Sikkim glacial lake sensors failed in 2013, 2016, this month
Sikkim's glacial lake outburst flood (Glof)-related disaster is a decade-old saga of failure to sustain early warning systems and water monitoring sensors in the region despite awareness about the high level of Glof threat in the Himalayan state.
Early warning sensors were installed in 2013, 2016 and even last month at the critical glacial lakes in Sikkim but none survived long enough to forewarn residents downstream.
Alerted of a serious Glof threat in Sikkim after a February 2013 study on South Lhonak and Sakho Cho lakes, the Centre, through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, commissioned the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to develop indigenous water-level monitoring sensors for the Himalayan states.
C-DAC and the Department of Science & Technology of Sikkim had already teamed up to visit Lhonak lake in May 2012 — about nine months after the devastating September 18, 2011, earthquake of 6.9 magnitude that had hit Sikkim.
The 2013 report and other satellite imagery analysis indicated that the two glacial lakes were most precariously placed Glof threats.
Accordingly, they were chosen for the first attempt at an early warning system (EWS) by India.
An indigenous EWS and water-level monitoring sensor system was installed by C-DAC at Shakho Cho lake in July 2013. In September 2016, similar sensors were installed at Lhonak Chho — the glacial lake which is the cause of the flash flood that devastated Sikkim this week, NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority) reports reveal.
Officials in the know confirmed to ET that if sensors had been in place at Lhonak, such loss of lives due to the October 3 Glof could have been avoided.
