Flooding of Chumjung in Mustang by glacial drift

असार २७, २०८२

घनश्याम खड्का

Flooding of Chumjung in Mustang by glacial drift

Chuama Peak (1-4), Chungen Changma, Ghyun, Mansyal and Mustang Himal are located in the west of Lomanthang on the Nepal-China border of Upper Mustang.

Chuama Peak is the mountain at the head of Chumjung river and Lomanthang rural municipality-4 Chumjung settlement, which suddenly flooded on June 24th. When the temperature rises, the steep glacier that descends from the Chuama Peak deviates at a rapid and unusual speed (glacier surge), and the locals believe that the flood occurred when the moraines were washed away.

' We (people's representatives, security personnel and locals) went to Chumjung settlement near Chuama Himal to find the source of the flood. We returned because the source of the flood was far away and the necessary logistics materials were not immediately managed," Lomanthang Rural Municipality President Tsi Nharvu Gurung said, "According to the local Yarchagumba collector and Chauri Gothala, who are experts in mountain geography, there are no snow lakes in the upper area of ​​the flooded Kholsa, but there are many glaciers. The flood occurred when one of the glaciers melted and fell down after the sun was too hot.

The flood has swept away the motor bridge that connects Varch village of Lomanthang rural municipality-1 with the municipal center and another village where water from Chumjung river was used, Dhuk village, Varcha, Nanol and Namsung.

Researchers in the field of climate change refer to the process of rapid glacier movement as glacial drift and the accumulation of rock and soil carried by glaciers as glaciers. When the temperature rises, the surface of the glacier melts and forms water, and the water quickly drains the glacier. The state of formation of ice pools and streams of water in glaciers is called supraglacial.

International Integrated Mountain Development Center (ISIMOD) senior climate change expert Dr. According to Arunbhakta Shrestha, due to climate change, the ice line is moving up due to the increase in temperature. Not only is the ice line moving up, glacier melting is accelerating, leading to increased glacier drift, permafrost (ice in the inner layers of the ground) cracking and breaking. Flooding in Mustang is also an effect of climate change.

Since there is no snow lake in that area, looking at the nature of the Mustang flood, it may have been caused by glacial drift or supraglacial. Because a glacier is not always just solid ice. The inside of the glacier is opened by the water and falls on the slopes and flows as a flood, said climate and environmental risk expert of ISIMOD. Arunbhakt Shrestha said, "Because Bhotekosi has attracted everyone's attention, the flood of Mustang has been overshadowed. In terms of sensitivity to climate and temperature rise, the flood of Mustang is equally serious.'

Lomanthang rural municipality-2 According to Karm Namgyal Gurung, the ward president of Chhoser, in this same Kholsa, V.S. In the year 2044, a flood caused by the bursting of a glacier at Chuama Peak in the Mustang Range on the border between Chonghup and Nepal-China covered hundreds of cultivated fields in nearby Namsung. When the same flood mixed with the Kaligandaki river, the Mustang also fell into the Kalipul Bazar of Beni through Dana, Tatopani, Pokhrebgar, Tiplyang of Myagdi.

According to the 2024 climate report published by the World Meteorological Organization, based on the period from 1850 to 1900, the temperature of the earth has increased by 1.4 degrees Celsius.

According to ISMOD experts, the incidence of glacial disasters has increased in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region. On Monday alone, two glacial disasters have occurred in Nepal. Glaciers hidden inside glaciers or formed on glaciers of temporary nature are becoming the main cause of destruction.

घनश्याम खड्का खड्का दुई दशकभन्दा बढीदेखि पत्रकारिता गरिरहेका छन् । उनी कान्तिपुरमा कानुन, न्याय, मानवअधिकार लागयतका बिटमा लेख्छन् ।

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