Loading…
Sikkim has identified 40 high-hazard glacial lakes - 16 in Category A, 2 in Category B, 9 in Category C and 13 still unclassified.
The state has begun work on what would be India's first dedicated Glacial Lake Outburst Flood risk mitigation protocol for downstream settlements.
Shako Chho has been assessed as the state's most vulnerable lake; a Detailed Project Report for solar-powered pumping to lower its level has gone to the NDMA.
The Central Water Commission and the state are preparing a DPR for a flood-retention structure at Dolma Sampa near Muguthang in the Lhonak Complex.
Sikkim's Department of Science and Technology is the nodal agency, using satellite imagery, geophysical surveys and bathymetric studies to grade the lakes.
Creates the three-tier disaster management structure - the National Disaster Management Authority chaired by the Prime Minister, State Disaster Management Authorities chaired by Chief Ministers and District Disaster Management Authorities. Sikkim's mitigation DPRs are routed to the NDMA under this framework.
India's apex disaster management body under the Disaster Management Act, 2005; receives and clears mitigation project proposals such as the Shako Chho DPR.
Technical organisation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti responsible for water resources development, flood forecasting and dam safety; co-preparing the flood-retention DPR at Dolma Sampa.
Nodal state agency monitoring and classifying Sikkim's glacial lakes and drafting the GLOF mitigation protocol.
Central body under the Ministry of Jal Shakti for flood and erosion management in the Brahmaputra and Barak basins; partnering on the moraine plug wall at the Gurudongmar Complex.
The lakes sit in Sikkim's high-altitude northern basins, which drain into the Teesta - a tributary of the Brahmaputra. The Lhonak Complex and Gurudongmar lie in the far north near the Tibetan frontier; Chungthang, destroyed in 2023, sits downstream at the confluence of the Lachen and Lachung rivers.
A landslide-triggered outburst of South Lhonak Lake sends a GLOF down the Teesta, destroying the 1,200 MW Teesta-III hydropower project at Chungthang and 13 bridges, and hitting Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong and Namchi districts.
A glacial collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border triggers flash floods in Nepal with large-scale casualties, renewing attention on Himalayan glacial hazards.
Sikkim's classification of 40 high-hazard glacial lakes and its work on India's first GLOF risk mitigation protocol are reported.
GS Paper I > Geography: Himalayan glaciers; GS Paper III > Disaster management
General Awareness > Environment and current affairs
Glacial Lake Outburst Flood - the sudden release of water from a glacial lake when its moraine or ice dam fails.
The ridge of rock debris deposited by a glacier; it often dams a glacial lake and is the weak point that fails in a GLOF.
Measurement of the depth and shape of a water body, used to estimate how much water a lake could release.