01-08-2025
Himalayan Glaciers Melting Rapidly, Lost 26 Metres Ice in Five Decades, Government Tells Parliament
The loss of ice is accelerating, and is uneven – with some glaciers melting much faster than the others – making it harder to predict impact on water availability, said government
India's Himalayan Glaciers lost an estimated 26 meters of ice thickness in the past five decades, the Centre told Rajya Sabha amid rising concerns over climate change. The melting is accelerating and uneven, with some glaciers retreating faster than others, making it challenging to predict water availability for millions of people downstream.
While the Hindu Kush Himalayan glaciers are retreating at an average rate of 14.9 meters per year, the rate varies by river basin – 12.7 m/year in the Indus, 15.5 m/year in the Ganga, and 20.2 m/year in the Brahmaputra.
In contrast, glaciers in the Karakoram range have remained relatively stable, showing minimal change in length. 'This will cause shifts in the seasonality and high inter-annual variability of runoff which may affect water supply at local to regional/continental scales," Union Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Jitender Singh told the Parliament, highlighting that this will also cause formation and enlargement of new/existing lakes which can increase frequency of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs)/flash floods.
'Changes in water availability can also disrupt ecosystems and biodiversity, impacting the livelihoods of communities that depend on these resources," he said, responding to the concerns over climate change raised by MPs.
Several scientific institutes monitoring the Himalayan glaciers in India have reported accelerated and uneven melting of glaciers in the region. The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCOPR) which monitors six glaciers in the Chandra Basin, spread over 2437 sq km area in western Himalaya, showed that it has lost about 6% of its glacial area during the last 20 years. A field research station 'Himansh' was also set up in Chandra basin, where scientists conduct field experiments and expeditions to glaciers. Over the past decade, glaciers in the Chandra Basin retreated at a rate of 13-33 metres per year. From 2015 to 2022, it is estimated that the glaciers in the upper Chandra Basin had an average annual mass loss of 0.51 metres (water equivalent), with a total loss of 3.5 metres, informed Singh.
'The government has adopted an action plan to conserve the glaciers and make efforts to reduce the impact of climate change. A Steering Committee on 'Monitoring of Glaciers' in March 2023 by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, with members from different ministries and organizations to monitor and coordinate the work being carried out on the Himalayan glaciers. A Centre for Cryosphere and Climate Change Studies (C4S) was also set up at National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee in May 2023 to study the impact of climate change on water resources of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), he added.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Guidelines has also published a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Management of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs).
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