Three million people in India at risk of flooding by glacial lakes: Study

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Three million people in India are at risk of flooding caused by glacial lakes, the highest number of those exposed in the world, according to a new study.

The study by an international team led by scientists at UK’s Newcastle University, UK is the first global assessment of areas at greatest risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF).

Published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday, it estimates that 15 million people around the world are at risk from flooding caused by glacial lakes.

The researchers, which also identified priority areas for mitigation, said more than half the globally exposed populations are found in just four countries: India, Pakistan, Peru, and China.

India and Pakistan contain the highest number of exposed people — nearly three million and two million people respectively, or one-third of the global total combined — while Iceland contains the least (260 people), they said.