstream areas.
The region is characterized by its fragile environment of terrain and a continuous deposition
of sediments by glacial retreat due to the impact of climate change. The receding glaciers have
left behind large amounts of unconsolidated loose material of rock debris and sediment. This
became a great source of sediment flow/deposition in the valley due to the re-erosion and
mass movement of unconsolidated para-glacial deposits. Mechanical disintegration of rocks
due to frost, heave and plucking is observed to be common phenomenon in these high altitude
areas. Moreover, the jointed nature of rockmass facilitates mechanical disintegration with pas-
sage of time, with the disintegrated rockmass remaining in-situ at critical angles of repose.
These materials with the help of excessive rain/lake bursts, can cause large quantities of sedi-
ments to be mobilized resulting in significant causalities amongst humans and animals, as well
as damage to infrastructure.
Sediment transport along one of the tributaries of the Alaknanda called Khirao Ganga, was
temporarily blocked at a number of locations. The risk of breaching these blockages is antici-
pated to lead to amplified flood surges down the valley over, potentially very short time inter-
vals. Large boulders were mobilized and transported down-valley, creating significant issues
at the spillway gates of water control structures. During the disaster, the flooded river was
found to be carving an irregular channel through a path of minimum resistance that is avail-
able along the alluvial dominated left flank through which the water was violently discharged.

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2 MORPHOLOGY & GEOLOGICAL SETUP OF THE AREA

The River Alaknanda originates from the high peaks of Sathopanth and Bhagirath Kharak
glaciers near the northern boundary of Uttarakhand (the international border with Tibet),
flows through Badrinath and south towards Joshimath. Tributaries such as Khiron ganga and
Bhyundar ganga, Urgam, Birahi ganga, Mandal river, Nandakini and Pindar drain into Ala-
knanda. The basin encompasses the Greater and Trans-Himalayan zones to lower Himalayan
regions and encompasses subtropical mixed and chir pine forests at the lower elevations, tem-
perate forests and scattered trees and scrubs at the mid-elevations and oak and coniferous
mixed sub-alpine forests, alpine scrub and meadows in the higher elevations. Patches of river-
ine forest and scrub occur along the main river.
Physiographic characteristics of Alaknanda river show a steeper slope with an average gra-
dient of 15.8m per km in its 224 km length up to Devprayag. In its initial stretch it has a slope
of 54.7m per km indicating a high concentration of hydropower potential. Its tributaries
Dhauli Ganga also has a steep slope of 28.7m per km and Rishiganga 54.5m per km. Tribu-
tary Mandakini emerging from Kedarnath has a steep slope of 36.1m per km indicating a
good hydropower concentration. Figure 2 shows the L section of the river Alaknanda and its
major tributaries and Figure 3 shows the various hydropower schemes in Alaknanda basin.
Just upstream of Hanuman Chatti, the Khirao Ganga joins the Alaknanda River on the
right bank. The U-form of the Khirao valley is preserved even at its mouth and the river is
flowing over the ground moraines remnant of the past glacier. The rocks of the Pandukeshwar
and Badrinath formations of the Central Crystalline Group are exposed in this area. Along
the Khirao Ganga, foliation of quartzite with garnetiferous mica-schist (Figure 4) strikes
ENE-WSW and dips 35–45° towards north. The variation in attitude is probably related to an
anticlinal flexure in this zone. Two sets of joints with attitude i) 48°/131° and ii) 63°/192° are
well developed in the rocks. N28°W-S 28°E trending faults at 5.8 km west of Khirao village,
across the Ehire valley, which dislocates the granite, calc-schist and upper gneiss. The Khirao
Ganga valley comprises approximately 50 m of thick river borne material (RBM) and scree
material (Figures 5 and 8).

Figure 2. L section of river Alaknanda along with major tributaries

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Figure 3. Major hydropower scheme in Alaknanda basin.

Figure 4. Rockmass exposed along with different joint set.

Seismically the area traverses through the active Himalayan seismic belt and falls in Seismic
Zone V of the seismic zoning map of India [BIS 1893 {Part-I}].
Just west of Khirao village, an old moraine covered with birch trees was recorded by the
Geological Survey of India (GSI). It was formed due to coalescing of the lateral moraine of
Panpatia Bank and a side glacier coming from north. The lateral moraine in the Khirao valley

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Figure 5. Geological cross section of Khirao Valley

Figure 6. Glacial deposits in upper reaches of Alaknanda valley

was also surveyed by GSI in 1975, including near its confluence though it is covered with
recent scree material.
The morphology of the Khirao Ganga valley (wide “U”) suggests that during the previous
geologic epochs, the glaciers descended much lower in elevation than their present limit (~EL
4000 m). Satellite images (source Google) indicate the presence of lateral and terminal
moraines in the upper catchment of the Khirao Ganga valley (between EL 3500 and 4000 m).
Such paraglacial valleys are not sediment limited. The receding glaciers left behind large
amounts of unconsolidated loose material of rock debris and sediment, which would be a
source of silt in the down valley due to the re-erosion and mass movement of unconsolidated
paraglacial deposits (Figure 6).

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 In June 2013 an abnormal monsoon rain in combination with an over-steepened river
course transported the available sediments as debris flow which overwhelmed the river trans-
port capacity.

3 IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON GLACIERS & GLACIAL LAKE

The Indian Himalayan region is home to a numerous glaciers, an important source of fresh-
water. According to a report by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Develop-
ment (ICIMOD) there are 15000 glaciers and 9000 glacial lakes in the Himalaya (Mool, 2005).
Of these, there are 118 high altitudinal glacial lakes in Uttarakhand. These 118 high altitudinal
lakes are located in only 4 districts (Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag and Uttarakshi)
among the 13 districts of Uttarakhand. Maximum numbers (60) of high altitude lakes are
located in Chamoli districts followed by Uttarakashi 32. Only one lake is present in Rudra-
prayag district. The surface area of these lakes is about 112 ha in Chamoli district with some
of the more notable lakes being Kedar Tal (4425 m), Vasuki Tal (4135 m), Chorabari Lake
(4220 m), Shasra Lake (4572 m), Rupkund (5029 m), and Hemkund (4572 m). Among the 118
lakes in this region 33.9% are present within 3000–4000 m, 57.62% situated within 4000 to
5000 m and 8.47% exist above 5000 m altitude (National Wetland Atlas: High Altitude Lakes
in India). Though the sizes of the high altitude lakes are small they have significant environ-
mental impacts.
The Himalayan region is intrinsically linked to global atmospheric circulation, hydrological
cycle, biodiversity and water resources and plays a crucial role in shaping and influencing the
Indian environmental conditions. Due to global climate change observed during the first half
of the twentieth century there has been a tremendous impact on the high mountainous glacial
environment. In the Himalayas, glacier thinning and retreat due to changing environment and
various other reasons has resulted in the enlargement of existing lakes and/or formation of
new glacial lakes due to the accumulation of melt water behind loosely consolidated and nat-
urally occurring end moraine dams.
The mean temperature of the planet increased 0.75° C during last century and is predicted
to increase from 1.4 to 5.8° C due to global warming, resulting faster destruction of mountain
or valley glaciers (Ray Mukesh et al, 2011). This phenomenon is already being observed in the
Himalayas where glacier and glacial lakes are changing at an alarming rate. Rates of glacier
retreats in the Himalayas is in the order of 10 to 60 m per year. As well, a number of small
glacier (<0.2 sq km) have already disappeared (Ray Mukesh et al, 2011). Similarly, some gla-
cial lakes in this region have increased in volume by as much as 800 percent over the last 40
years (Ray Mukesh et al, 2011). At present a series of sub-glacial ponds are evolving and mer-
ging with each other so that glacier are melting faster than the past.
The high altitude lakes are very sensitive to climate change. These lakes are characterized
by extreme cold, dry and alpine climatic conditions and covered with a seasonal or diurnal
permafrost layer. This high altitude area experiences low air pressure and higher ultraviolet
radiation in cloud free conditions. Due to strong solar radiation the volume of the lakes
expand with glacier melt water in summer and during the winter the lakes freeze and are
snow-covered due to western disturbance with presence of extra tropical depression. The freez-
ing period generally extends from September to April. In such a way the freezing and melting
cycle is generated with a mixing of the vertical water column.
This glacier melt water and lake water come into direct contact with clouds at these high
altitudes. The temperatures of the glacial lakes are normally below the freezing temperature.
The saturation vapour pressure over the cold water (>-5°C) of the lakes remains high. So, the
evaporated water of the lake immediately condenses over the snow droplets of the cloud.
Moreover, the volume and depth of the cloud could be increased within a short time by the
sublimation process from the freezing of the lakes or moraine free glaciers in the snout areas.
The Garhwal- Kumaon region is characterized by micaceous Pinjor sediments (Chaudhri
A.R, Sing Mahavir 2012) such as gneiss, mica-schist and garnet-schist, biotite etc. So, there
are many freezing nuclei (mainly illite and keolinite) present in the atmosphere due to

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excessive weathering and erosion process of these micaceous elements. This freezing nuclei
rapidly freezes small water droplets into ice crystals in the 0°C to -40° C temperatures and
clouds become more dense and heavy. In such a way large wide based cumulonimbus clouds
are formed. When this heavy cloud moves down the valleys, it becomes unstable due to adia-
batic heating and can collapse, much as a balloon full of water behaves). When this type of
cloud is trapped in a valley, the rate of destruction becomes worst. Moreover, the situation
can be more critical with the presence of extra tropical depression such as the one that
occurred on June 15, 2013 (Das Pranab Kr. 2013).
In the 2013 disaster there was an active extra tropical depression over the Uttarakhand and
adjourning areas, just before the arrival of South Western Monsoon. In 2013 the monsoon
arrived earlier than normal. This extra tropical depression drew the monsoon atmosphere
towards the western Himalayas. Due to a collision between two air-masses, the formation of
cumulonimbus cloud occurred very rapidly. This in turn increased the rate of evaporation
over the glacial lakes in Uttarakhand and surrounding Himachal Pradesh and Nepal, leading
to increased cloud volumes. The concentrations of the clouds were so high that there was a
multi-day cloudburst in Kedar Dome and the surrounding areas. The Wadia Institute of
Himalayan Geology (WIGH) meteorological observatory at Chorabari Glacier camp (3820
m) recorded 325 mm rainfall on and from June 15 to 16, and the surface air pressure reached
832.4 mb on June 17, 2013.

4 FLOOD EVENT 2013 IN KHIRAO GANGA VALLEY

The monsoon that occurred in June 2013 arrived almost two weeks earlier than expected in
Uttarakhand. From June 15 to 17, 2013, cloudbursts and heavy (64.5 - 124.4 mm) to very heavy
rainfall (124.5 – 244.4 mm) hit several parts of the higher reaches of the Himalayas in the State
of Uttarakhand. This unprecedented rainfall resulted in a sudden increase in water levels giving
rise to flash floods in the Mandakini, Alakananda, Bhagirathi and other river basins and also
caused extensive landslides at various locations. The damage was due to a combination of the
quantity of flood water and the sediment loads carried by the rivers. This event worsened the
situation in the Khirao Ganga valley and the downstream Alaknanda valley. The June 2013
flood in the Alaknanda valley was focused on two locations, around Khirao Ganga/Lambagar/
Govindghat and downstream of the Srinagar Dam to Bagwan (Figure 7).
In 2006 Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd., a subsidiary of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. had
developed the Vishnuprayag Hydroelectric Project - a run-of-the-river scheme located on the
river Alaknanda just downstream of Khirao Ganga in district Chamoli of Uttaranchal. The
Project, utilising the waters of the river Alaknanda, has an underground power station with
an installed capacity of 400MW (4 units at 100MW). The dam site is located at about 1.8 km
downstream of the confluence of Alaknanda River with its tributary Khirao Ganga. The
abnormal monsoon rain in combination with the steep river course transported the available
sediments as debris flow which overwhelmed the river transport capacity (Figure 8).
The Vishnuprayag Hydroelectric Project was shut down on June 16, 2013 at 01.40 hrs due
to heavy silt in the river water. The river inflow started increasing as heavy surge of water was
reported in the Khirao Ganga and in the areas upstream of the dam. In the early morning of
June 17th, the flood water reached the top of the dam and began overflowing. By ~11.30 AM
the following was observed in the area of the dam:
• Dam, spillway gates and intake structure were buried under the accumulated boulders and
debris.
• Original river course, both upstream and downstream of the dam was filled with boulders
and debris (Figure 9).
• Hillside slope and the constructed civil structures (including the office block, retaining
walls, road etc.) on the left bank had been washed away (Figure 9).
• River had diverted its path, and was flowing from left bank i.e. path/line of the washed
away hill slope and constructed structures.

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Figure 7. Simplified drainage map of the Alaknanda river. (1) Location of Vishnuprayag hydropower
project and (2) Srinagar Hydropower project. Dotted ellipsoid represent the downstream impact during
the June 2013 flood.

Figure 8. Khirao Ganga valley before and after flood event 2013.

The Vishnuprayag Hydro-electric Project is a classic example of how man-made structures

can modulate river morphology during unusual weather events. In this case, the project is con-
structed in a paraglacial zone where glaciers once existed and where there is a steady supply of
sediment entering the river course through natural phenomenon. These sediments, remnant

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Figure 9. Vishnuprayag Project before and after flood event 2013.

from the receding glaciers and the ongoing mass wasting processes. During abnormal mon-
soons - as was the case in June 2013 - violent rainstorms crossover the southern orographic
barrier into the Higher and Trans Himalaya where torrential rainfall events significantly
increase and trigger extensive erosional processes, i.e., debris flows. Such events which occur
at approximately once per decade, play an important role in the overall sediment flux toward
the Himalayan foreland.
The NH-58 downstream of the dam over a distance of ~11 Km was cut-off at number of
locations with slides and bank erosion by the swollen Alaknanda river (Figure 10). Though,
the valley of Khirao Ganga had abundant quantity of slope-wash material and RBM, no con-
sideration/treatment of this catchment was instigated in anticipation of the incident that
occurred

Figure 10. Toe erosion of road during flood event 2013.

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Figure 11. Change in Profile of Let Bank of river Alaknanda at Srinagar.

The Srinagar Hydro-electric Project is also a run-of-the-river installation. It has a long,

narrow reservoir (~26 km) with a gross storage capacity of about 78 Mcum. Construction
began in 2008 and by June 2013 the civil works were almost complete, except for the turbo-
generators trial run. The project experienced a massive flood in June 2013. The high flood of
12,600 cumecs caused morphological changes to the river, extending several kilometers down-
stream of the dam. The river carved out a new course to the right immediately below the dam
and kept attacking the concave bank against the HNB University area scouring 100m of the
bank. Deposition of fine sediment 7 to 8 m in height occurred in Srinagar urban area, where
velocity was lower in the order of 3 m/sec. an estimated 26 Mm3 of sediments were stored
behind the dam. Without the Srinagar Dam this material would have caused serious silting in
the Srinagar urban area adding to the damage to buildings in T0, T1 terraces.
The June 2013 flood deposits invariably overlie the 1970 flood sediment below the Srinagar
Dam in the Alaknanda valley implying that the June 2013 flood was the highest flood
recorded there in the last 600 years. For example the highest flood level at ITI was 536 m
during the June 2013 flood against the previous highest flood level of about 533.5 m at the
same location (Figure 11).
The extreme flood event of June 2013 changed the river bed profile significantly, especially
in the area of the Vishnugad Hydroelectric Project (owned by THDCIL) which affected the
diversion arrangements at the DPR stage. The changes in the river bed profile were accommo-
dated by limiting the height of the cofferdam as earlier, by lowering of the inlet and outlet sill
elevations of the diversion tunnel. The size of diversion tunnel was also increased (finished
diameter revised from 10 m to 10.5 m) to accommodate the water levels behind coffer dam.
Gradient of tunnel was also increased to ensure super-critical flow (free flow conditions).
These changes due to extreme flood event also influenced the excavation quantity, time and
cost of the tunnel from what was originally planned in DPR/tender stage.
Learning lessons from the 2013 disaster is important, such as the need to consider during
the design phase the heavy bed load in the rivers during floods. It will be useful to carry out
model studies of structures across the rivers to develop a prior understanding of river behavior
after construction and particularly the impacts on the geomorphology during massive floods.
Disaster preparedness is also critical because all of Uttarakhand lies either in seismic Zone IV
or V. These are the most vulnerable to strong earthquakes.

5 CONCLUSION

It is important to note that the population associated with rivers in India contribute signifi-
cantly towards the total agricultural and industrial GNP value of the country and any

1377
disruption in these areas will be reflected adversely on national growth and development stat-
istics. Thus, flood control and river management by conducting detailed river morphology
study in this area has vital importance for social and economic development of the nation.
It is deliberately required to carry out extensive study of the morphology of the identified
rivers together with their hydrological parameters, as precursor to effective river management.
Consciously, THDCIL commissioned such a study following the 2013 flood. The purpose of
the morphological analysis is to identify vulnerable areas (habitation, public or private infra-
structure, agricultural land, etc.) where rivers pose threat from morphological changes that
has resulted over a period of time and those from episodic events such as excessive rains,
cloudbursts and large landslides. The study would also try to understand the river morphology
setting so as to prepare for changes that may result in future particularly after episodic events.
The objective is to study and document channel configuration, geometry, bed-form and
profile characteristics of the Ganga basin rivers of Uttarakhand together with their hydrologic
and hydraulic characteristics, flood plain characteristics, and to identify areas where the
stream flow is likely to have adverse physical, social and economic impact from changing river
morphology, particularly during high discharge events, including sudden discharges from
upstream reservoirs. The study and design of river training and flood protection works is also
intended to provide detailed solutions, including engineering design, of the various flood con-
trol/mitigation measures and channel improvement measures in order to reduce the impact of
flooding.
Envisaging gigantic nature of works, the study was planned in three phases. In the first
Stage, it is planned to undertake a rapid assessment around populated and critical vulnerable
areas and come up with remediation measures that can be taken up immediately. In the
second stage, detailed morphology study for the entire basin shall be done and identify critical
vulnerable reaches, and in the third stage there will be revisit the remediation measures pro-
posed in Phase1 and propose solutions in all vulnerable reaches.

REFERENCES

Appraisal Note, 5th Project Review Panel, VPHEP, THDCIL.

Assessment of Cumulative Impact of Hydropower Projects in Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Basins, AHEC/
2011.
Assessment of Environmental Degradation and Impact of Hydroelectric projects during the June
2013 Disaster in Uttarakhand, committee report submitted to Ministry of Environment and Forests
Government of India.
Das Pranab Kr. (2013), The Himalayan Tsunami- Cloudburst, Flash Flood & death toll: A geographical
postmortem, IOSR-JESTFT, pp 33–45
Das Pranab Kr. (2015), Global warming, glacial lakes and cloud burst events in Garhwal –Kumaon Hima-
laya: A hypothetical analysis, International Journal of Environmental Sciences Volume 5 No.4, 2015
Geotechnical Baseline Report (GBR), VPHEP Version 6.2, THDCIL.
National Wetland Atlas: High Altitude Lakes in India, Space Application Centre-ISRO, Govt. of India.
Ray Mukesh et al, Climate Vulnerability in North Western Himalayas, Environmental Trust 6th August,
2011 available as http://www.ced.org.in/docs/inecc/member_reports/Climatevulnerabilityrs2508.pdf
Vishnoi R.K., Singh Gajendra, Kumar Ajay, Vishwakarma P, “Impact of Extreme flood event on Planning
and Execution of Diversion Tunnel - A case study of Vishnugad Pipalkoti HEP” -THDCIL, EGNM
2015, India.

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