Uttarakhand Floods | Need to strengthen monitoring in Himalayas; similar avalanche occured in 2016 at same spot: Expert

Dr Ramanathan says that such an avalanche occurred in the same location in 2016 and was reported in scientific journals

After the massive deluge in Uttrakhand whose exact cause is yet to be ascertained, experts in the field of glaciology have called for strengthening the surveillance in the area.

JNU School of Environmental Sciences' Dr A L Ramanathan, who has been working on the dynamics of Himalayan glaciers, says that so far the issue of glacier burst is ruled out in the Uttrakhand incident but a lot of investigation and research must be done to know the exact cause.

In areas of an altitude above 5,600 m, a mixture of ice, rocks and sediments fall into meltwater streams coming out of the mountains resulting in the formation of obstructions which are in the form of temporary mini lakes.

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Due to the temperature rise (because of climate change), the factors of these temporary structures such as the hydrostatic pressure, surface and sub-surface hydrology is affected, whose metrics, when rises above the threshold, leads to avalanches affecting the downstream region.

Dr Ramanathan, a professor of environmental geology, hydrogeochemistry, Biogeochemistry and glaciology laboratory, says that such an avalanche occurred in the same location in 2016 and was reported in scientific journals.

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He says that such temporary structures are also seen in the Alps and other Cascadian mountains but the nations there avoid a disaster by monitoring the hydrostatic pressure and other factors. They have addressed the problem of reducing the pressure by releasing the water slowly.

"Even though we have high-resolution satellite data the only thing is that we need a dedicated monitoring team. Climate change will induce the melting and the obstructions that have formed for years or months may break anytime," he says, warning that we might see another such avalanche.

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"We need to strengthen the monitoring system using technology, put people to analyse the data and draw a solution. The Himalayan ecology, glaciology and water resource should have a dedicated Centre or a sub ministry, for this region and the eastern and western ghats are important sources of water. We need to develop a strategy of minimum disturbance and maximum benefit," he says.