Himalayas

Keep Himalayan valleys on your winter holiday itinerary: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that India has immense potential to become a major destination for winter tourism and lauded the steps taken by the Uttarakhand government in this regard. In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio address, Modi said that while fewer than 2,000 tourists visited Adi Kailash until three years ago, this number has now increased to over 30,000. The prime minister said that several countries have built successful tourism models around winter sports and activities such as skiing, snowboarding, trekking and ice climbing. India, with its diverse landscapes and mountain regions, is well-positioned to develop similar opportunities, he said. The prime minister urged citizens to consider the Himalayas when planning vacations, as the region offers memorable experiences during the winter season. "During these winter days, the Himalayan valleys become a part of an experience that lasts a lifetime. If you are planning a trip this winter, be sure to keep the ..

Uttarakhand: Caught between economic growth and environment needs

The state, which turned 25 on Sunday, is doing well on economic metrics, but ecological concerns remain. Indivjal Dhasmana writes

Current plans for all-weather roads in U'khand may be eco disaster: Experts

Two members of a Supreme Court-appointed panel on Wednesday warned of Dharali-like consequences if the much-hyped Chardham all-weather road widening project in Uttarakhand is pursued in its current form. They also described the Dharali disaster as a fallout of state authorities ignoring repeated scientific warnings against unregulated construction and tourism activities in the fragile Himalayas. In a letter written on Tuesday to the road transport and highways ministry, senior geologist Navin Juyal and environmentalist Hemant Dhyani said the uniform 10 m widening of the Chardham all-weather road on the valley side slopes both in lesser and higher Himalayas has created multiple new chronic zones along the widened roads. They advocated adopting an alternate DPR submitted by them to the ministry nearly two years ago detailing a flexible and disaster-resilient road widening design that could be followed in the Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone (BESZ) which will ensure minimum tree felling a

Himalayan region to experience hotter summer, more rain, says ICIMOD

Temperatures are expected to be two degrees Celsius higher than average across the whole Hindu Kush Himalayan region this summer, according to a new analysis by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The ICIMOD also predicted that India, Nepal, Pakistan as well as China's Tibetan Autonomous Region will receive above-average rainfall. With floods the leading cause of deaths and economic damage in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, and close to three-quarters (72.5 per cent) of all floods from 1980 to 2024 occurring during the summer monsoon season, experts warn disaster agencies and communities to be prepared for a possible rise in climate risks. The forecasts we've studied are unanimous in predicting a hotter monsoon across the entire HKH, with a trend towards higher-than-normal rainfall in major parts of the region, Arun Bhakta Shrestha, senior advisor at ICIMOD, said. Rising temperatures and more extreme rain raise the risk of water-induced ...

'Shamans of the Himalayas' captures valley life in words and images

Having personally lived in Manali briefly during my childhood, vivid descriptions of the valley and its people particularly spoke to me

Delhi shivers on New Year's Day as frigid winds intensify cold wave

The Delhi Weather Centre has warned of worsening cold wave conditions from Wednesday, with wind speeds between 20 and 30 km/h likely to lower temperatures further

NGT sends notice to Centre, others over expanding Himalayan glacial lakes

The National Green Tribunal has issued notice to the Centre and others in a matter regarding the rapid expansion of the Himalayan glacial lakes, raising concerns over the increasing risk of natural disasters. The NGT took suo motu (on its own) cognisance of a news report showing about 10.81 per cent increase of the glacial lakes in the last 13 years due to the rising temperatures. According to the report, the melting of glaciers due to increase in temperature paved way for larger glacial lakes, which held more water and, in turn, increased the risk of natural disasters like floods and landslides. In an order passed on November 19, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel said, "The report also notes that the surface area of glacial lakes in India has increased by 33.7 per cent from 2011 to 2024." The tribunal noted the report had outlined the sudden growth of these lakes that posed a heightened risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF

NIMAS team scales new peak, names it after 6th Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso

An expedition team of the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports scaled a previously unclimbed peak, at an altitude of 20,942 ft in the Gorichen range of Arunachal Pradesh Himalayas

5.7K more pilgrims leave for Amarnath shrine; turnout already over 74K-mark

The sixth batch of 5,725 pilgrims left in 256 vehicles for the twin basecamps of Baltal and Pahalgam at 3.05 am and were escorted by security vehicles

Water shortages feared as snow in Hindu Kush Himalaya hits record low

The Hindu Kush Himalaya is experiencing significantly lower snow persistence this year, raising serious concern over water security for downstream communities, according to a new report. Leading experts from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a Nepal-based intergovernmental organisation, have urged water management officials to initiate drought management strategies and preemptive emergency water supply measures. The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region heavily depends on the cryosphere -- frozen water on the Earth's surface, including snow, permafrost, and ice from glaciers, lakes and rivers. This frozen water is a critical source of freshwater for around 240 million (24 crore) people living in the HKH region and has far-reaching benefits for around 1.65 billion (165 crore) people downstream. Snowmelt accounts for around 23 per cent of the total water flow of 12 major river basins originating in the HKH. However, its contribution varies from river to

LS polls: Over 60 groups demand ban on infra projects in Himalayas

More than 60 environmental and social organisations in the country have demanded a complete ban on all mega infrastructure projects, such as those related to the railways, dams, hydro projects and four-lane highways in the Himalayas, and have urged for referendums and public consultations to be made compulsory for all development projects. The organisations, jointly leading the "People for Himalaya" campaign, issued a five-point charter of demand for all political parties for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls during an online press conference. They called for a complete moratorium on all mega infrastructure projects, including those related to the railways, dams, hydro projects, tunneling, transmission lines and four-lane highways, along with a comprehensive multidisciplinary review of the impacts of the existing projects. The organisations demanded that democratic decision-making through referendums and public consultations be made compulsory for large infrastructure projects. They als

90% of Himalayas will face year-long drought at 3 degrees warming: Study

About 90 per cent of the Himalayan Region will experience drought lasting over a year if global warming increases by 3 degrees Celsius, according to new research. The findings, published in the journal Climatic Change, show that 80 per cent of the increased human exposure to heat stress in India can be avoided by adhering to Paris Agreement's temperature goals of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to 3 degrees Celsius warming. The team led by researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK quantified how climate change risks to human and natural systems increase at a national scale as the level of global warming increases. A collection of eight studies -- all focusing on India, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Ghana -- shows that the risks of drought, flooding, declines in crop yields, and loss of biodiversity and natural capital greatly increase for each additional degree of global warming. It found that in India pollination is reduced by half

Ladakh organises 'world's highest frozen lake marathon' on Pangong Tso

The event was organised with the agenda to bring attention towards the melting Himalayan glaciers, which pose a massive threat to our environment

Snowless NW Himalayas: El Nino leads to dry winter, may have ripple effect

High mountain passes with barely any snow, skiers hoping to slalom down white slopes disappointed and tourists calling off trips to hill destinations... the El Nino effect is playing out across the northwest Himalayas with an unusually dry winter and no immediate relief in the offing. According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), 2023 was the warmest-on-record year and the warming El Nino event is likely to further fuel the heat in 2024. The El Nino phenomenon occurs when sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are higher than average in the eastern tropical Pacific, and there is a simultaneous weakening of trade winds. The absence of snowfall is not a one-time thing but affects the annual cycle of snow. If it continues longer, it can have a huge cascading effect on socio-economic benefits. If you don't get (enough) snow, you don't get replenishment of water, it will impact agriculture, your health and can, in turn, impact your economy, glaciologist and Himalayan researcher A N

U'khand Tunnel collapse: May take 2 more days to rescue trapped labourers

All 40 workers trapped in an under-construction tunnel on the Char Dham route are safe and being sent food and water, authorities assured Monday but said the rescue operation could take up to two more days. A portion of the tunnel under construction between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway collapsed in the early hours of Sunday. All workers trapped are safe and communicating, officials said on Monday as Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the site. While oxygen started being supplied to the trapped labourers immediately after the launch of rescue operations on Sunday, they could only get drinking water and light food after contact was first established with them past midnight. Secretary Disaster Management Ranjit Kumar Sinha who visited the tunnel said the trapped labourers could be rescued by Tuesday night or Wednesday. The rescue strategy is now focused on stabilising loose muck by shotcreting (concrete spraying) and pushing in a large

Tunnel collapse: 'Address ecology in Himalayas for safe development'

Horrific incidents like the partial collapse of an under construction tunnel on the Char Dham route in Uttarkashi's Silkyara would continue to happen if ecological concerns were not addressed, noted environmentalist Ravi Chopra said on Monday. Chopra had resigned last year as the chairman of a Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee on Char Dham all-weather road expressing disappointment over the apex court order limiting the panel's jurisdiction to only two 'non defence' stretches of the project. For development in the Himalayas, it is necessary to first address ecological concerns, he said, adding sustainable development demands approaches that are both geologically and ecologically sound. "Unless this balance is achieved such horrific incidents will continue to happen," Chopra told PTI. A portion of the tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway collapsed in the early hours of Sunday. Rescue operations are being carried out to ...

SC proposes expert panel for comprehensive study of Indian Himalayan region

The Supreme Court on Monday mooted constituting an expert committee for conducting a "complete and comprehensive" study on the carrying capacity of the Himalayan region in the country, where unplanned development has caused devastation in recent times, terming it a "very important issue". The carrying capacity is the maximum population size that an ecosystem can sustain without getting degraded. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud was hearing a plea seeking an assessment of the carrying capacity and master plans for the Indian Himalayan Region spanning 13 states and union territories. The counsel appearing for petitioner Ashok Kumar Raghav told the bench there was a need for a comprehensive study by expert institutions as devastation was noticed almost every single day in the Himalayan region. "So, we can appoint say three or four of these institutions which will nominate their representatives and we can ask them to carry out a complete and comprehensive study on carryi

Centre gets 4 weeks from SC on plea to assess Himalaya's carrying capacity

The Supreme Court on Monday granted four more weeks to the Centre to file its response to a plea seeking assessment of the carrying capacity and master plans of the Indian Himalayan Region spanning across 13 states and union territories. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha, which had issued notices to the government on February 17, took note of the submission of Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati who sought time to file the reply. The top court was hearing a plea filed by Ashok Kumar Raghav seeking assessment of carrying capacity and master plans prepared for the Indian Himalayan Region. "Due to non-existent Carrying/Bearing Capacity studies, grave geological hazards in the form of landslides, land subsidence, land cracking and sinking issues such as that in Joshimath are being witnessed and serious ecological and environmental depredation are taking place in the hills," the petition filed through advocate advocate Akash Vashishtha ...

Lockdown in 2020 prevented 27 MT of Himalayan snowmelt: Research

As many as 27 metric tonnes of ice and snow melt in the Himalayas had been prevented by the Indian national lockdown, in place from March 25, 2020, to May 31, 2020, according to a new study. Diminished anthropogenic pollutant emissions during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns reduced snowmelt in the Himalayas, the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Nexus said. Liqiang Zhang from Beijing Normal University, China, and colleagues explored how the sudden, dramatic reduction in particulate pollution in the region affected snow and ice melt, using multiple satellite data as well as a coupled atmosphere-chemistry-snow model. The authors estimate that the reduced anthropogenic pollutant emissions during the Indian lockdown was responsible for 71.6 per cent of the reduction in radiative forcing on snow in April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. This reduction in radiative forcing may have prevented 27 MT in ice and snow melt. The results emphasised

Himalayan glaciers may lose 75% of their ice by 2100, shows new study

The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is seeing a shrinking permafrost that can trigger more landslides, the study said