Weather officials are clueless about latitudes and longitudes of Chaurabari, 14 other places
If you are making a plan to undertake a tour or pilgrimage in Uttarakhand on the basis of weather forecasts given by India Meteorological Department (IMD), Uttarakhand, then think again. The weather department is yet to ascertain the latitude and longitude of the disaster-affected areas, especially Chaurabari lake, which broke its boundary last year in June wrecking havoc in Kedar Valley.
After the disaster, IMD officials claimed to have analysed the weather conditions and alerted the State Government on time about the impending cloudburst. But the same weather officials are clueless about the latitude and longitude of Chaurabari and 14 other places even after one year of the catastrophe. The Pioneer has a copy of a letter written by IMD, Uttarakhand Director Anand Sharma on June 17, 2014 to the Secretary (Disaster Management) in which he has asked for the latitudes and longitudes of these places.
In a bid to provide safe journey to the pilgrims undertaking this year’s Char Dham Yatra, the State Government asked IMD, Dehradun to provide weather forecast of 15 places — including Chaurabari, Satopanth, Kalapani, Gomukh, Yamunotri Glacier, Pinder Glacier, Dodi Tal, Madhyamaheshwar, Milam, Dudhatoli, Khatling, Dronagiri, Niti, Bandarpoonch and Hemkund Sahib — on June 12, 2014.
Interestingly, Chaurabari is the lake, which had caused 2013 devastation in the Kedar Valley in 2013; Satopanth glacier situated on way to Mana, bordering China; Gomukh is from where Ganga originates; Yamunotri glacier is the source of Yamuna river; Pindari glacier is source of Pindari river, which merges with Alaknanda at Karnprayag; Dodital is a fresh water lake and tourist place; Madhyamaheshwar is the fourth temple to be visited in the Panch Kedar pilgrimage circuit; Milam is a last village of Johar valley of Pithoragarh district; Dudhatoli is source of Nayar basin; Khatling is the source of Bhilangna river; Niti is the last village and outpost on the Indo-Tibetan Border in Chamoli district; Bandarpoonch is a peak of Himalaya and feeds Tons river which merges with Yamuna river; Hemkund Sahib is a Sikh place of worship and pilgrimage site of Chamoli district.
These places are major tourist attractions, but IMD, Uttarakhand has no clue about the latitudes and longitudes of these places.