Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1897-03-26
A FAMOUS LANDSLIP,

Catastrophe was Avertcd by the skill al
English Engineers in PARKWAY India
A recent official publication Of the Publ,
Works department Of India contains IA rec
ord Of extraordinary interest It is de
scription Of the great landsip which took
place at Gonna in the autumn of 1898 witt
an account Of the elaborate and remarkabl,
successful precautions which were taken t.
minimize the damage and prevent loss OF
life i'm the subsequent bursting Of the barrier
so suddenly thrown across stream.
Gonna is a small village in the lIimaayas
on the right bank of the Brah Ganga. a
tributary of the Ganges Hardwar, the ia
nous sacred bathing place is the nearest
town of Importance, and lies some eighty
miles to the southwest, where the Ganges
embouches upon the plains Of Northern In
dia. Measured along the river valleys the
distance is 100 miles.
The entire river basin Of the Birah Gan
ga is some nine miles in breadth by twenty
miles i'm length and it is bounded on the
north and east by the snow-cad mountains
rising to 81 ,2sG feet. Consequently the
river is much increased in volume by the
melting snow during the summer months.
The sides of the valley are steep and some
times precipitous-grassy on their lower
slopes, but clothed higher up with oaks,
frs, and rhododendrons. The village is
placed in the bottom of this gorge, just be-
low its narrowest part, at an elevation of
4G00 feet above the sea.
On Sept. &, 1898, the inhabitants of the
little native village were terrified by loud
rumbling which increased to deafening crash
es as a vast section of the steep mountain
side, 1000 feet in height, rushed bodily
down into the valley, forming a huge dam
across the stream. In spite of the preced
ing heavy rains, clouds of dust arose which
shut out the sun, and fell for miles around,
whitening the trees and ground like fall
of snow For three days the huge masses
came laundering down and adding to the
mass of ruin below. After that the slips
were less frequent, but as late as March in
the following year a days rainfall was al
ways followed by the loosenin of great
blocks weighing several tons, which would
come bounding down the 5000 feet of brok
en- hillside with low, rumbling noise and
the production of clouds of dust.
On the twelfth of December Lieutenant
Colonel Pulford, the government engineer
in charge of the district, reached Gonna
and made rapid inspection of the dam and
the rapidly rising lake behind it. He found
the dam to be a very massive affair com
posed of material ranging from fine earth
and rock-powder up to masses of rock of
over one thousand tons weight 1t was
900 feet in height, 1000 feet in width and
5000 feet in length on top with a width of
II 900 feet at the base. Behind this mas
sive earthwork lay a beautiful lake, from
whose deep blue waters rose slopes gor-
geous with the rhododendron in full bloom,
while behind and above all lowered the
snow covered peaks and glaciers of the
Himalayas. The scene was one of wild
loveliness, but to the engineer as he stood
on the dam, a terrible menace lay hidden
under all the beauty. In few months the
masses of snow which flashed SO brilliantly
on the peaks would begin to melt. The
lake would inevitably rise until it over
topped the dam. 1t would then be body
of water half mile wide, four miles long,
and 800 feet deep The moment that the
overflow occurred, the water flowing over
the loose mass of earth and stones would
cut itself a channel which would deepen
and widen with marvellous rapidity until
the entire lake would be precipitated as a
roaring flood down the narrow valley be
low, sweeping away whole villages in its
mad rush to the Ganges.
Colonel Pulford realized at once the ma
ture of the catastrophe that was hanging
over the unsuspecting inhabitants below,
and acted with commendable energy and
decision. Theobvious expedient of avert
ing the flood by cutting a channel through
the dam was found to be impossible of ex-
ecution and it was decided that the only
plan was to let the dam burst at its own
time, but to take such precautions as were
necessary to render the resulting damage
as slight as possible.
AS a first step, the construction of a tele-
nh line WAS bpp1ln N CODnact the Spana
of the slip with the nearest telegraph office,
sixty miles away in order that full record
might be kept of the rise of water in the
lake and timely warning given of the APP
preaching overflow. Branch stations We're
established at intervals to warn the inhab-
itants along the valley. Accurate surveys
were made of the entire drainage area of
the lake, of the dam, and of the valley be-
low through which the water must escape
Careful calculations were made of the
amount of water running into the lake, the
amount that might be expected from the
melting snow, and the probable rainfall
The suspension bridges across the river be
low Gonna were dismantled and the parts
removed to places of safety. Temporary
rope-bridges were erected to avoid any /
cessation of the pilgrim travel A new
road was built to turn portion of the pill |
Siihi Sio"uo away iiOiii us /
trict. Masonry pillars were erected along |
the entire length of the valley at intervals i
of half mile, so placed as to be easily seen I
upon the hillsides, and marking the limit !
above which there was certain safety. In |
some places these stood 200 feet above the
valley floor.
1t is not to be supposed that such elabo- |
rate preparations were carried out without |
opposition. There was large and inhu-
ential portion of the population who were
firmly convicted of the absurdity of the
whole plan. There would be no flood, they
said, the water will merely cut down
through the dam and escape quietly. The
work of the engineers was ridiculed in the
daily press. In two cases the local authori-
ties were so clamorous over the removal of
their bridges, that the directing engineer
grimly left them to take care of their
bridges themselves
The detailed surveys and calculations
had shown that the lake would not brim
over before Aug. 10. Information about
the rise of the water was sent out daily,
with warnings to be prepared for the flood
a