Hazard Assessment of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood and Potential of ICTs for Coping: A Case of Eastern Himalaya of Nepal

Abstract:

Alarming rate of retreat of glaciers and formation of glacial lakes in higher elevation of Nepal Himalaya has been reported to be related with the pronounced atmospheric temperature rise in the region. Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) are the growing climate induced hazards in the Himalaya increasing the vulnerability of community living in the mountain valley, and the fragile ecosystem. This study tried to come up with the potential impacts from glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in highland of eastern region of Nepal and potential role of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in coping. I analyzed the trend of climatic pattern (temperature and precipitation) of the Eastern Himalaya Region of Nepal available from Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), Government of Nepal, and also prepared the latest location map of the glacial lakes using google earth and ArcGIS application in the highland of the Kanchanjungha Conservation Area of the region. Tiptala glacial lake, located at an elevation of 4950 masl, within the conservation area, was selected for the GLOF hazard assessment. I used semi-structured questioner survey and key informants interviews in the community living below the lake in the highland of the study area in order to assess the potential hazard of GLOF. Analysis shows the increasing trend of atmospheric temperature in the region. With the varying sizes, 46 glacial lakes were located in the region, which covers over 2.57 sq. km in total. Though the larger portion of the downstream area of the Tiptala glacial lake fall in the remote location away from major residential area, few villages, major pasture lands for Yaks, foot trails, and several bridges across the Tamor River below the lake are in risk of GLOF. Poor access due to extreme geographical remoteness and capacity to afford the modern technologies in the community is seen as the major limiting factor to the knowledge and information about the climate change and related impacts. Modern ICTs has high potential to reduce the risk of climate related hazards in the remote area by information dissemination and awareness.