Wake up call for Kashmir ! |
The August 26 incident in Nepal has highlighted this threat once more. Near the Nepal-China border, the Rasuwa district of Nepal saw an unexpected flood that affected villages downstream. According to preliminary data, the incident may have been caused by a glacier collapse or an ice-rock avalanche in the upper Lhende Khola watershed. Before entering the river system, a substantial amount of ice and rock is thought to have broken free at an elevation of 5,200 meters above mean sea level and traveled more than a kilometer downslope.
The precise cause of the incident is still being investigated by scientists. One option being investigated is whether the river was temporarily obstructed by the debris and then suddenly released water. The event’s exact chronology is crucial to understanding it, but the overall lesson is already evident: a danger that starts in an inaccessible area of the Himalaya can swiftly develop into a major threat to people and infrastructure downstream.
Therefore, characterizing the Nepal occurrence as merely a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), would be untimely. Research on the mechanism is still ongoing. However, the catastrophe has once again brought attention to the broader dangers of a rapidly shifting Himalayan cryosphere.That issue is equally pertinent to Kashmir.
The Kashmir Valley lies within a mountain system where glaciers, snow and glacial lakes form an important part of the regional landscape and water system. Over time, warming temperatures and changes in precipitation regimes can alter these features. Glacial lakes can originate or grow as a result of water collecting in ice-left depressions as glaciers retreat. The majority of these lakes could stay steady. When a natural lake dam becomes unstable or when a considerable amount of water escapes due to an unexpected event like a landslide, rockfall, avalanche, or abrupt change in the nearby glacier, there is cause for alarm.
The risk is not limited to the lake........