Uttarakhand to install early warning systems at glacial lakes

The Uttarakhand government is initiating the installation of sensor-based early warning systems at vulnerable glacial lakes to mitigate the risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). This month, the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) will install a system at Vasundhara Tal in the Chamoli district to monitor water levels and local weather conditions. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is also expected to implement a similar mechanism at the same site. Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman stated that the results from Vasundhara Tal will inform the deployment of monitoring systems at other high-risk locations across the state.

Of the approximately 344 glacial lakes in Uttarakhand, 13 have been classified as potentially dangerous. A report by the Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation highlights a persistent gap between the identification of these risks and the implementation of timely protective measures. The report notes that while the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) identified 13 dangerous lakes in 2024, monitoring and early-warning systems remain incomplete in several areas. The foundation emphasized that Uttarakhand shares a fragile ecology with neighboring Nepal, which recently experienced devastating natural disasters.