Rescue teams from India looked for 102 people missing on Thursday after a high-altitude glacial lake burst caused a devastating flash flood that at least 10 people were killed in, according to reports.
Climate scientists warn that as global temperatures rise and ice melts, violent flooding from glacier lakes dammed by loose rock has increased in frequency. They warn that this poses an increasing danger throughout the larger Himalayan mountain range.
A day after a wall of water rushed down the mountainous valley in northeastern India, Prabhakar Rai, director of the Sikkim state disaster management authority, told AFP that “at least 10 people were killed and 102 others were reported missing.”
In addition to 14 bridges being washed away, authorities claimed that roads had suffered “severe” damage.
Rescuers were struggling to assist those affected by the flood as communications were cut off in many places and roads were blocked.
Himanshu Tiwari, an Indian Army spokesman, told AFP that floodwaters had wreaked havoc in four districts of the state by destroying bridges, roads, and people.
According to the army, twenty-two soldiers are among the missing. One soldier who had been missing was found.
The army said in a statement that it was working to restore phone service and provide “medical aid to tourists and locals stranded.”.
The high-altitude Lhonak Lake, which is located at the foot of a glacier in peaks surrounding the third-highest mountain in the world, Kangchenjunga, experienced a water surge following intense rainfall.
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) research team claims that Himalayan glaciers are melting more quickly than ever as a result of climate change, putting communities at risk of unpredictably expensive disasters.
A dam was damaged, homes and bridges were washed away, and “serious destruction” was caused, according to the Sikkim state government, as water powered downstream and added to a river that was already swollen from monsoon rains.
The prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, has pledged to provide “all possible support” for those impacted despite damage being reported more than 120 kilometers (75 miles) downstream.
According to satellite images made available by the Indian Space Research Organisation, Lhonak Lake’s size decreased by nearly two-thirds, or an area roughly equal to 150 football fields (105 hectares).
“Intense rain has caused this catastrophic situation in Sikkim where the rain has caused a glacial lake outburst flood and damaged a dam, causing loss of life,” said Miriam Jackson, a scientist who specializes in ice and monitors Himalayan regions with the Nepal-based ICIMOD.
As the climate continues to warm and leads us into uncharted territory, we notice that these extreme events occur more frequently. “.
Since pre-industrial times, the average surface temperature of the Earth has increased by nearly 1.2 degrees Celsius, but high-mountain regions around the world have warmed at twice that rate, according to climate scientists.
Sikkim, which has a sizable military presence, is close to the border between India and Nepal and China.
China’s escalating military assertiveness has caused India to be wary, and their 3,500-kilometer (2,200-mile) shared border has long been a source of friction due to Beijing’s annexation of parts of Sikkim.
