On Sikkim Floods, Parliamentary Committee’s “Severe Shortage” Red Flag

New Delhi:

Sikkim was hit by a devastating flash flood early Wednesday – in which 40 people were killed and a critical 1200 MW hydroelectric power station was destroyed. The floods were triggered by a cloudburst over a glacial lake located over 17,000 feet above sea level in the Himalayas. Over the past three days, as the Sikkim government works to rescue people, restore communications, and rebuild infrastructure, it seems there were multiple warnings of disasters like the GLOF event at the South Lhonak Lake.

On Friday NDTV learnt a Parliamentary Committee had red-flagged the “severe shortage of meteorological and monitoring stations in Himalayan regions”. Parliament was told on March 29 Sikkim has 694 glacial lakes and eight flood forecasting stations; three for water levels and five for inflows.

The report – “Glacier Management in the Country: Monitoring of Glaciers/Lakes, Including Glacial Lake Outbursts Leading to Flashfloods, in the Himalayan Region” – warned Parliament the Himalayan-Karakoram region is warming at a faster rate (by 0.5 degrees C) than the global mean. Parliament was therefore warned that this would lead to glaciers melting far quicker than normal.

READ | How Sikkim Flash Flood Happened: Explained In Graphics

The report’s findings seem to tally with research papers, including one in 2013 and another in 2021. Both noted the South Lhonak glacier, which feeds the lake that burst, receded by two km between 1962 and 2008 and 400m more in the following 11 years, increasing the amount of water in the lake.

READ | A Decade Before Sikkim Flash Floods, There Were Warnings

The increasing glacial run-off, the lead scientist of the 2013 paper told NDTV, increased the lake’s surface area by 500 metres and average depth by 50 metres; temporal satellite images released by space agency ISRO indicated that around 100 hectares of water had burst from the lake.

The Parliamentary Committee also noted the glaciers and glacial lakes in the Himalayas were not being monitored as intensely as they should be because many are in remote locations.

READ | Satellite Images Show How Sikkim’s Lhonak Lake Burst, Caused Floods

This, the committee said, underlines the need for a robust early warning system.

“The thinning of Himalayan glaciers has accelerated in recent years, resulting in a significant rise in glacier melt,” the report said, and called for research institutes and increased budgetary allocations.

Meanwhile, earlier today Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang blamed “inferior construction” by the previous government for the destruction of the Chungthang Dam – the hydroelectric project.

READ |“Disaster Due To Sub-Standard Dam Construction”: Sikkim CM To NDTV

“Dam is fully damaged… washed out. Disaster in the lower belt is because of this. Yes… there was a cloudburst and the Lhonak Lake burst… but, because of inferior and sub-standard construction by previous government, the dam broke and even more floods hit Lower Sikkim with violence,” he said.