A.
The Ministry of Jal Shakti has released the Glacial Lake Atlas of Ganga Basin.
Q. What is Glacial Lake Atlas? A.
The atlas is based on the inventoried glacial lakes in part of the Ganga River basin from its origin to the foothills of the Himalayas covering a catchment area of 2,47,109 sq. km.
The study portion of the Ganga River basin covers part of India and the transboundary region.
The Atlas is available on National Hydrology Project or NHP-Bhuvan Portal.
It can be used by water resources professionals, researchers, disaster management authorities and other stakeholders for managing the glacial lakes as well as to mitigate the possible adverse impacts of GLOF and climate change.
Q. What are the expected utility of the atlas? A.
The atlas provides a comprehensive and systematic glacial lake database for Ganga River basin with size > 0.25 ha
In the context of climate change impact analysis, the atlas can be used as reference data for carrying out change analysis, both with respect to historical and future time periods
The atlas also provides authentic database for regular or periodic monitoring changes in spatial extent (expansion/shrinkage), and formation of new lakes
The atlas can also be used in conjunction with glacier information for their retreat and climate impact studies.
The information on glacial lakes like their type, hydrological, topographical, and associated glaciers are useful in identifying the potential critical glacial lakes and consequent GLOF risk.
Central and State Disaster Management Authorities can make use of the atlas for disaster mitigation planning and related program.
