NGT impleads NDMA in suo moto case on expanding Himalayan glacial lakes

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has impleaded the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as an additional respondent in a suo motu case concerning the rapid expansion of Himalayan glacial lakes and the growing risk they pose to lives and infrastructure downstream.

A bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, was hearing two connected original applications registered suo motu (on its own motion) following media reports about glacial lakes multiplying in Himachal Pradesh and Tibet, and Himalayan glacial lakes expanding by 10.81 per cent over the past 13 years.

During the hearing, counsel for the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti submitted that the NDMA was a necessary party in the matter, highlighting that the authority’s role and actions in dealing with such risks had already been referred to in a reply filed by one of the respondents.

Accepting the submission, the bench, also comprising Expert Member Dr A. Senthil Vel, ordered: “We implead NDMA as additional respondent,” directing it to file a reply affidavit “along with the measures which have been adopted till now, and the suggestions to deal with the threat posed by the glacier lake in the country”.

The green tribunal also directed its registry to issue notice to the NDMA and listed the matter for further hearing on April 10.

The suo moto case arises from news reports highlighting that climate change-induced glacier retreat has led to the formation and rapid expansion of glacial lakes across the Himalayan region, significantly increasing the risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).

Such events can cause sudden and catastrophic flooding, threatening downstream habitations, roads, hydropower projects and other critical infrastructure.

Earlier, the NGT had noted that a study by the Central Water Commission (CWC) showed a 10.81 per cent increase in the surface area of Himalayan glacial lakes between 2011 and 2024, with India witnessing an even sharper rise of about 33.7 per cent during the same period.

The NGT had observed that several lakes had recorded more than a 40 per cent increase in size, placing them in a high-risk category for potential GLOF events, particularly in regions such as Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. It had stressed the “urgent need for enhanced monitoring, early warning systems and improved flood management strategies”.

In a subsequent hearing, the green tribunal had expanded the scope of the matter by impleading multiple expert bodies, including the National Institute of Hydrology and the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, and examined data placed on record by the CWC on trend analysis, risk indexing and downstream vulnerabilities linked to glacial lakes.

IANS