As part of a national survey to prevent glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has begun a survey of the eastern Himalayas to map all glacial lakes in the country and assess the feasibility of installing early warning sensors and other mitigation measures. The agency is conducting the survey in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, two critical areas of the eastern Himalayas along the China border.
Expert teams have left to conduct a survey-cum-study on six high-risk glacial lakes in Tawang and Dibang Valley districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The region shares a 1,080-km-long border with China. There are reports of more than five bridges being washed away due to the outburst of a glacial lake from the Sanganga Nehgu lake in Tawang district. This is also the first such survey of glacial lakes in the border state.
Sikkim has also sent a team of 32 experts to the five threatened glacial lakes – Gurudongmar A, B and C, Sakho Chu and Khangchu – all located in Mangan district bordering Tibet.
Experts will survey the lakes from August 28 to September 14, at an estimated cost of Rs 32 lakh.
The expedition is being led by State Science and Technology Secretary Sandeep Tambe and comprises experts from six different departments of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) – Land Revenue Department, Mines and Geology, Water Resources, Forest, Science and Technology and research scholars from Sikkim University.
The operation will also be assisted by the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), with a collective task force of 56 persons, including drivers and porters…
“We are going to carry out a very high-tech study to understand the geology of the glacial lake, understand glacial behaviour, slope stability and study possibilities of avalanches and GLOFs. This will be a study at an altitude of 18,000 feet. Once our study is complete, we will plan a mitigation plan,” said Sandeep Tambe, secretary, Sikkim’s science and technology department.
The last expedition was carried out by the NDMA and experts from Switzerland ahead of the lake outburst in South Lhonak, Sikkim in 2023.
