Siachen Glacier
A Pakistani newspaper article using Pakistan Meteorological Department data accused India of carrying out extensive military activities that caused the avalanche. The article cited melting of ice at the terminus of the Siachen Glacier and suggested that large carbon deposits from Indian military activity led to increased solar radiation as one of the prime causes of the incident. However, there are no Indian troops within 15 km of either the avalanche site or the avalanche source basin, and no part of the Siachen Glacier itself is within 30 km of the avalanche site, separated from the Siachen system by the 5000 to 7500 meter high Saltoro Ridge. A study by a non-governmental organisation revealed poor waste collection mechanisms by Indian forces, almost entirely located in the Siachen Glacier basin, who produce 1000 kilograms of waste a day that is packed in drums. These drums of waste are thrown in crevasses, at the rate of about 4000 drums a year. However, the avalanche site is 15 km west of any part of the Siachen basin, near the Gayari (Ghyari) River just below the Bilafond La , neither of which flow from or connect with the Siachen Glacier system.