Uttarakhand govt. to study risk posed by 13 glacial lakes during monsoon

Last Updated29/06/2024

With the monsoon setting in, the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Department (USDMA) will do a vulnerability study of 13 glacial lakes, five of them in “high-risk zone”.

The study aims to provide data to help avoid calamities such as lake outbursts.
The Himalayan glaciers were in danger from climate change, and continued checks were required to ensure safety.
The lakes in Darma, Lasaryanghati, and the Kutiyangti Valley
The Vasudhara Tal lake of the Dhauli Ganga basin is posing a high risk.
Teams will start a bathymetry study of the five potentially high-risk lakesy.
The study will give us correct and accurate information regarding the size of the lakes, how the glaciers were formed, how they are melting, and more.
The USDMA asked the Indo-Tibetan Border Police to share a report on the status of the five high risk glacial lakes.

The State government formed two expert teams to assess the risks associated with these glacial lakes.
Two major glacial lake outburst floods took place in Uttarakhand in the past decade.
The first was at the Kedarnath valley in June 2013 which led to 6,000 deaths.
The other was at the Rishi Ganga Valley in Chamoli in February 2021, which claimed 72 lives.