Sikkim floods: early warning system was being developed before to cloudburst over Lhonak Lake, according to report

 Sikkim floods: early warning system was being developed before to cloudburst over Lhonak Lake, according to report

The Teesta river basin saw a flash flood two days after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim caused a flash flood that resulted in the deaths of over 40 people. At that time, reports indicated that scientists and government officials were striving to create an early warning system to reduce the hazards of glacial floods at Lhonak Lake.

Reuters reported that Sikkim descended into turmoil on Wednesday as at least 40 people were killed by avalanches and floods brought on by the torrential rain. One of the deadliest calamities to hit the area in the last 50 years.

Authorities assert that the first component of the early warning system for glacier floods, a camera to monitor Lhonak Lake's level and meteorological equipment, was placed in September.

Even though the specifics of the Lhonak Lake warning system have not previously been reported, scientists noted that if fully functional, the warning system may have given people more time to evacuate.

Geoscientist Simon Allen of the University of Zurich, who is working on the project, was reported by Reuters as stating, "It's quite absurd, really," and he said, "The fact that it happened just two weeks after our team was there was completely bad luck."

A tripwire sensor that would activate if the lake was close to explode was also envisaged, he said. Typically, an alarm system would be linked to it and inform locals to leave right away.

"The Indian government hadn't been ready to do that this year, so it was being done using a two-step process," he said.

Scientists ran simulations as they planned an early warning system at Lhonak Lake, and they found that officials and locals would have had a 90-minute warning period. Additionally, it would have let a hydroelectric plant to open its gates early.

"90 minutes is certainly sufficiently long that people could have been safely withdrawn and the gates of the hydropower reservoir opened," Allen said.

The camera lost power in late September for an unknown cause while the precise architecture of the system was still being developed. The installed monitoring devices were intended to transmit data to authorities.

Numerous towns are threatened by hazardous glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) as global warming heats high alpine areas. Lakes that are filled to capacity by melting glaciers may break, bringing torrents of water cascading down mountain slopes.

According to study from 2022, more than 200 of these lakes presently represent a very high risk to populations in the Himalayas across India, Pakistan, China, Nepal, and Bhutan.

Early warning systems for glacial floods have recently been installed in China, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bhutan.

According to the article, which also cited official sources, the Indian government intended to start early warning systems for glacier floods at Lhonak Lake and another at neighboring Shako Cho in Sikkim before spreading to other risky lakes.

India intends to set up early warning systems at a number of additional glacial lakes, according to Kamal Kishore, a senior official with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of India.