2025 Uttarkashi flash flood triggered by ice patch collapse, not cloudburst: ISRO study

The August 2025 flash flood in Uttarkashi's Dharali was triggered by the sudden collapse of an exposed ice patch within the nivation zone of the Srikanta Glacier, not a cloudburst, an ISRO study revealed. Nivation zones are high-altitude areas around glaciers where snow accumulates, melts, and refreezes. Light to moderate rainfall in Dharali during that time ruled out a cloudburst.