Shimla, Jul 16 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal (NGT), which took suo motu cognisance of news reports regarding the threat posed by glacial lakes raising flood concerns, has impleaded the National Institute of Hydrology as a respondent in the original case and fixed the next date of hearing for October 16, 2025.
The NGT bench comprising Chairman Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Judicial Members Justice Sudhir Agrawal and Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, and Expert Member A. Senthil Vel passed the orders on July 14 after the counsel for the Jal Shakti Ministry informed the bench that the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) is the Secretary in the Monitoring Committee and therefore its suggestions are necessary.
A copy of the order was made available on Wednesday.
The news items titled “Glacial lakes multiply in Himachal Pradesh and Tibet posing a threat to lives and infrastructure downstream” and “Himalayan glacial lakes expand by 10.81 percent in 13 years raising flood concerns and urgent call for action” were published on August 11 and November 4, 2024.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) analyzed 100 Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) using the available monthly monitoring data since 2011 to assess trends and potential flood risks, and created a ‘structural risk index’ based on factors such as lake size, growth, slope, stability and downstream infrastructure.
Out of 100 lakes — including 15 in Ladakh, 15 in Jammu and Kashmir, 10 in Himachal Pradesh, nine in Uttarakhand, 42 in Sikkim, and nine in Arunachal Pradesh — 34 lakes showed an increasing trend, 20 a decreasing trend, 44 showed no change, and two were not analyzed.
Further, 67 dams have been constructed along the path of glacial lakes, with the highest number of 23 in Himachal Pradesh, followed by 21 in Uttarakhand. PTI BPL HIG HIG
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