Context
Glacial lakes are thought to be a major reason behind the recent flood at Uttarakhand.
What are Glacial lakes?
- A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity.
- They are formed when a glacier erodes the land, and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier.
Threats from Glacial lakes
- Over the years, the frequency of formation of these lakes has increased.
- But despite that, there are not many GLOF (glacial lake outburst flood) events happening in Uttarakhand. This is because Uttarakhand has very steep slopes, and the water manages to find a way out.
- But there are over 1,200 big and small lakes in the high mountains of Uttarakhand. Many of them are increasing in size.
- A lot of them do pose a threat of similar kinds of incidents.
- There are also no storage dams being constructed in this area. This also poses a threat to these lakes.
