{"id":57069,"date":"2025-07-28T10:52:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T05:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=57069"},"modified":"2025-07-28T11:31:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T06:01:47","slug":"glacial-lake-outburst-floods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/glacial-lake-outburst-floods\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s Preparedness Against Glacial Lake Outburst Floods"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Glacial Lake Outburst Floods Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has launched a national programme to monitor and mitigate Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risks, prioritising 195 high-risk lakes in the Himalayan region amid rising climate-induced disasters.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On July 8, 2025, a severe <\/span><b>Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> struck Nepal, sweeping away a China-built friendship bridge and rendering multiple hydropower plants inoperative.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This catastrophe underscored the growing threat posed by glacial melt in the Himalayas, a region already vulnerable due to global warming and seismic activity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For India, which houses over 7,500 glacial lakes across 11 river basins, GLOF events pose a serious risk to infrastructure, livelihoods, and ecosystems.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Indian government, through the <\/span><b>National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, has initiated a multi-pronged strategy focused on early warning, risk mitigation, and community engagement to tackle this emerging challenge.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Rising GLOF Risk in the Himalayas<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GLOFs occur when unstable glacial lakes, formed due to melting glaciers, suddenly burst, releasing massive volumes of water downstream. In the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), two major types of glacial lakes are found:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Supraglacial Lakes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Formed on the glacier surface, vulnerable to summer melting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Moraine-Dammed Lakes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Formed at the glacier toe and dammed by loose debris, highly prone to collapse due to avalanches or ice-core instability.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the <\/span><b>National Remote Sensing Centre<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, India is home to around <\/span><b>28,000 glacial lakes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with most situated above 4,500 metres, making ground access difficult and monitoring sparse.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Catastrophic Events and Growing Vulnerability<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has already experienced several GLOF disasters, such as:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Chorabari GLOF (2013)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Triggered the Kedarnath tragedy with cascading floods and landslides, killing hundreds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>South Lhonak GLOF (2023, Sikkim)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Destroyed the 1,250 MW Chungthang dam, raising the Teesta riverbed and decreasing its water-carrying capacity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The risk is compounded by rising temperatures. <\/span><b>2023 and 2024 were the hottest years globally<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, leading to increased glacier melt and destabilisation of lake structures.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, the lack of weather and water monitoring stations in high-altitude areas has left most glacial lakes <\/span><b>unmapped and unguarded<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>National Strategy for GLOF Mitigation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognising the scale of the threat, the NDMA launched a <\/span><b>$20 million national programme<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, identifying <\/span><b>195 high-risk lakes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, classified into four levels of vulnerability.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The initiative, under the <\/span><b>Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction (CoDRR)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, focuses on five core objectives:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Hazard Assessment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of each lake<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Installation of <\/span><b>Automated Weather and Water Stations (AWWS)<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deployment of <\/span><b>Early Warning Systems (EWS)<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Water drawdown or retention structures<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at critical lakes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Community engagement and education<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to improve response readiness<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">States housing glacial lakes were encouraged to lead the effort by sending <\/span><b>scientific expeditions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to 40 of the most vulnerable lakes during the summer of 2024.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Scientific Techniques and Innovations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To bridge India&#8217;s existing data and monitoring gaps, several advanced tools and technologies have been deployed:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometry<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Used for micro-level monitoring of slope stability and lake expansion, accurate up to a centimetre.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Helps detect subsurface ice cores that could lead to dam failure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Bathymetry and UAV Surveys<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Assess lake volume and surrounding terrain.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Notably, <\/span><b>two lakes in Sikkim<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are now equipped with AWWS units, transmitting water level and weather data every 10 minutes along with daily images of lake perimeters, establishing India\u2019s first operational monitoring stations in the cryosphere.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Institutional and Community Preparedness<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apart from technical tools, India has turned to ground-level institutions like the <\/span><b>Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for manual early warnings.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given their high-altitude deployments, ITBP personnel are now being trained to detect visible signs of GLOF risk.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Community engagement has also emerged as a critical element. Several scientific teams were welcomed or rejected based on their rapport with local residents.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The importance of culturally sensitive engagement became apparent when an expedition team had to leave behind a member to honour the sanctity of a lake considered sacred by locals.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Future Outlook and Scaling Efforts<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government intends to scale the national programme under the upcoming <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/16th-finance-commission\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>16<\/b><b>th<\/b><b> Finance Commission<\/b><\/a><b> (FY2027\u201331)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The plan includes expanding risk surveillance across thousands of lakes, scaling up scientific monitoring, and building institutional capacities for coordinated response.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, critical gaps remain:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lack of Indian startups or foundations working in Himalayan risk mitigation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Limited use of remote sensing technologies despite their availability<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Absence of a pan-Himalayan early warning network in partnership with neighbouring countries like Nepal and China<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bridging these gaps will be essential for India to protect its mountain communities and key river systems downstream.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/how-is-india-preparing-against-glof-events-explained\/article69861536.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TH<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the wake of recent Glacial Lake Outburst Floods disasters in the Himalayas, India has launched a national programme to monitor, mitigate, and prepare for glacial lake outburst floods through early warning systems, risk assessments, and scientific expeditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":57072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1848,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-57069","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-global-lake-outburst-floods","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}