Context:Recent disasters in the Himalayas warrant urgent policy response and a Chipko spirit.
Possible reasons for increased disasters in the Himalayan region
Rising trend of extreme warm events: and drop-in extreme cold events.
Leads to glacial destabilisation and help in the basal melt, which can trigger ‘wasting’ events.
Melting of permafrost due to warming will increase the risk of rock avalanches from steep slopes.
Increasing variability in Western disturbances: leading to Increasing variabilitysnowfall.
Enhanced risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs).
There are 4,000 to 8,000 glacial lakes spread across the entire Hindu Kush Himalayan region.
E.g. South Lhonak glacial lake in Sikkim and Geepang Gath glacial lake in Chandrabhaga basin in Himachal Pradesh are expanding.
Required policy response:to check cascading disasters in the Himalayas.
Three-pronged response to GLOF:
Study and monitor glaciers and glacial lakes continuously.
Linking studies with existing framework of National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem.
Use Engineering Solutions: e.g. for siphoning water from identified glacial lakes which were already experimented in the south Lhonak glacial lake in Sikkim.
Develop permanent research bases and stations in the third pole (the Himalayas): Based on experience in polar research in the Arctic and the Antarctic.
The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (Ministry of Earth Sciences) has established a high-altitude station, Himansh, in Spiti, at an altitude of 13,500 ft.
The third pole research endeavour should cover all aspects of climate change, glaciology, hydrology, livelihoods and agriculture
Develop/implement early warning systems: For the mitigation of glacial lake bursts and landslides.
Evidence-based policy making: By mainstreaming climate change and environmental concerns in all developmental activities.
Check circumvention of environmental norms: as seen in Char Dham project, where it was broken into 53 smaller projects just to evade the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies.
Regulate smaller hydropower projects: As it may fudge the EIA process while its cumulative environmental impacts are high and monitor compliance according to environmental conditions.
Conclusion: It is time to revive the spirit of Chipko (People-centric environmental activism) in the hills to prevent cascading disasters from happening in future.