The existence of famous Dodital, a high altitude lake in Uttarkashi district, is under threat due to debris in and around this lake. The lack of facilities for visitors has also resulted in a decrease in the number of tourists reaching this destination.
After reaching Sangamchatti from Uttarkashi by motor, visitors have to trek for 22 kilometres to reach Dodital.Due to its popularity among tourists, the forest department has built eco-tourism accommodations.
But now the existence of this lake itself has come under threat.
In 2012, the heavy downpour caused waters gushing from Drava top hill to wash down debris which was deposited in the lake.
This reduced the 800 metre periphery of the lake by 10 metres while still on one side of the lake debris was deposited around a 40 metre radius. The debris include boulders and broken trees. With every spell of rainfall, a part of the debris gets flushed into the lake.
According to observers, in case of heavy rains, there is a probability that all the debris might fall into the lake which could even result in a flood in the
Asiganga river.
One of the reasons for the 2012 flood in this river was overflowing of the lake waters due to large quantity of debris deposited in the lake. Perambulating the lake is not possible at present due to
the debris.
This year, only about 100 tourists have gone on the Sangamchatti-Dodital and Dayara Dodital treks while this number was 300 last year. Only one group of tourists has undertaken the Dodital-Yamunotri trek this year so far.