📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Michal Klajban
Weather
Uttarakhand flags 13 glacial lakes as ‘sensitive’ amid Nepal flood crisis
✍️ Rediff
🗓 28 Aug 2026, 10:03 AM
👁 2
Uttarakhand’s environment department has listed thirteen high‑altitude glacial lakes as sensitive, issuing warnings as heavy floods devastate parts of Nepal.
The Uttarakhand state government has formally marked thirteen glacial lakes in its mountainous region as "sensitive" following the onset of severe flooding in neighboring Nepal. The designation, issued by the state's Environment and Forest Department, signals that these water bodies could pose heightened flood or landslide risks if water levels rise rapidly.
Officials said the lakes were identified through satellite imagery and on‑ground surveys conducted over the past year. They have instructed local authorities to monitor water levels closely and to prepare evacuation plans for downstream villages that could be affected.
The move comes as Nepal grapples with unprecedented monsoon rains that have swollen rivers and triggered landslides across the Himalayas. While the floods are primarily a Nepalese disaster, the trans‑border nature of the watershed means that changes in Nepal’s river flow can impact the hydrology of adjacent Uttarakhand valleys.
State officials have also urged communities living near the flagged lakes to stay alert, avoid construction in flood‑prone zones, and cooperate with disaster‑management teams during the monsoon season.
No immediate threat has been reported in Uttarakhand, but the sensitive‑lake list will remain under continuous observation until the monsoon subsides.
Officials said the lakes were identified through satellite imagery and on‑ground surveys conducted over the past year. They have instructed local authorities to monitor water levels closely and to prepare evacuation plans for downstream villages that could be affected.
The move comes as Nepal grapples with unprecedented monsoon rains that have swollen rivers and triggered landslides across the Himalayas. While the floods are primarily a Nepalese disaster, the trans‑border nature of the watershed means that changes in Nepal’s river flow can impact the hydrology of adjacent Uttarakhand valleys.
State officials have also urged communities living near the flagged lakes to stay alert, avoid construction in flood‑prone zones, and cooperate with disaster‑management teams during the monsoon season.
No immediate threat has been reported in Uttarakhand, but the sensitive‑lake list will remain under continuous observation until the monsoon subsides.