Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand): A glacier slid down in the strategically important Munsiyari Milam road in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district on Saturday, snapping the connectivity to several villages and the road to the India-China border. According to the officials, the Border Roads Organisation has started the work of removing the glacier from the road.
Officials said that the people of 13 villages including Rilkot, Samtu, Johar Valley, Tola, Ganghar, Ralam and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel are facing difficulty in crossing the glacier-covered stretch. The glacier slid down along the mountainside in Chhirkani near Mapang.
People who were visiting their village to cast their vote for the first phase of the seven-phase election are also facing difficulty in returning to their work. BRO officials said that even though the work to clear the snow has been started, it might take some time citing the quantity of the snow. However, the route will be opened soon.
Experts say that the breaking of the glacier is an indication of the growing impact of climate change and damage caused to the ecology because of unplanned development like large-scale construction without environmental safety measures. Due to the escalating temperatures and shifting weather patterns, the Himalayan region faces an imminent threat from the accelerated melting of glaciers.
This not only impacts local communities' livelihoods but also increases the risk of natural disasters such as flash floods, as unstable glacial lakes form in the wake of receding ice. Rising temperatures in the past few years have put the ecology fragile Himalayan zone at a high risk. The topography of the Himalayas also makes it more vulnerable to global warming, causing glaciers to melt rapidly.
The region has seen a decline in the area under glaciers. When receding glaciers erode the terrain and leave depressions, glacial lakes are formed, which are filled by either the melting ice or precipitation. These unstable water bodies are the reason for flash floods. Climate change-driven erratic weather patterns like increased rainfall and snowfall and warmer winters are also the reason for the rapid melting of several glaciers.
Read More
