Himalayan glacial lakes, water our bodies expanded by 9% over 14 years, says CWC

Glacial lakes and different water our bodies within the Himalayan area have expanded by 9.24 per cent over the previous 14 years, stated a Central Water Fee (CWC) report, spotlighting the results of local weather change.

The full stock space of glacial lakes and water our bodies elevated from 5.30 lakh hectares in 2011 to five.79 lakh hectares in 2025, it stated.

The Month-to-month Monitoring Report by the fee retains observe of water our bodies within the Himalayan area. Its August iteration, which is but to be made public, famous that shrinking glaciers and the enlargement of glacial lakes have turn out to be a number of the most seen indicators of worldwide warming within the area.
The CWC stated 1,435 glacial lakes and water our bodies confirmed a rise of their water unfold space, whereas 1,008 recorded a lower over the 14-year interval.

The report stated the fee screens 2,843 glacial lakes and water our bodies utilizing high-resolution Sentinel satellite tv for pc information by way of Google Earth Engine. Of those, 428 glacial lakes situated inside India confirmed enlargement and require “vigorous monitoring for catastrophe preparedness”.

These embrace 133 in Ladakh, 50 in Jammu and Kashmir, 13 in Himachal Pradesh, seven in Uttarakhand, 44 in Sikkim, and 181 in Arunachal Pradesh.Inside India, the entire water unfold space of glacial lakes elevated from 1,995 hectares in 2011 to 2,445 hectares in 2025, registering a 22.56 per cent rise, based on the CWC report.The fee warned that the rise in lake sizes raises the chance of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) — sudden floods brought on by the breach of unstable moraine dams, which might trigger in depth downstream harm.

The report stated direct prediction of outburst occasions shouldn't be possible with present information, underscoring the significance of steady monitoring.

The month-to-month monitoring experiences are shared with the central and state catastrophe administration authorities to assist early warning techniques, and are revealed on the CWC web site for wider entry.

In response to the Glacial Lake Atlas of Indian River Basins 2023, 28,043 glacial lakes bigger than 0.25 hectares have been mapped throughout the Himalayan river basins, of which 7,570 are situated inside India.