Srinagar, June 24: Responding to the growing threat of global warming, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has decided to conduct studies and strengthen measures to prevent Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF).
GLOF refers to the phenomenon where the water level of glacial lakes breaches their boundaries, leading to large amounts of water flowing into nearby streams and rivers, creating flash floods.
The Himalayas have witnessed an increasing threat of GLOF. Over the years, several GLOFs have struck the Himalayas, causing massive destruction to infrastructure and claiming thousands of lives. Experts attribute this to climate change and an increase in human activity on glaciers.
On Monday, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo conducted a meeting and directed the strengthening of measures regarding the prevention of GLOFs.
“Consequentially, meaningful studies should be carried out by expert glaciologists to initiate possible measures to evade such natural calamities in Jammu and Kashmir,” the Chief Secretary directed.
He stressed the importance of studies that are useful for planning future actions.
According to various studies and experts, there are 15,000 glaciers in Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh alone.
“The Himalayas have exhibited more GLOF events than any other mountainous area, with a frequency of 1.3 GLOFs per year over the last four decades. The changing climate has increased glacier thinning and heterogeneous mass loss globally. These changes clearly indicate the critically rising concern about the health of the Himalayan glaciers,” one of the studies read.
The Chief Secretary directed the Department of Disaster Management to constitute a team of experts, including glaciologists, to conduct expeditions to such lakes.
Dulloo said that such expeditions should be pursued with a sense of seriousness by professionals so that the recommendations are based on ground reality. He asked the department to arrange and organize such expeditions without any delay and seek feedback from other experts in this regard.
It was further revealed that data collection and analysis will be followed by modeling and simulation, for which a detailed project worth Rs 30 crore has been submitted to the NDMA. It was also informed that, upon completion, this project would ensure a comprehensive mitigation plan against GLOF.
Earlier, the J&K administration formed a high-powered monitoring committee to evaluate the current condition of glaciers and glacial lakes, with the aim of mitigating potential hazards in the Union Territory.
