NDMA tests indigenous glacial flood alert system, plans rollout in Himalayan states

Dehradun: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has successfully tested an indigenously developed satellite-based early warning system for glacial lake outburst floods, or GLOFs, and plans to deploy it across Himalayan states after a pilot run in Himachal Pradesh. The system, developed with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), is being seen as a major step in improving disaster preparedness in the Himalayas.The pilot has been carried out at a high-altitude lake in Sissu, Himachal Pradesh, where the system integrates real-time monitoring tools such as sensor-equipped buoys, automatic weather stations, INSAT-based satellite communication and AI-driven geospatial technologies to track changes in glacial lakes and issue alerts.Writing about the pilot project on LinkedIn, NDMA secretary Manish Bhardwaj said the successful proof of concept marked an important step in reducing disaster risk. "This will pave the way for deployment in all major glacial lakes in the Himalayan states," he said.Officials said the system would continue to be tested at Sissu for six to nine months before being scaled up. An expert associated with its development said it took more than a year to build the system and that some of its components had already been tested in Sikkim. "The early warning system is equipped with solar- and wind-powered batteries, ensuring it remains operational throughout the year, even when sunlight is limited," the expert said.NDMA has already identified 189 high-risk glacial lakes across Himalayan states, including Uttarakhand, for targeted mitigation measures. The move comes amid rising concern over GLOF risks in the Himalayas, where increasing temperatures are accelerating glacier melt and expanding glacial lakes, raising the threat of sudden downstream floods that can endanger lives, infrastructure and hydropower projects.India has seen several such disasters in recent years. The 2013 Kedarnath floods, triggered in part by glacial and extreme rainfall events, caused large-scale destruction, while the South Lhonak Lake outburst in Sikkim highlighted the growing threat posed by glacial lakes and led to severe downstream damage. The Chamoli and Dharali disasters also underlined the risks linked to rapidly changing cryospheric conditions. Similar incidents in Nepal and Bhutan have pointed to the wider regional nature of the threat.A senior official said early warning systems were crucial in such fragile terrain, where response time was often limited. "The integration of satellite data, ground sensors and automated alerts is expected to significantly improve preparedness and evacuation planning," the official said.With climate change accelerating glacial melt and increasing the risk of extreme events, authorities said the new system represented an important step towards building resilience in vulnerable mountain regions.