As the devastating glacial lake flooding continues to batter the state of Sikkim, a latest media report suggested that the Lhonak Lake in Lachen Valley was about to get an early warning system which could have given the authorities and residents a good warning window of 90 minutes. Moreover, this additional warning window would have also make early activation of a hydropower station's floodgates possible.
However, the monitoring devices that were installed and were supposed to send data to authorities had lost power for “unknown reason” last month, as per mdia reports.
Early Warning System development was underway
As per the latest report, scientists and government authorities were associated with working on developing an early warning system to mitigate glacial flood risks at Lhonak Lake in the Himalayas.
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It has been reported that the initial phase of the warning system had been installed just last month. It included a camera which was installed in a bid to monitor Lhonak Lake's water levels and weather instruments.
"It's quite absurd, really," Geoscientist Simon Allen of the University of Zurich was quoted as saying by Reuters. He was involved with the early warning system project. "The fact it happened just two weeks after our team was there was completely bad luck".
He said that plans had been underway to incorporate a tripwire sensor that could trigger an alert system, facilitating immediate evacuation alerts if the lake's integrity was compromised. However, due to logistical constraints, the government had opted for a two-step implementation approach.
