The Hindu Business Line : National mission on Himalayan Glaciers initiated

Tenali, Dec. 10 A national mission programme to study the Himalayan Glaciers has been initiated with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in the lead.

A temporary centre has been set up at the Wadia Institute for Himalayan Geology, Dehradun. A full-fledged institute will be established there in future, according to Dr T. Ramasami, Secretary, DST. There would also be centres in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and other strategic places in the Himalayan mountain region, to undertake important studies, Dr Ramasami told a group of newspersons here.

With climate change issues emerging as major global concerns, the mission would be an important initiative from India, the DST Secretary, who was here to receive the 17th Dr Y. Nayudamma Award, said.

The melting of glaciers is a big problem and the Himalayan glaciers are receding faster than in any other part of the world.

Geologists also warn that at the present rate, compounded by climate change factors, some of the largest may vanish by the middle of the present century.

The Himalayan glaciers feed 7 of the longest rivers in Asia, including the Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Mekong and Yangtze. They occupy approximately 17 per cent of the total mountain range of the Himalayan, according to the Geological Survey of India (GSI).

The national mission would also involve co-operation from India’s neighbours Pakistan, China and Nepal in the long-term for gathering data and analysing it, Dr Ramasami said.

Interestingly, the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum, which had its annual meeting at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur had on its agenda projects centred around climate change, which was a big interest for the US side.

The rising temperature, the melting glaciers are already showing up impact in the form of lower flows into the lifeline rivers in the Asian countries. This, in turn, would jeopardise the lives of million of people with risks of floods and droughts, scientists point out.

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