Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised “all possible support” to the affected populations. At least ten people have died and 82 are missing following floods in a valley in northeast India, linked to the overflowing of a Himalayan glacial lake on Wednesday, the local government announced. Among the missing are 22 soldiers, the army said. A twenty-third person was rescued.
The affected area, a remote mountainous region of the Himalayas, is near the border with Nepal and China. Lake Lhonak, which overflowed, causing significant destruction in a valley downstream, is located at the foot of a glacier near Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world.
Damage over 120 kilometers
A veritable wall of water, poured downstream, was added to a river already swollen by monsoon rains. The waters damaged a dam and washed away houses and bridges among other “serious destruction”, the Sikkim state government said.
Extensive damage extends more than 120 kilometers downstream, with roads in the region “severely” damaged and 14 bridges destroyed, according to authorities. “The floods have wreaked destruction in four districts of the state, washing away people, roads and bridges,” Himangsu Tiwary, an army spokesperson, told AFP. According to satellite images released by the Indian Space Research Organization, Lake Lhonak has shrunk by two-thirds, losing a water area of about 105 hectares, the equivalent of 150 football fields.
More and more common
Floods caused by overflowing glacial lakes, often accompanied by falling rocks, are becoming more common as global temperatures rise and ice melt increases.
Melting Himalayan glaciers are also increasing river volumes while unregulated construction in flood-prone areas can expose local populations to disasters.