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A ground-based and heliborne survey was conducted immediately after the disaster that took place on 7th February, 2021 in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Based on these observations and freely available Google Earth imagery, we have arrived at plausible causes of this catastrophe as detachment of a sizeable rock mass and overlying hanging glacier in the Raunthi catchment that dammed the Rishiganga River and led to the devastation of roads, bridges and hydropower projects in downstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 7 February 2021 at 10:30 am, a huge amount of slurry material flooded the Rishiganga catchment, resulting in excessive flow along the valley. The main cause of this flood was the dislocation of a huge rock mass approximately 540 m wide and 720 m long from the main rock body, which slipped down towards the Raunthi Gadera valley floor, causing massive devastation in the areas such as Raini, Tapovan, and Vishnuprayag. This event was not expected and was the first event in history when a flash flood occurred in winter. In this study, we tried to answer two major questions which are not been explained so far that are related to this disaster. These questions are (i) why did this event occur in winters? (ii) where did so much debris and water come from?. This study clearly answers these questions based on field observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]