According to the Tourism Department of Nepal, over a dozen people were injured, including an Indian after an avalanche ripped through just below camp 4 on September 26. The weather has not been great throughout the season.
An avalanche occurred in the mountain a few days ago also. Over 400 permits were issued by the Department of Tourism to climb Manaslu this year. An avalanche (also known as a snow slide) is a fast-moving snow flow down a slope, such as a hill or a mountain. Avalanches may occur spontaneously, as a result of variables such as excessive precipitation or a decreasing snowpack, or as a result of external sources such as people, animals, and earthquakes. Large avalanches mostly made up of moving snow and air, have the power to catch and transport ice, rocks, and trees. It is caused by a number of factors, such as heavy snowfall, increased human activities, wind direction, steep slopes, warm temperatures, layers of snow, and earthquakes. Notably, the Indian Army and the Defense Geoinformatics and Research Establishment (DGRE) have jointly installed the Avalanche Monitoring Radar, the first of its kind in India, in north Sikkim in September this year. Besides being used for the detection of avalanches, this radar can also be employed to detect landslides. The avalanche radar was made operational by the Defense Research and Development Organization's wing DGRE, which is involved in forecasting and mitigating avalanche hazards faced by the Indian Army in the Himalayan region. (ANI)