Gurudongmar glacier in Sikkim recedes one-fourth, says study

It implies down-stream impact on hydro-power projects and livelihood of people in Bengal and Bangladesh.

Updated on: May 30, 2017, 23:49:02 IST

New Delhi, Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan

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The Gurudongmar glacier in Sikkim — the source of one of iconic lakes in the world by same name — has receded one-fourth since 1989, a new study has found, implying down-stream impact on hydro-power projects and livelihood of people in Bengal and Bangladesh.

The Gurudongmar lake, named after founder of Tibetan Buddhism in the 8th century Guru Rinpoche, is the main source for Teesta river. (File Photo)

The Gurudongmar lake, named after founder of Tibetan Buddhism in the 8th century Guru Rinpoche, is the main source for Teesta river that flows from Himalayas in Sikkim to Bangladesh.

The sharing of Teesta river water is a contentious issue between India and Bangladesh with Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee refusing to provide even “single drop of extra water” to the neigbouring country where it is main source of irrigation. The river has major hydel potential for Sikkim with projects over 5,000 MW either proposed or under construction.

A new study published in American Geophysical Union this week says the Gurudongmar glacier retreat has increased by nearly four times between 1965 and 1989.

“Between 1989 and 2016, the size of Gurudongmar lake has grown by one-sixth of its size in 1989,” said Mauri S Pelto, professor of environmental studies at Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts, in a study on Sikkim glaciers.

The study found that terminus of the glacier has retreated by about 600 meters (one-fourth of the total length) since 1987 and the lake has moved upwards. “The retreat distance is substantial given the length of the glacier is 25% of the 1996 glacier length of 2.4 km,” the study based on satellite images of the glacier in the last 20 years found.

Gurudongmar like all glaciers in the region is different from other winter accumulating Himalayan snow-sheets. It is summer accumulation type which receives 80% of its snowfall during monsoon months between July and September.

“Following the summer monsoon which ends in early September there is a transition period with some colder storm events where the snowline drops. Than November-February is the dry winter monsoon with limited precipitation,” the study says.

The study also said between 2003 and 2012 the glacier lakes in higher reaches of Sikkim has increased with 85 new one detected in addition to existing 320.

Increase in lakes indicates faster melting and fragmentation of glaciers, a sign of climate change impact on the Indian sub-conditions biggest water source.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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