GANGTOK: Samdup Lepcha, Minister, Social Welfare, Women and Child Development and Printing and Stationery Departments flagged off an expedition team to study Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) in the Mangan District at Zero Point, Gangtok on August 31.
The technical expedition team included secretaries and officials from Land Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Science and Technology, and Mines and Geology Departments, officials from Water Resource, Forest and Environment, and IPR departments along with representatives from Central Government Agencies and Sikkim University.
The expedition to Mangan district is to conduct a detailed susceptibility assessment of the following six high-risk glacial lakes: Tenchungkha, Khangchung Chho, Lachen Khangtse, Lachung Khangtse, La Tsho and Shako Chho.
Further, it is informed that if time permits, a rapid assessment of a few other lakes will also be attempted. The three high-risk lakes, namely Gurudongmar A, B, and C, are not covered in this expedition as they are sacred lakes with local sentiments.
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The specific objectives of the expedition are:
- To evaluate the lake’s volume, depth, and longitudinal profile to characterize its physical dimensions using a bathymetry survey.
- To perform a geophysical assessment of the moraine dam to evaluate its stability and potential risk factors using an electrical resistivity tomography survey (ERT) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).
- Slope Stability Assessment of the glacial lake to assess mass movement hazard.
- To conduct a morphometric survey of the glacial lake and its adjacent landscape.
- To measure lake discharge and assess the outlet flow dynamics to understand the lake’s hydrology.
- 3D Terrain Mapping using UAV/Drone to build a high-resolution terrain model.
The entire exercise aims to assess the potential risks associated with GLOF and propose mitigation measures to safeguard the local communities and infrastructure.
