ITANAGAR, 20 Aug: The Arunachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority has sent two separate teams for the first time to six high-risk glacial lakes in Tawang and Dibang Valley districts to carry out basic study on possible Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) and accessibility to these lakes to initiate mitigation measures.
The teams will cover three high-risk glacial lakes each in Tawang and
Dibang Valley districts out of the 27 high-risk lakes in five districts of Arunachal Pradesh identified by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
On Tuesday, a 14-member team led by Dibang Valley District Disaster Management Officer Kabang Lego left Anini to study two glacial lakes in Mipi circle which has been classified as “C” by the NDMA and has the potential to create GLOF. The team is expected to take 12 days to complete its study on the first two lakes. Thereafter, the team will proceed to a high-risk glacial lake classified as “A” in Etalin circle.
The team in Tawang, led by deputy commissioner Kanki Darang, left on 19 August to study the lake in Mago area in Thingbu circle. The team will also cover two more lakes in Jang and Zemithang sub-divisions during the expedition.
The teams with the help of experts from National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure will carry out detail studies on the accessibility, geo coordinates, lake boundary, area, elevation, habitations, point location, land use/land cover of the GLOF potential lakes etc. to facilitate Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC) and Indian Meteorological Department to install Automatic Early Warning System and Automatic Weather Station respectively. The installation of these devices is expected to be helpful in averting high intensity of damages to the lives and properties downstream of the lakes.
The project is undertaken as a part of the initiatives undertaken by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) after the catastrophic GLOF event in South Lhonak Lake, Sikkim in October, 2023.
