A warming planet is leading to a change in the patterns of snowfall and rainfall in the fragile Himalayas. The avalanche that struck Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district and buried 55 workers of the Border Roads Organization (BRO) is likely an outcome of climate change, as per experts.
On February 28, 2025, the workers were buried under snow after being hit by an avalanche between Badrinath and Mana in Chamoli district. Of these, 50 workers have been rescued, four of whom have died from their injuries. Five workers are still unaccounted for. Rescue efforts are on to locate and rescue them, according to Lt Col Manish Srivastava, PRO, Indian Army.
The district magistrate of Chamoli confirmed the incident on February 28 but also said there is no proper communication system and due to continuous snowfall, it is not possible to reach the location by helicopter. Chamoli Police has released some photographs of the incident site, in which workers are seen carrying some people on their shoulders.
According to reports, the incident occurred around noon. The 55 BRO workers were working to remove snow from the road at Ghistauli between Mana and Mana Bypass when they were hit by an avalanche. According to another report, the avalanche struck around 5 am when snow-clearing workers of the BRO were sleeping in their tin shed.
Once the doors of the sacred shrine of Badrinath close for the winter, this entire area remains deserted. But due to its strategic importance, the BRO is always deployed, entrusted with the task of removing snow from the roads.
According to scientists, the late rain and snow caused due to a warming climate is responsible for the disaster.
Winter across North India, including Uttarakhand, was almost dry this year. During this period, there was heavy rainfall at some places for one or two days, but this rainfall was only 9 per cent of the normal. Usually, Uttarakhand receives 75.7 millimetres (mm) rainfall from January 1 to February 15. But this year, only 6.9 mm rainfall was received in this period.
When the rains started on February 27, within 24 hours the state had received 37.1 mm rainfall, which was 1,339 per cent more than the normal. The difference of rainfall in the entire season consequently reduced from 91 per cent to 48 per cent. Even after this, rain continued throughout the day on February 28. Thus, the amount of rain that should have fallen in the entire season was received in just two days.
Alongside the late winter heavy rainfall that Uttarakhand has been witnessing increasingly of late, it has also recorded snowfall shifting to February and March, instead of December and January.
All this increases the risk of an avalanche.
SP Sati, head of the environment department at the VCSG Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry in Pauri, pointed out that earlier, there used to be snowfall in the High and Middle Himalayas in the months of December and January.
At that time the ground remains quite cold, due to which the grip of fresh snow becomes stronger on the ground.
But now, snowfall is happening in February and March instead of December and January.
According to Sati, in this season, the ground becomes warmer than in December-January and the density of fresh snow is less. This fresh snow is unable to hold on to the ground. In such a situation, when there is heavy snowfall, the weakly held snow on the ground below slips and an avalanche occurs.
This is not the first time that an avalanche has happened during February-March. In March 2021, 8 to 10 labourers died due to an avalanche in the catchment area of the Dhauliganga river. There was also the Rishiganga disaster of February 7 during the same year.
This incident was caused by the breakage of the hanging glacier in the catchment area of the Rishiganga river. In this incident, the hydro power plant in Raini was completely destroyed and hundreds of workers in the under-construction project in Tapovan were killed.
According to Sati, the possibility of more such incidents occurring in the coming years due to the shifting snowfall season is rising.
He blamed this change in the snowfall season on global warming and added that it is a big threat not only to the Himalayas but to the glaciers of the entire world.
Usually, frost occurs after snowfall in December-January. This frost strengthens the fresh snow, which later becomes a part of the glacier.
But, as per Sati, the snow falling in February and March melts as soon as it falls and is not converted into glaciers. This simply means that the area of glaciers is likely to continue decreasing in the coming years. Along with this, there is also a possibility of an increase in the number of avalanches due to snowfall in the months of February and March.