India leads push for unified Himalayan cryosphere monitoring guidelines

Time of India

a day ago

Dehradun: Scientists and policymakers from across India have concluded a landmark workshop to finalise the first set of standardised guidelines for monitoring glaciers, snow and permafrost in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region.
Organised by Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) at IIT Indore, the two-day consultation was held last week and marked the final leg of a series of such events across HKH countries. It is expected to lay the foundation for a region-wide monitoring framework.
More than 40 experts from IIT Bombay, IIT Indore, Kashmir University, the National Institute of Hydrology, and other leading institutions refined ICIMOD's draft manual, aligning it with India's field realities while maintaining consistency across the HKH region, which stretches from Afghanistan to Myanmar.
"This guideline should steer all future cryosphere research in the region," said Dr R K Bahuguna, former deputy director of Isro's Space Applications Centre.
The need for a coordinated monitoring system has become increasingly urgent. ICIMOD's 2025 Snow Update, released in April, reported that seasonal snow cover in the HKH was 23.6% below the 20-year average (2003–2023) -- the steepest drop since satellite tracking began.
Further, a recent report by Hong Kong-based think tank China Water Risk (CWR) had warned that if emissions continue unchecked, 70–80% of HKH glaciers could disappear by 2100, threatening rivers like the Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra and Mekong that sustain nearly two billion people.
Despite the scale of the crisis, inconsistent data collection methods have long hampered regional understanding of cryospheric changes.
The proposed guidelines aim to standardise everything from sensor placement to data archiving, enabling long-term, comparable assessments of ice loss and improving early warning systems for downstream communities.
"With glaciers retreating, snow cover shrinking, and permafrost steadily degrading, a coordinated approach is essential, not just for scientific accuracy but to strengthen our collective capacity to manage climate risks in the Himalayas," said Mohd Farooq Azam, senior intervention manager, cryosphere, at ICIMOD.
"This consultation is a significant step toward a common vision for cryosphere research in India and the broader HKH region," he said.
Often referred to as the world's "Third Pole," the HKH spans 4.2 million sq km across nine countries, including India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan.
The revised manual will now be reviewed at ICIMOD's headquarters in Kathmandu before being shared with HKH govts later this year. Once adopted, officials say it could inform early warning systems, shape water policy and support funding proposals for climate-resilient infrastructure across South and Central Asia.