A team of officials from the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Tawang, which reached the Sangnga Nehgu lake, which stands near the glacier on Mount Gorichen range, has discovered that there was a glacial lake outburst at lake Sangnga Nehgu on August 14. This washed away more than five log bridges and damaged the Brokpa track at several locations.
The team, led by Tawang deputy commissioner Kanki Darang and superintendent of police DW Thongon, observed that there were still chances of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) from the same lake since the glacier on the back side of the lake is melting at a rapid rate, increasing the volume of water in the lake.
Responding to a request made by Brokpas, the DC said, “₹3 lakh will be immediately sanctioned from the united fund for repair and maintenance of recently damaged Brokpa tracks and matters regarding washed out bridges will be taken up with higher authorities.”
In a statement, the Tawang district administration stated that the team started moving from Jethang (13,200 ft) on August 20 and halted for a night at Merathang (14,600 ft). The next morning, the team started to climb up and reached lake Sangnga Nehgu (16,000 ft), surveyed it and returned via Tso Kyei Lake by evening to Jethang. Another team visited the Tso Kyei lake (14,800 ft) and surveyed it on August 20 and returned the same day to Jethang. An ITBP team was stationed at Jethang for emergency backup. The teams returned safely to their respective headquarters after accomplishing their mission in August 22. Expert teams have fanned out to carry out survey cum study at six high-risk glacial lakes in Tawang and Dibang valley districts in Arunachal Pradesh which shares a 1,080 km-long border with China.
While the survey is part of the larger national GLOF Mission by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to map all glacial lakes in the country and assess the feasibility of installing early warning sensors and other mitigation measures, the work in Arunachal Pradesh will be a closely watched one, given its strategic location. It is also the first such survey of glacial lakes in the border state.Both the survey districts — Tawang and Dibang valley — share borders with China with the former having fallen briefly under Chinese control in 1962. China has often claimed Arunachal as part of south Tibet.The study by Arunachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) will survey lakes vulnerable to a GLOF like disaster, as seen in Sikkim in October 2023, and assess mitigation measures.
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