Copper (Cu) Mining, electroplating, smelting operations Irritation of the nose, mouth and eyes,

headaches, stomach aches, vomiting and

diarrhea
Nickel (Ni) Stainless Steel Manufacturing Units, thermal power Allergy, cardiovascular and kidney diseases,
plants, battery Industry lung fibrosis, lung and nasal cancer

Barium computers in the front panel of a CRT, e- waste brain swelling, muscle weakness, damage to
the heart, liver, and spleen.
Beryllium E-waste, coal burning lung cancer, skin disease, poor wound healing
and wartlike bumps
Fluorides coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources, Dental and skeletal fluorosis
community water fluoridation
Nitrates runoff or seepage from fertilized agricultural, Blue baby syndrome (methemoglobinemia)
municipal and industrial waste urban drainage and which reduces oxygen level in blood
decaying plant debris

5.4. NANDA DEVI GLACIER

Why in News?
Recently, a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke of near Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, and caused
an avalanche in the Alaknanda river system (Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda rivers).
More on News
• While scientists are still investigating the cause of the floods, early findings reveal that a major rock/ice
avalanche detached itself from a north facing slope northeast of Trisul Peak in the Nanda Devi mountain.
• A study by scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, also points to the role of subglacial
lakes.
About Glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF)
o Subglacial lakes commonly develop • A glacier is a large, perennial accumulation of crystalline ice,
and create channels below glaciers. snow, rock, sediment, and often liquid water that originates on
Water can flow through these land and moves down slope under the influence of its own
channels in enough quantities as to weight and gravity.
inundate a valley – even if the glacier • GLOF occurs from unstable natural dam formed from glacier
doesn’t break retreat.
• Also, another study ruled out the o When glacier retreats it leaves behind large impression in
possibility of a glacier lake outburst ground filling it with water and lake is formed, this is known
flood as well. as moraine which can be impunded by pile of debris & ice.
• If the boundaries of these lakes are breached, it can lead to
About Nanda Devi Glacier large amounts of water rushing down to nearby streams and
rivers, gathering momentum on the way by picking up
• Glacier dwells on the Nanda Devi peak sediments, rocks and other material, and resulting in flooding
which is the second-highest mountain in downstream.
the country after Kanchenjunga. • GLOFs are generally triggered by an avalanche in the area,
• Nanda Devi group of glaciers fall within construction, anthropological activities, earthquakes, rapid
the upper Rishi Ganga catchment, slope movement into the lake etc.
central Himalaya, covering 690 sq km.
o Nanda Devi Group of Glaciers refers
to the cluster of glaciers namely
Bethartoli, Kururntoli, Nanda Devi
North, Nanda Devi South, Nandakna,
Raunth Bank, Dakshini Rishi Bank,
Trishul.
• It is a part of the Garhwal Himalayas and
is located in Chamoli district of
Uttarakhand, between the Rishiganga
valley on the west and the Goriganga valley on the east.
• The glacier is located within the Nanda Devi Sanctuary and drains west into the Rishiganga.

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