Chamoli: Increasing human intervention in the ecologically sensitive Himalayan region is making it more vulnerable to climate change, director of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology Kalachand Sai said on Sunday as a glacier broke off at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, triggering massive flood in the state.
The glacier burst triggered massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and caused large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of Himalayas.
Over 150 labourers working at a power project in Tapovan-Reni are feared dead, an Indo-Tibetan Border Police spokesperson said while quoting the project-in charge. Three bodies have been recovered so far.
While the exact cause of this incident is yet to be ascertained and needs an honest investigation, it is evident that increasing human interventions in the ecologically sensitive Himalayan region are making it more vulnerable to climate change, said Sai to ETV Bharat.
Further, he said while it was too early to explain the cause of the devastation, prima facie it seemed to be due to climate change and global warming which has become an alarming and irreversible situation now.
He also said that the Himalayan region is the least monitored region and requires the government to spend more resources in tracking these areas closely so that there is more awareness.
Terming the glacier burst as a rare incident, he said satellite and Google Earth images do not show a glacial lake near the region, but there is a possibility of a water pocket.
"It is a rare incident for a glacial burst to happen. Satellite and Google Earth images do not show a glacial lake near the region, but there is a possibility that there may be a water pocket in the region. Water pockets are lakes inside the glaciers, which may have erupted leading to this event. We need further analysis, weather reports and data to confirm if this indeed was the case, he said.
Sai further said the thermal profile of ice is increasing, as earlier the temperature of ice ranged from -6 to -20 degree Celsius, it is now -2 degrees, making it more susceptible to melting.
It is unlikely that this was a cloud burst since weather reports in Chamoli district show sunny weather till today with no record of precipitation. There is no doubt that global warming has resulted in the warming of the region.
Climate change-driven erratic weather patterns like increased snowfall and rainfall, and warmer winters have led to the melting point of a lot of snow, he said.
In 2013, Uttarakhand saw similar incident because of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF). Researchers said this happened because of global warming which is leading to melting glaciers. They also had warned that such events might happen more frequently in the future.
To tackle this, we need to rethink about the current development model for the Himalayan region. It cannot happen at the cost of environment and local communities, Sai said.
According to official sources, several districts in Uttarakhand, including Pauri, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Dehradun, are likely to be affected and have been put on high alert.
Also Read: Uttarakhand flood: 2019 study warned Himalayan glaciers melting at alarming speed
