SDC report flags rising glacier, GLOF and avalanche risks in U’khand

my uttarakhand news Bureau

Dehradun, 5 Sep: Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation today released its report, “Uttarakhand at a Climate Crossroads – What Four Years of Disaster Reporting Tell Us About Glaciers, GLOFs and Avalanches,” at Uttaranchal Press Club, Dehradun. The report was jointly launched by Anoop Nautiyal and Praveen Upreti.

Expressing solidarity with Nepal, Anoop Nautiyal offered his deepest condolences to the people and those affected by the recent disaster, noting that Uttarakhand, as another Himalayan state, shares a similarly fragile mountain landscape and faces many of the same challenges.

Nautiyal claimed that the report has been prepared from the media documentation undertaken through SDC Foundation’s Uttarakhand Disaster and Accident Analysis Initiative (UDAAI), which has produced monthly reports since October 2022. It brings together documented developments till June 2026 and examines recurring patterns related to glacier retreat, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), avalanches and associated risks.

Nautiyal admitted that the report is not a scientific study but a media-based analysis that brings together credible reporting and cross-references it with findings from institutions and scientific studies, including ISRO, NDMA, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, ICIMOD, IITs and universities. He shared that the report is centred around five key patterns and five recommendations based on an analysis of 28 different media updates during this period.

One of the most significant patterns identified is the gap between risk identification and timely action. He reminded that NDMA had identified 13 potentially dangerous glacial lakes in Uttarakhand in 2024, including five in the highest-risk category, yet monitoring and early-warning systems remain incomplete. The report highlights the case of Vasudhara Lake, where a risk assessment was completed but an early-warning system had reportedly still not been installed months later.

A second emerging concern is the identification of 219 hanging glaciers in the Alaknanda basin in a 2026 study, with around 30 percent located in the upper Alaknanda region near Badrinath and Mana.

The report also highlights continuing glacier retreat at the four Char Dham locations, with annual retreat rates reported at approximately 22.3 metres for Gangotri, 20 metres for Yamunotri, 17.3 metres for Badrinath and 14.1 metres for Kedarnath.

Across the wider Hindu Kush Himalayan region, glacier area and ice reserves have declined significantly, while more than a thousand new glacial lakes have emerged since 1990 and existing lakes have expanded, increasing potential GLOF risks.

At the same time, extreme weather is becoming increasingly unpredictable, with prolonged dry periods followed by sudden intense rainfall or snowfall, while roads, hydropower projects, tourism, pilgrimage, settlements and other infrastructure continue to expand into vulnerable mountain landscapes.

The report recommends a fundamental shift from identifying risks to acting on them. Every high-risk glacial lake should have a time-bound action plan, a designated nodal agency and identified funding for monitoring, early warning and downstream preparedness.

As per the report, Uttarakhand should also systematically identify and monitor emerging hazards such as hanging glaciers, unstable slopes, expanding glacial lakes and avalanche-prone areas, combining satellite and remote-sensing information with field surveys and local observations.

The report further calls for climate risk and carrying capacity to become central to Char Dham planning, with pilgrimage management considering not only traffic, water and waste but glacier retreat, extreme weather, landslides, avalanches and GLOF risks as well.

Besides, the report recommends a dedicated long-term cryosphere and climate-risk programme linking glacier and glacial-lake monitoring. Development planning, meanwhile, must recognise that expanding infrastructure and human exposure in fragile mountain landscapes can amplify disaster risk. Major roads, tunnels, hydropower projects, tourism infrastructure and settlements should therefore be assessed for multi-hazard vulnerability and cumulative landscape-level impacts.

Finally, the report places Himalayan communities at the centre of climate adaptation. Local residents are often the first observers of changes in weather, water sources, slopes, forests and snow patterns and the first responders during disasters. Their knowledge should be integrated with scientific monitoring, supported by village-level disaster plans, trained volunteers, community-based observation systems and basic response equipment.

Anoop Nautiyal said the report will also be shared with the related government authorities and the institutions for consideration and appropriate action. He emphasised that the increasing frequency and complexity of disasters should not be treated as isolated events, but as signals of a rapidly changing Himalayan environment in Uttarakhand that requires greater preparedness, accountability and long-term planning.