Nagaland University maps GLOF risk in glacial lakes of Sikkim, Arunachal

Guwahati, July 30: A Nagaland University-led project is developing a detailed, near-accurate inventory and stability assessment of high-altitude lakes in the Himalayan region in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

It will focus on Tenbawa Lake’s Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) potential and Holocene climate linkages in Sikkim and two other glacial lakes in Arunachal Pradesh.

The researchers intend to identify ‘potentially dangerous glacial lakes’ using high-resolution data and analyse geomorphology, permafrost, and slope instability in the Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh and in the Lachung basin of North Sikkim under two separate projects.

The risk from sudden lake outbursts will be quantified through bathymetric surveys and 2D/3D flood modelling from selected lakes in the Tawang region.

Bathymetric surveys are specialised hydrographic surveys that map the depths and shapes of underwater terrain. The process provides detailed information about the underwater topography of a water body.

The project also seeks to identify ecological risks, knowledge gaps, and ecosystem services related to high-altitude lakes under the contemporary climate change, as well as the assessment of stored fresh water resources.

The results of the research will be shared with policymakers, planners, and developers for a holistic development along the banks of the streams and rivers to mitigate the impact of devastation on account of a GLOF event, thus saving the post-disaster haphazard rescues, insurance, and rebuilding of structures.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.

It is led by Dr Manasi Debnath of Nagaland University, who is the principal investigator. The co-principal investigators include Dr Milap Chand Sharma, senior professor in Geomorphology, CSRD, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi; Dr Rajesh Kumar of the Department of Geography, Sikkim University; Dr Mriganka Shekhar Sarkar, Scientist-B, GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Itanagar; and Dr Pankaj Kumar, Scientist-F and group head of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry and Geochronology, Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), Delhi, which is a partner organisation.

Samikcha Rai, junior project fellow and PhD scholar, Department of Geography, Nagaland University, is also among the researchers working on this project.

“We are working to create a precise inventory of glacial lakes in the Eastern Himalayas (North Sikkim and Arunachal Himalaya) and evaluate the dangerous lakes in terms of breach potential and volume of discharge. These would be carried out using high spatial resolution satellite images and necessary field validation and measurement for the potential lakes,” Dr Debnath said.

- By Staff Reporter