Lokhit Express । Yamunanagar/New Delhi. The rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers due to climate change and the increasing incidence of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) pose a serious threat to India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and Bangladesh. According to experts, this is no longer a problem specific to Nepal, but a shared risk across the entire Himalayan region.
India’s Himalayan region has approximately 7,500 glacial lakes, of which 190 are classified as high-risk. Several areas of Northeast India, including Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand, could be affected. Approximately 3 million people live in GLOF-prone valleys in India.
The October 2023 outburst of South Lhonak Lake, Sikkim, which killed over 55 people, caused extensive damage to the Tejesta-III dam, and washed away over 30 bridges, highlighted the severity of the threat. Water and debris from high-risk lakes in Arunachal Pradesh could reach Assam via tributaries of the Brahmaputra.
The threat of such lakes is also increasing in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. The impact could reach Bangladesh, where rising water levels, debris, and sediment from the Brahmaputra-Jamuna River threaten to damage agriculture, settlements, and infrastructure.
Experts believe that improved glacier monitoring, real-time early warning systems, cross-border information sharing, and strengthening disaster preparedness in vulnerable areas are urgently needed.
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