DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand has launched an initiative to strengthen monitoring of high-altitude glacial lakes, with a scientific team setting out to install the state’s first glacial lake early warning system at Vasundhara Tal in Chamoli district.
The fortnight-long expedition, scheduled to continue until October 15, will install equipment to monitor conditions that could signal a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF).
Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan flagged off the team from the state secretariat on Tuesday.
“This initiative will be a milestone in understanding the risks and reducing the threat of glacial lake outburst floods in the years ahead,” Bardhan said. Advanced sensors, satellite communications and real-time data monitoring would help scientists track changes in the lake, he added.
It is the first scientific team being sent to a glacial lake in Uttarakhand’s high Himalayas to establish a monitoring and early warning system.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said close monitoring of glacial lakes and associated risks was essential given Uttarakhand’s location in the high Himalayas.
“The installation of an early warning system at Vasundhara Tal is an important step towards strengthening the state’s disaster preparedness through technology and a scientific approach,” Dhami said.
"The government would work with scientific institutions, experts and disaster management agencies to expand modern monitoring and warning capabilities across high-altitude areas," he added.
The Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) is coordinating the expedition under the National GLOF Risk Mitigation Programme. The team comprises scientists and technical specialists from the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, and the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun.
Personnel from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will accompany the team, providing security, movement assistance and field support in the remote terrain.
USDMA is handling logistics and coordination and has supplied satellite phones and low-Earth-orbit communication devices to maintain contact with the authorities.
At the lake, a water-level sensor will track fluctuations and unusual changes. An automatic weather station will measure temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction, air pressure and light intensity.
A snow-depth sensor will monitor changes in snow cover around the lake, while eight subsurface snow-temperature sensors will record temperatures at different depths to provide additional data for assessing conditions.
Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said Uttarakhand has identified 344 glacial lakes based on 2023 satellite data, including 13 classified as high-risk.
Bathymetric surveys of six high-risk lakes in Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh have provided data on their depth and water-holding capacity.
The findings will help assess GLOF risks and strengthen disaster preparedness, Suman said.