Bhutan Monitors Glacial Lakes for Flood Risk

Thimphu. Bhutan is operating a 24-hour monitoring and early warning system to reduce the risk of floods from rapidly melting and expanding glacial lakes due to climate change. A team stationed in a control room a few hours away from the capital Thimphu continuously monitors changes in the water level of glacial lakes and rivers.< p>

There are more than 600 glaciers in Bhutan's northern Himalayan region. As glaciers melt, lakes dammed by weak moraine dams expand, and if the dams break, there is a risk of large floods. In 1994, 21 people died on the Punatsangchhu riverbank due to a similar glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF).< p>