On August 16, 2024, yesterday, a terrible flash flood and landslide occurred in the village of Tenzing Norgay, the Nepalese Sherpa who climbed Mount Everest for the first time. Disaster came flowing rapidly from Everest itself. 45 buildings including houses and hotels of Thame Sherpa village have been destroyed. This incident occurred due to Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF). That is, due to the breaking of the lake formed in the high altitude area of the Himalayas.
When aajtak.in asked Dr. Asim Sattar, glacier hazard expert and assistant professor at IIT Bhubaneswar about this, he told that there are four glacial lakes in the upper part of Thame valley. You can see this in the picture below. Dr. Sattar marked them. Then he told that the boundary of Lake 3 was broken. This was a moraine boundary. That means a wall made of weak soil and stone.
In this picture, Dr. Sattar has clearly explained the path of sudden flood caused by GLOF. He had shared this information yesterday on Twitter i.e. X handle. Today he was waiting for the satellite to pass over that area. Its data has not been received yet. But a helicopter survey conducted there confirms their possibility.
Helicopter survey revealed breach of lake
Helicopter survey revealed that Lake 3 was broken. Its moraine wall was broken. The water came down rapidly. He eroded the lower part of the mountain in front. After this he quickly went towards the halting Sherpa village. This survey was conducted by Khumbu Pasangalhamu Rural Municipality. This confirmed how dangerous glacial lakes are. These can wreak havoc on the people of low-lying areas.
Dr. Asim Sattar told that due to increasing global warming, glaciers are melting. Lakes are being made. These incidents have increased in the Himalayas in the last few years. Such lakes in the high Himalayas should be investigated. So that such incidents do not happen. There should be scientific investigation. So that the exposure can be known.
Earlier in 1985 also GLOF had occurred in this valley.
Earlier, a similar disaster had occurred in Thame Valley in 1985. Then there is a snowy area named Dig Sho near Tashi Lapcha Pass. The lake built nearby had broken here. Then the flood from above had destroyed the stalled hydropower. The flow of this flood also stopped towards the village.
What happened on 16 August 2024?
The breaking of the lake formed on the Thengbo Glacier led to an increase in the flow of the Thame River. Dudhkoshi, another branch of Thame river, has also been flooded. Landslide occurred. Half of Thame village has been completely destroyed. This lake is near Tashi Lapcha Pass. It is raining continuously in this area. You can understand this by looking at the map below.
The Meteorological Department had also warned that there may be severe rain on Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week. This is happening due to the low pressure area formed in the Bay of Bengal. There is a possibility of more rain in Lumbini and Gandaki province. There is a possibility of mud and landslides.
Many Sherpas who conquered Everest originated from this village.
Thame village is located in the Khumbu Valley at an altitude of 12,500 feet. It is near Namche Bazaar. It is from here that those who climb Everest begin the last leg of their journey. Many famous Sherpas have emerged from this village, who have conquered Everest. Like- Apa Sherpa, Kami Rita Sherpa, Lakpa Rita Sherpa.
What is Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)?
GLOF means a temporary lake of ice and water formed by the melting of the glacier. Whose wall can be of mud or ice. The heat melts the ice wall. Or the mud wall breaks due to heavy rain. Due to this, the water accumulated in the lake rapidly moves towards the lower areas.
Chorabari lake above Kedarnath, disaster occurred in Sikkim last year, apart from this the accident happened in Chamoli. All this happened due to the flood caused by the breaking of the glacial lake. There are more than 12 thousand small and big glaciers in the entire Himalayas. Which are continuously melting due to global warming. Glacial lakes are formed due to their melting.
India-Nepal-Bhutan have faced such disasters before too.
There is a danger of the lakes formed from these glaciers collapsing. In 1985, a major disaster occurred due to the breach of Dig Tsho Lake in Nepal. In 1994, a similar disaster occurred due to the rupture of Lugge Tso Lake in Bhutan. In 2013, Kedarnath disaster took the lives of more than 6 thousand people. Chorabari glacier had broken here also.
South Lhonak Lake in Sikkim is a lake formed from the melting water of the glacier. The moraine that broke was about 54 feet high. The 54 feet high natural wall was broken. The depth of the lake is 394 feet. It was increasing at the rate of 0.10 sq km to 1.37 sq km for the last four decades.
South Lhonak Lake was already on the verge of breaking. Scientists had expressed the possibility of this lake breaking two years ago, i.e. in the year 2021 itself. This lake was spread over an area of about 168 hectares. Out of which an area of 100 hectares was destroyed. This means that the snow and water accumulated in such a large area has flowed downwards.
In 2014, many areas of Kashmir were flooded due to flash flood in Jhelum river. In 2005, there was devastation due to flash flood in Parechu river in Himachal Pradesh. In February 2021, similar flash floods occurred in Rishi Ganga, Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers of Chamoli district.
Cold days are decreasing in the Himalayas
Due to continuously increasing temperature, cold days are decreasing in the Himalayas. The temperature of the Himalayas is continuously increasing. There are 16 stations in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to calculate cold days and cold nights. Hot days are continuously increasing. While cold days are decreasing. Cold days have decreased by 2% to 6% in the last 30 years.
Himalayan mountains are quite unstable
There can be many reasons behind the melting of any glacier. Such as climate change, less snowfall, increasing temperature, continuous rain etc. The mouth part of Gangotri Glacier is very unstable. The glacier will melt from one end or the other. If it rains continuously the glacier melts. The flow of water downstream had increased. Stability of Himalayan areas is less during rains. The rate of glacier melting increases.