India launches flood warning systems at Himalayan glacial lakes

TDT | Manama

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India is setting up high-tech warning systems at nearly 200 Himalayan glacial lakes at risk of bursting their banks, a deadly threat exacerbated by climate change, disaster officials said yesterday. India’s Himalayas contain at least 7,500 glacial lakes, many of which pose risks of dangerous flash floods.

Teams from India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) are targeting 190 high-altitude lakes deemed to be the most dangerous in a mission slated to take three years. “We have already made significant strides in mitigating risks”, Safi Ahsan Rizvi, a senior NDMA official directing the mission, told AFP.

A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is the sudden release of water that has collected in former glacier beds. These lakes are formed by the retreat of glaciers, a naturally occurring phenomenon turbocharged by the warmer temperatures of human-caused climate change.

One expedition is currently working to install early warning systems around six highrisk lakes in the northeastern state of Sikkim, where at least 77 people died in such a flood in October 2023. “We have done 20 lakes so far, and will complete 40 this summer,” Rizvi said. The project will also include “lowering lake levels” of accumulated water and ice slush in lakes.