At least 10 people died and 82 people were missing following flooding in a valley in the northeastern Indian state of Sikkim, linked to the overflow of a Himalayan glacial lake on Wednesday 4 October, the local government announced.

“So far ten bodies have been found, and 82 people are missing, including soldiers”, Vijay Bhushan Pathak, a senior government official in the state, told reporters on Wednesday evening. Previous reports reported five people dead and dozens missing, including twenty-three soldiers.

This remote Himalayan region is located near India’s border with Nepal. Lhonak Lake is located at the foot of a glacier near Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world. Due to an upstream dam, which had released water earlier, the level of the Tista River was 4.50 meters higher than normal, the Indian Army said. On Wednesday, fourteen bridges were destroyed and the national highway connecting Sikkim to the rest of India was badly damaged, the state’s disaster management official, Prabhakar Rai, reported.

Climate change

Floods and landslides are relatively common in India and cause a lot of damage, especially during the rainy season, which lasts from June to September. But by October, most of the rainy season is usually over.

Experts say climate change is making these disasters more frequent and bigger. Melting glaciers also increase river volumes, while unregulated development in flood-prone areas can also worsen the damage.

Himalayan glaciers are melting faster than ever due to climate change, exposing its people to unpredictable disasters.

Glaciers melted at a 65% faster rate between 2011 and 2020, compared with the previous decade, according to a report published in June by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development.

Based on the current trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions, glaciers could lose up to 80% of their current volume by the end of the century, according to the report.