India, July 30 -- The Government of India issued the following news release:
Central Government has taken strategic and systemic actions to monitor glaciers and glacial lakes, especially in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). Department of Science & Technology (DST) conducts Research & Development projects in Himalayan glaciers under the National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) and the National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC).
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) also monitors the glaciers and provides comprehensive analysis of factors that trigger hazards and its associated downstream risks to significantly enhance early warning capabilities and disaster preparedness. WIHG has prepared glacial lake inventories for Uttarakhand (2015) and Himachal Pradesh (2018), identifying 1,266 lakes (7.6 km2) in Uttarakhand and 958 lakes (9.6 km2) in Himachal Pradesh.
DST's Center of Excellence at Sikkim University is conducting capacity- building programs focused on water resource management, glacier monitoring, and climate change studies. The Centre has prepared updated glacial lake inventory for the Sikkim Himalayas and mapped 738 lakes for the year 2020 including assessment of 93 glacial lakes in the Changme Khangpu basin for vulnerability towards producing GLOF.
Further, DST's State Climate Change Cell (SCCC) of Sikkim has conducted Vulnerability and Risk Assessment at the district level on 6 sectors - agriculture, forest, health, gender, socio-economic and disaster. Sikkim SCCC also installed 70 Automatic weather stations across Sikkim with DST support.
Central Water Commission (CWC) has published "Guidelines for structural measures to mitigate adverse effects of GLOF on Dams" in July 2025. This guideline support dam designers, engineers, planners and safety authorities in incorporating GLOF considerations into infrastructure planning and risk reduction strategies.
CWC monitors 902 Glacial Lakes and Water Bodies, of size greater than 10 Ha, in the Himalayan Region of Indian River Basins, for the period June to October every year, using remote sensing techniques. The monitoring reports are shared with all stakeholders and e-published on CWC website for any time access by the concerned.
A Steering Committee on 'Monitoring of Glacier', with National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) as Secretariat, is formed by the Ministry of Jal Shakti to monitor and coordinate the work being carried out by the concerned Ministries/organizations on the Himalayan glaciers.
Central Government has also approved National Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Risk Mitigation Programme (NGRMP) in four Himalayan States viz.
Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh with a total budget of Rs.150.00 crore. Central share from National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) is Rs. 135.00 crore while states have to contribute Rs.15.00 core from their own resources.
The fund provision for the four (04) states and the status on release of fund as on date are as under:
(Rs. in Crores)
Table Omitted (The document can be viewed at https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2150261 )
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
