NDMA had teamed up with supporting organisations such as Central War Commission, Geological Society of India, Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), which provided them with ample amount of time and resources to avoid this disaster. This arrangement of joint task forces was administered by the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), which had assured close monitoring of the dam. The NDMA had also claimed to have created a 75 m. long channel that ran two metres deep and two metres wide using 175 kg. explosives over five days. The channel was created through the landslide debris in order to assist water flow downstream, ultimately draining the artificial lake. However, water had begun to gush out of the landslide from the channel uninterruptedly. Local leaders had warned the NDMA team that creating such a channel among a loose, rocky and sandy terrain would do more harm than good. The lack of effort by National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) was also under scrutiny for not closely monitoring the dam. Locals have accused the NDMA for not being able to manage the crisis. Fortunately, no deaths have been reported due to the dam burst so far as 3,000 residents across the 40 riverbank villages in the Zanskar Valley had been relocated to higher ground following the landslide.
Source: SANDRP.
