Once upon a time not very long ago, say old timers, Gomukh, the snout of the Gangotri
glacier --source of the Ganga river -extended as far as Gangotri town, located almost 18 km away. However, uncontrolled development activities including deforestation, rampant construction and unregulated flow of tourists (and the pollution
caused by their vehicles) has caused the glacier -which is around 30-km long and between .5 to 2.5 km wide -to not just recede but also raised worries over the continuing health of the source of the country's most revered river. “Gangotri glacier has been under a state of continuous recession since 1935 . The Geological Survey of India which monitored the glacier from 1935 till 1996 found that the glacier retreated by 1147 metres, with an average rate of 19 mtryear between 1935 and 1996. The total area vacated by the glacier during 1935 to 1996 is estimated to be 5, 78,100 sq mtr,“ says DP Dobhal, scientist at the Centre For Glaciology, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun
A study carried out by the Uttarakhand
Space Application Centre (USAC) between 2000 and 2016 found that the glacier receded almost 150 metres in just 16 years.“In 2000, the glacier retreated at the rate of 14 In partnership with metres each year; in 2012, by 12 metreyear, in 2015 by 10 metreyear and in 2016 by 20 metre per year,“ says Asha Thapliyal, scientist with USAC
. She added that the Gangotri glacier is retreating “largely due to climate change and partially because of excessive human interference with tourists and devotees using the area quite frequently.“ “The snout of the glacier has become wider with fragmentation and the continuous melting,“ she told TOI.
What is especially worrying scien tists is that the glacier's base is also thinning and has become more fragile.Kireet Kumar, scientist at the Almorabased GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development (GBPNIHESD) who has extensively researched the glacier, terms this as “the most devastating effect of climate change.“ “Gangotri is a gigantic glacier which because of its size, takes longer to show any change with regard to climate change. However, the impact of climate change on it becomes perceptible through small glacier tributaries which are situated above it.These tributary glaciers melt faster due to increase in temperature and thus, water generated from them flow down and seep into the crevasses of Gangotri glacier. This is resulting in a situation where the glacier is melting from the bottom.“
He added that “the water melting from the glacier bottom has not increased the water flow emanating from the glacier which shows that the water is evaporating due to temperature increase.“ “Since the tributaries situated on the right side of Gangotri glacier are hitting its right bottom, therefore its right side corner has receded the most.This ultimately means breakage and loss of storage of water,“ says Kumar.
Scientists warn that if the situation continues like this, there will be a severe water shortage for the Ganga at its source. “The process of Gangotri glacier receding has been ongoing for last 250 years at a gradual pace but has picked up pace in the last few decades. If it continues like this, it will soon lead to a situation when there will be serious scarcity of water. Hence, it is very important to strike a balance with the environment,“ says Dobhal.
Seconding these views, Harshwanti Bisht, an Arjuna award winning mountaineer who now helms the `Save Gangotri Project' that has been working in the Gangotri area for over two decades, says, “ The seriousness of the situation can be gauged by viewing the earlier photographs of Gangotri glacier and comparing them with the present. If one sees the picture of the glacier clicked by British photographer Samuel Burns in 1866-67 and compares it with present-day photos, it is evident that Gangotri glacier has shrunk by at least 4 to 5 km which is quite a lot.“
She says that the situation can “still be salvaged if more trees are planted.“
“In the past few years, the intensity of rainfall has increased in comparison to snowfall. This results in intense landslide activities in the region and an increase in the melting rate of the glacier.There is an urgent need to plant more trees in the area to arrest this.“