Nepal’s latest disaster is a grim warning. A sudden, deadly flood along the Nepal-Tibet border that claimed hundreds of lives is not just another act of nature. It’s a sign of a warming, destabilised and overbuilt Himalayan region.

From Kashmir to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, glaciers are retreating, glacial lakes are multiplying, slopes are being carved up for construction and fragile ecosystems are being pushed beyond their capacity.

And yet we continue to behave as though the mountains will endlessly absorb our mistakes. They will not.

The Himalayan crisis has three interconnected aspects: melting glaciers and unstable glacial lakes, pollution and sewage degrading lakes like the Dal lake, and extreme seismic vulnerability. Treating them as separate problems is a luxury we cannot afford.

A cloudburst can trigger a landslide. An earthquake can destabilise a glacial lake. A lake outburst can send water and debris into valleys already crowded with roads, bridges, hydropower projects and human settlements.

Climate change may intensify natural hazards. But policy decisions determine how destructive those hazards become.

That is why India needs an integrated Himalayan risk-management strategy. Every major glacial lake must have a scientifically assessed risk profile and a dedicated management plan. Climate, hydrology, biodiversity, water quality, glacier movement and seismic indicators must be monitored continuously — not after disaster strikes.

Research and data from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Kashmir and other institutions show that glaciers — particularly the Kolahoi Glacier, which has lost more than 22 per cent of its area — are shrinking at an alarming rate.

As temperatures rise, glacial lakes form and expand. Their threat is amplified by human activity. Indiscriminate construction, deforestation and other interventions in the Panjshir and Pir Panjal ranges have weakened ecological systems that once provided........

© National Herald