Study of a snow avalanche accident along Chowkibal–Tangdhar road in Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir, India

An avalanche accident was occurred on 5 January 2018 on Chowkibal–Tangdhar road in Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir about 6 km from Chowkibal village. One light passenger vehicle was swept away in the avalanche and 10 persons lost their lives. In this communication, we study the cause of avalanch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current science (Bangalore) 2018-09, Vol.115 (5), p.969-972
Main Authors: Gusain, H. S., Mishra, V. D., Singh, D. K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
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Summary:An avalanche accident was occurred on 5 January 2018 on Chowkibal–Tangdhar road in Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir about 6 km from Chowkibal village. One light passenger vehicle was swept away in the avalanche and 10 persons lost their lives. In this communication, we study the cause of avalanche accident and simulate the snow avalanche flow using Rapid Mass MovementS model. Total snow depth recorded at the nearest observation location from the accident site was 31 cm and fresh snow of the storm was 24 cm. Avalanche condition on slope was building up and the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment issued an avalanche warning of ‘Low Danger’ for the Chokibal–Tangdhar road axis. Maximum thickness of avalanche debris on road was observed to be 3.0 m. Flow simulation showed maximum velocity of avalanche to be ~25 ms−1, maximum impact pressure ~9.39 × 10⁴ kg m−1 s−2 and maximum height of avalanche flow ~3.0 m.
ISSN:0011-3891
DOI:10.18520/cs/v115/i5/969-972