NEW DELHI, Oct 16 (Reuters) – India goals to put in the primary a part of an early warning system at some high-risk glacial lakes within the Himalayas subsequent yr, a senior official stated on Monday, because the nation responds to lethal floods this month that killed at the least 60 folks.

There are 56 at-risk glacial lakes in India and the urgency to observe them was stepped up after Lhonak Lake within the jap Himalayas burst its banks two weeks in the past and prompted widespread injury in Sikkim, a small mountainous state wedged between China, Nepal and Bhutan.

Reuters was first to report that India was engaged on a pilot challenge with Swiss specialists to arrange the nation’s first early warning programs at Lhonak Lake, and likewise at close by Shako Cho lake. If the programs had been put in, they may have given 90 minutes warning earlier than floods engulfed houses and buildings.

“We will try some monitoring systems at lakes that are at risk,” Krishna S. Vatsa, a member of India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), informed Reuters. The NDMA is co-ordinating with Indian and worldwide institutes for the challenge.

State governments will present suggestions on which of the 56 at-risk glacial lakes in India should be prioritised for organising the monitoring programs, Vatsa stated.

Vatsa stated authorities will intention to arrange a few of these programs by subsequent yr to observe the climate and surroundings on the lakes as a primary element of an early warning system. The full system can be put in later primarily based on the end result of monitoring.

He added although that this was “easier said than done” given the difficulty in reaching these lakes excessive within the mountains, which might be accessed solely throughout summer time months. Also, these might be unmanned programs operating on photo voltaic or battery energy.

As local weather change warms excessive mountain areas, many communities are going through harmful glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). Lakes holding water from melted glaciers can overfill and burst, sending torrents dashing down mountain valleys.

More than 200 such lakes now pose a excessive hazard to Himalayan communities in India, Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bhutan, in keeping with 2022 research, and India at present lags behind its South Asian neighbours in deploying glacial flood early warning programs.

The Economic Times newspaper reported on Monday that high officers from a number of ministries will meet on Wednesday to formulate a plan for early warning programs.

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