India has intensified monitoring of its Himalayan areas along the borders with China and Nepal , days after floods reportedly caused by a glacial collapse killed at least 626 people and left more than 2,000 missing in Nepal, authorities said on Saturday.
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also told officials to deploy advanced sensors and early warning systems around vulnerable glacial lakes in the Himalayas, HT reported earlier . The exact reason for the collapse remains unknown. However, scientists have warned that climate change is accelerating glacier melt worldwide and increasing the likelihood of such disasters. Officials have been directed to identify areas at risk, prepare maps of zones that could be affected, mark safe evacuation routes, improve communication networks and strengthen local warning systems, as well as relief and rescue preparations. The collapse was powerful enough to be detected as a seismic event and was initially believed to have been an earthquake.
“The surveys will assess the present condition of the lakes, water levels, changes in their size, surrounding terrain, potential hazard factors and the likely impact on downstream areas,” he said. The US Geological Survey said the disaster that struck the Tibet-Nepal border on Wednesday was caused by a glacial collapse, which sent a large flow of debris downstream.
