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Experts reject official report on Himalayan glaciers

* Environmentalists claim report ‘unconvincing, misleading’
* Indian expert says New Delhi waiting for ‘disaster’

By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI: Experts have rejected an official study sponsored by the Indian Environment Ministry claiming that Himalayan glaciers were not shrinking. The report had rejected the alarm, asking India to cooperate with neighbouring countries to save the glaciers from melting.

The study undertaken by VK Raina, a former deputy director general of the Geological Survey of India, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove the glaciers were melting due to climate change.

Misleading: Criticising the report, environmentalists said it was “unconvincing” and “misleading”. Sunita Narain, a member of the Prime Minister’s Climate Change Council and director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), described the report as “confusing”.

The UN appointed Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) Co-chairman Rajendra Pachuri accused the Indian Environment Ministry of ‘arrogance’. He warned the Himalayan glaciers were receding faster than any other part of the world and could “disappear altogether by 2035 if not sooner”.

India’s top food and agriculture expert Devinder Sharma described the report as a “Himalayan blunder”. Criticising Environment Minister Jayram Ramesh, he said the “minister loves to challenge the dominant opinion”.

”Whether it is the stand India should take at the forthcoming Copenhagen conference or the melting of the Himalayan glaciers, he (environment minister) enjoys throwing a stone in the still waters and then sits back and enjoys watching the ripples it creates,” said Sharma.

“Nevertheless, the simple reason why there is no conclusive evidence to show that the Himalayan glaciers are melting is because Delhi had repeatedly turned down requests from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), for an exhaustive study of these glaciers,” he said.

Delhi has rejected such requests citing security reasons.

“The Indian government, which treats glacier studies only for defence purposes, did not see any major threat from the melting of glaciers and the formation of the newly created lakes,” he added.

Waiting: He said Delhi was “awaiting a disaster to strike” to acknowledge the threat. “Jairam Ramesh should realise that deflecting attention from the urgent need to do something more meaningful for protecting the Himalayan glaciers will be disastrous for the country’s environment and food security,” Sharma said. The UNEP has estimated that the bursting of glacial lakes would become a major global problem, especially in countries like South America, India and China. But unfortunately, both India and China have used glaciers only for defence purposes. “Much of the snow bound areas in both the countries are under the control of the armed forces and form the inner line of control,” he said, adding that no scientific access or public activity was allowed in “these politically and strategically sensitive areas of high altitude”.

According to Raina, an Indian scientist, the mistake made by “western scientists” was to apply the rate of glacial loss from other parts of the world to the Himalayas. “In the US the highest glaciers in Alaska are still below the lowest level of Himalayan glaciers. Our 9,500 glaciers are located at very high altitudes. It is a completely different system,” Raina said.

“As long as we have monsoons we will have glaciers. There are many factors to consider when we want to find out how quickly (glaciers melt) ... rainfall, debris cover, relief and terrain,” Raina added.

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