Uttarakhand installs first glacial lake monitoring system

Uttarakhand has begun installing its first real-time glacial-lake monitoring system at Vasundhara Tal, as Nepal faces another wave of rain and landslides following August’s catastrophic flooding. The monitoring operation is scheduled to run from September 29 to October 15, 2026, and is intended to track conditions that could signal a glacial lake outburst flood. A technical team from the Central Building Research Institute in Roorkee and the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in Dehradun is carrying out the installation, with support from state and national disaster response forces and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan said the initiative would help reduce risks from glacial lake outburst floods and improve understanding of them. The equipment is designed to measure lake water levels, weather, snow conditions, water flow and ground movement. Sensors will record fluctuations in water level, rainfall, temperature, wind and other atmospheric conditions, as well as snow depth, subsurface temperature and vibrations or shifts around the lake.