`Impact of climate change on glacial lakes’: Centre awards mega research project to KU

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Srinagar: Ministry of Earth Sciences has awarded a mega research project to the University of Kashmir for studying the impact of climate change on the glacial lakes of the Indian Himalayas.

Entitled, “Identifying current and future Glacial Lake Outburst Floods risk over contrasting topographic and climate zones of Indian Himalaya using earth observation data and modeling,” the Rs 91.72 lakh will be completed in three years.

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Under the project, the University in collaboration with IIT Roorkee will study the risks posed by glacial lake outbursts in Indian Himalayas which include Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim.

The official order issued by the Ministry of Earth Sciences mentions that the project aims to “develop and implement a comprehensive methodological approach to investigate the evolution of glacial lakes in different time scales and their related hazard potential using satellite and ground-based data.”

“This will lead to improved understanding and prediction of lake formation, and associated hazards and risks in downstream areas consisting of human population and infrastructure,” the order reads.

In the past four decades, many studies have been conducted which indicate the melting of glaciers due to changing climate in the Himalayas. These receding glaciers lead to the formation of glacial lakes– a body of water formed by the melting of glaciers and they have the potential to burst due to multiple reasons.

Speaking exclusively to The Kashmir Monitor, Dr. Irfan Rashid, Principal Investigator, and Coordinator at the Department of Geoinformatics said that this is a novel effort where we aim to create a detailed inventory (compilation of glacial lake data which includes size, volume, length, elevation, aspect) based on both satellite, hydrodynamic models and ground-based observations.

“This will help us determine the glacial lakes at risk. Similarly, the project will focus on determining the water volume of lakes.”

Rashid said they are intending to study around 30 lakes for the groundwork that will involve echo-sounding of glacial lakes. “The India Institute of Technology Roorkee will give us technical support with Dr. Saurabh Vijay from the IIT as our Co-principal investigator.”

He pointed out that usually, there is a common belief that bigger lakes have a greater potential to burst than smaller lakes. “However, we have seen two outbursts from relatively smaller lakes in the previous years in Gya and Rumbak villages in Ladakh. The project attempts to answer such questions as well.”

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