Time-Bombs Ticking Along Himalayan Mountains: Need For Emergent Action During International Year Of Glaciers’ Preservation

Time-Bombs Ticking Along Himalayan Mountains: Need For Emergent Action During International Year Of Glaciers’ Preservation – Analysis

1 year ago

Before the October 2023 flood in Sikkim, scientists and different agencies of the Government of India were working on installing an early warning system for glacial floods from the lake. It was known that cloudbursts could pose a severe threat with flash floods

When on 4 October 2023 heavy rains caused the glacial South Lhonak lake in Sikkim, a state in north-eastern India, to breach its banks causing a glacial lake outburst flood, it was a natural disaster which made India wake up to these time-bombs ticking along the vast Himalayan mountain-ranges.

It is worth recounting today what happened on that fateful day: flood waters reached the Teesta III Dam at Chungthang at midnight, and even before its gates could be opened, the dam was destroyed in minutes. Water levels downstream in the Teesta river rose by up to 20 feet (6.1 m), causing widespread damage.

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