GLACIAL LAKE OUTBURSTS FLOODS
The
Uttarakhand government has constituted
two teams of experts to evaluate the risk posed by five potentially hazardous glacial lakes in the region.
These lakes are prone to
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), the kind of events that have resulted in several disasters in the Himalayan states in recent years.
The goal of the risk assessment exercise is to
minimise the possibility of a GLOF incident and provide more time for relief and evacuation in case of a breach.
WHAT IS GLOF?
GLOFs are disaster events caused by the
abrupt discharge of water from glacial lakes — large bodies of water that sit in front of, on top of, or beneath a melting glacier.
As a glacier withdraws, it leaves behind a depression that gets filled with meltwater, thereby forming a lake.
The
more the glacier recedes, the
bigger and more dangerous the lake becomes. Such lakes are mostly
dammed by unstable ice or sediment composed of loose rock and debris. In case the boundary around them breaks, huge amounts of water rush down the side of the mountains,
which could cause flooding in the downstream areas — this is referred to as a GLOF event.
WHO IS CONDUCTING THIS EXERCISE?
The
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which operates under the
Union Ministry of Home Affairs, has identified
188 glacial lakes in the Himalayan states that can potentially be breached because of heavy rainfall. Thirteen of them are in Uttarakhand.
WHICH FACTOR HAS INCREASED THE RISK OF GLACIAL OUTBURST?
Rising surface temperatures across the globe, including India, have increased the risk of GLOFs. Studies have shown that around
15 million people face the risk of sudden and deadly flooding from glacial lakes, which are expanding and rising in numbers due to global warming.
THE SITUATION IN UTTARAKHAND
Uttarakhand has witnessed
two major GLOF events in the past few years. The first took place in
June 2013, which affected large parts of the state — Kedarnath valley was the worst hit, where thousands of people died. The second occurred in
February 2021, when Chamoli district was hit by flash floods due to the bursting of a glacier lake.
As mentioned earlier, Uttarakhand has
13 glacial lakes which are prone to GLOF. Based on the analysis of available data and research from various technical institutions, these lakes have
been categorised into three risk levels: ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’.
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