The Uttarakhand government has formed a ‘working group’ to monitor and mitigate risks posed by sensitive glacial lakes across the ecologically fragile Himalayan region.
The move comes in the wake of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s directives to adopt scientific and technological measures to manage potential disasters, especially glacial lake outbursts (GLOFs).
The working group, constituted under the National Glacial Lake Flood Risk Mitigation Program (NGRMP), will oversee monitoring, risk assessment and mitigation efforts for 13 high-risk glacial lakes in Uttarakhand.
Experts and senior geoscientists from multiple institutions, including the Central Building Research Institute, Uttarakhand Disaster Management Authority, National Institute of Hydrology, Uttarakhand Center for Space Applications, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, National Center for Remote Sensing and Geological Survey of India, are part of the working group.
The Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, has been appointed as the nodal agency for the initiative.
Under the project, the working team will focus on developing advanced monitoring systems, establishing early warning systems (EWS), conducting research and technical studies, and implementing coordinated mitigation measures.
Total budget of $Rs 9 lakh crore has been approved for this initiative. Who is this, $Rs 7.80 crore will be allocated to the Wadia Institute for procurement of equipment, satellite imagery, software development, computational infrastructure, field work and enhancement of human resources.
Additional $Rs 1.20 lakh crore will be channeled through the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority to support field surveys, awareness campaigns, capacity building programmes, and regularization of past expenditure.
Officials said that the project is being implemented in cooperation with the National Disaster Management Authority, with the aim of reducing risks resulting from disasters associated with glacial lakes and establishing a robust and time-bound early warning mechanism.
