Mission accomplished, GLOF team to focus on NDMA funding
glacial lake outburst which claimed more than 40 lives, the Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) EWS mission set up by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), completed its mission on Tuesday. It made a comprehensive susceptibility assessment of the six high-risk lakes and mitigation plans, according to the Sikkim government.
«The finding which emerged was that broad glaciated valleys exist below all these high-risk lakes, which are ideally located to create retention structures to contain the GLOF hazard. The next step would be to prepare a DPR for GLOF risk reduction for funding support from NDMA,» the Sikkim government said on Tuesday.
The expedition from August 31 to September 14, 2024, targeted the high-risk glacial lakes in the upper reaches of Mangan district. In a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, the expedition assessed the flood susceptibility of the six high-risk glacial lakes, to mitigate the potential hazards of GLOF, officials said.
The six Category-A high-risk lakes include Chumilamcha Chho, Khangchung Chho, Lachen Khangtse, Lachung Khangtse, La Tsho, and Shako Chho. Khangchung Chho, the largest lake in the state, is located at an altitude of 5,320 metres, has a surface area of 183 hectares, and has an estimated volume of 106 million cubic meters.
Six state departments, two central government agencies (GSI, CWC), the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA), and the Sikkim University were part of the study, the Sikkim
