16 Sikkim Lakes Swelling, Can Cause Inundation Anytime: NDMA Presses Alarm Bell

The current situation in Sikkim is alarming, following last year's Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) caused by South Lonak Lake.

Even as Sikkim, the second smallest state of India after Goa, is yet to emerge from the devastation caused by a glacial lake outburst last year and rains and landslides this year, a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) report has pressed the alarm bells stating that 16 lakes in the Himalayan state are in a vulnerable condition as they are growing in size with the water levels swelling.

Of the 16 lakes, 13 are located in North Sikkim, while three are located in West Sikkim.

Speaking exclusively to Northeast Live, Principal Director of the Science and Technology Department DG Shrestha informed that the NDMA report indicates the sizes of these lakes are continuously increasing, placing them in a precarious situation.

“The NDMA report states that the sizes of the lakes are continuously increasing, which is a matter of significant concern. Teams from the Science and Technology Department of the Government of Sikkim have recently studied three lakes in West Sikkim,” Shrestha said.

He further said that the current situation in Sikkim is alarming following the Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) caused by South Lonak Lake last year.

Among the 16 vulnerable lakes, some are larger, and some are smaller than South Lonak Lake.

“The Government of India, the Government of Sikkim, the Science and Technology Department, the State Disaster Management Department, and the National Disaster Management Authority have all initiated mitigation measures to add”ess this issue,” Shrestha added.

Shrestha added that a lake has also been formed at the source of the Teesta River’s origin; however, it is yet to be studied.

The Himalayan Ranges are host to many glacial lakes, estimated through remote sensing techniques at about 7,500. Sikkim has about 10% of these.

Following the devastating GLOF last year, the NDMA installed two solar-powered twin-camera automated weather stations on two high-risk glacial lakes, South Lhonak and Shako Cho, in Sikkim.

Sikkim has a population of close to 7 lakh only.

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