The risk of bursting of the landslide dams on the Yarlung Tsangpo looms large with the rainy season fast approaching.
Chinton Sheth of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru has warned two days back that these dams can burst at any moment.
Sheth has been studying the developments on the Yarlung Tsangpo following the November, 2017 earthquake, which resulted in the formation of three landslide dams on the river, known as Siang in Arunachal Pradesh, and flows into Brahmaputra in Assam.
In a write-up published in Wednesday’s edition of The Arunachal Times, the expert maintained that it is a critical time for India and China to work together for a humanitarian cause.
Sheth in his write-up mentioned that ‘the UN charter, which is an international collaboration between owners and operators of Earth observation satellite missions, was started to aid humanitarian rescue authorities in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) represented India and was the fourth agency to sign the charter in 2001.’
The charter provides free access to maps and processed satellite images at fine scales for areas that have been devastated. India and China have direct access to the charter, he stated in the report.
Sheth further asserted in the report that under the prevailing circumstances, the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam are at grave risk of dire consequences.
Earlier satellite images have confirmed that the high turbidity levels of the Siang River was caused by the earthquake.
The intense vibrations have triggered a massive chain of landslides. Several satellites have taken images showing approximately a 100 square kilometre area of landslides.