Arunachal Pradesh minister Honchun Ngandam flags off glacier expedition from Itanagar

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ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Science and Technology Minister Honchun Ngandam flagged off a 10-day glacier expedition from Itanagar on Wednesday. The expedition is being jointly formed by the scientists of the Goa-based National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, and the Centre for Earth Sciences and Himalayan Studies. Ngandam said for the first time, such a team is going to investigate and undertake various issues related to glacier studies in the Arunachal Himalaya. "It is important to develop expertise and capability for studying glaciers in Arunachal Pradesh by having a team of competent groups help each other develop expertise," he said.

The team, comprising six scientists, is being led by Dr. Parmanand Sharma from the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research. The team would traverse through the routes of Jang, Mago, Zemithang, Marethang, and Khangri in the Tawang district of the northeastern state. Due to climate change globally, the glaciers in various areas, including Arunachal Pradesh, are receding at a rate of 25 to 30 metres per year (as per the IPCC report), according to Centre for Earth Sciences and Himalayan Studies director Tana Tage. He said that the team of experts will investigate and study the parameters that are impacting the glacier melt and also study the water balance that creates disaster with the combination of rainfall and snowmelt. Additionally, the possibilities for setting up a glacier monitoring laboratory will be explored by the team, Tage added.

There are mainly four glacier basins (Manas, Kameng, Subansiri, and Dibang) in the Arunachal Himalaya, with 161 glaciers covering 223 sq km. The team has identified the Khangri glacier and Daisaphu glacier in Arunachal Pradesh for potential preliminary reconnaissance studies. The Khangri glacier is situated in the Kameng basin, and the Daisaphu glacier is located in the Subansiri basin of Arunachal Pradesh at an altitude of around 5000 to 5500 metres, bordering China. Physical accessibility to identify glaciers is an important parameter to select for glaciological studies. Tage said the benefit of such studies would be to develop the capacity and capability of the Centre for Earth Sciences and Himalayan Studies in the area of glaciology. This, in turn, would be very informative to understand the behaviours of glaciers in the event of climate change and also the possibilities for Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), he added.

Also Read: Indian Institutes Monitor Himalayan Glaciers Amid Accelerated Melting

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