Dr Sunirmal Chanda at the seminar

What will happen if millions of gallons of water and rock swamp the human settlements in the valleys of the Himalayas? Such a future looms large on the people who live there as major glaciers in the mountain range melt due to climate change and mindless human activities. “Temperature incr-ease due to global warming has cau-sed the Himalayan glaciers to shrink in size,” said Dr Sunirmal Chanda of the Centre for Man and Environment at a seminar on Himalayan environment at the Bangla Academy on July 9. “Satellite images show that the glaciers in the Himalayan region are now receding at an average rate of 10-15 metres per year.” The seminar was organised by the Bhoruka Mountaineering Trust (BMT) to celebrate its silver jubilee year.

According to Chanda, the melting of Himalayan glaciers will increase the volume of water in the rivers on its valleys, causing widespread flooding. “But in a few decades water level in the rivers will go down, resulting in economic and environmental problems for people in western China, Nepal and northern India,” he pointed out. The Himalayan glaciers feed seven of Asia’s greatest rivers ? including the Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Salween and Mekong ? ensuring a year-round water supply to millions of people. The Himalayan glaciers also feed more than 40 lakes. One such lake is the Tsho Rolpa in Nepal, which has grown sixfold since the 1950s.

“With its rich biodiversity, the Himalayas provide shelter for 40 million people as well as a wide variety of animals and plants,” said Dr Anjan Sarkar of the Vidyasagar College. “Animals like tiger, leopard, rhinoceros, and many varieties of deer once inhabited the forest areas of the Himalayan foothills and the Tarai plain. Due to deforestation, they are now restricted to specially protected areas such as the Jaldapara and Kaziranga sanctuaries in India and the Chitwan preserve in Nepal.”

According to Sarkar, although one comes across red panda, flying squirrel, reticulated python and yellow monitor lizard in the Himalayan region, some of these animals have been listed as endangered species.

He explained that hydroelectric power projects, which involve large dams, are also causing massive deforestation. This is a threat to the floral diversity of the Himalayan region. The Himalayas is home to 8,000 species of flowering plants of which 40 per cent are endemic.

From the plains to the snow-clad mountains, one can see forests of pine, deodar, fir, oak, rhododendron and birch. But these plants are now being replaced by the cultivation of newer varieties that will grow quickly and fetch quick bucks, lamented Sarkar.

— Biplab Das