As Himalayan nations deal with glacial floods, cooperation is the key to mitigate disasters

In the space of three months in early 2021, two glacial lakes in Uttarakhand burst their banks, with tragic consequences for mountain communities and ecosystems. In February, a glacier lake breach caused flash floods that surged through the Rishiganga River. At least 61 people were killed and around 143 reported missing, and two hydropower projects and an important bridge were severely damaged. In April, in the same district, heavy rainfall and snowfall resulted in part of a glacier collapsing; 12 people died in the avalanche.

In the Himalayan region, climate-related disasters have compounded the public health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and led to an increasing frequency in the occurrence of what the scientific and environmental community call GLOFs – glacial lake outburst floods. A glacial lake outburst floods is the sudden release of water from a moraine- or ice-dammed glacial lake formed by melting glaciers on mountain tops, and can be prompted by an earthquake, avalanche or the accumulation of too much water. They are often extremely destructive.

The 2020 glacial lake inventory report by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development identified 47 potentially dangerous glacial lakes within the Koshi, Gandaki and Karnali river basins of Nepal, the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India. These need…

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