Dehradun: ITBP teams will evaluate the glacial lakes’ potential for risk.

Dehradun: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) identified five potentially dangerous glacial lakes, and the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) has ordered the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to assess their current state.

Dehradun: “We have requested the ITBP to send their patrol teams for this assessment to understand the precise current status of these glacial lakes,” a top USDMA official stated.We will select the dates for dispatching an expert expedition to do on-site risk assessments of these lakes based on their findings.
Two teams of experts from different central technical institutions were constituted by the state in March to evaluate the dangers related to these glacier lakes. Reducing the likelihood of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) is the goal. Experts from the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) in Roorkee, the Geological Survey of India (GSI), and the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) make up the initial team. Scientists from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) make up the second team.

The officials announced that the expert teams would gauge the glacier lakes’ depth, volume, and outflow using bathymetric devices. Thirteen potentially hazardous glacial lakes in Uttarakhand have been recognized by the NDMA, the highest authority under the ministry of home affairs. Based on the seriousness of the danger, the lakes have been divided into three categories: A, B, and C.

Of these lakes, five are regarded as having the greatest risk level (the “A” category), while the remaining four are divided into the “B” and “C” categories.

Five “A” category glacial lakes—four in the Pithoragarh district and one in the Chamoli district—that are thought to pose the most risk will be the subject of a risk-assessment survey in the first phase.