Glacier collapse caught on drone camera before deadly Nepal flash floods - Moneycontrol.com

**Glacier Collapse Captured on Drone Before Deadly Nepal Flash Floods**

A high‑resolution drone operated by a local trekking agency recorded the sudden rupture of a hanging glacier on the slopes of the Langtang Valley in northern Nepal on **14 May 2024**. Within minutes of the collapse, a torrent of ice, meltwater and debris surged down the Trishuli River, overwhelming downstream villages and triggering flash floods that killed at least **57 people**, injured dozens more and left hundreds homeless, according to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction Authority. The footage, which quickly spread on social media, shows a massive slab of ice breaking away from the glacier’s terminus, followed by a roaring wall of water and moraine that thunders through the narrow gorge, offering a rare visual record of a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in progress.

The incident has drawn the attention of geoscientists across the Himalayas, most notably Dr. **Rashid Ahmar**, a Kashmiri glaciologist who has been studying GLOF hazards in the Western Himalayas. Ahmar told *Down To Earth* that the Langtang event “illustrates how rapidly destabilising glaciers can generate catastrophic outburst floods even without a visible lake at the front,” emphasizing that many smaller, hidden supraglacial lakes remain unmapped. He warned that warming temperatures are accelerating the formation of such lakes and weakening ice dams, increasing the frequency of GLOF events that could affect densely populated valleys throughout Nepal, India and Bhutan.

Despite the growing risk, **India** currently lacks a dedicated, high‑altitude glacier‑monitoring network comparable to its extensive polar observation stations, a shortfall highlighted in recent commentaries by *The Times of India* and *The Indian Express*. Officials argue that logistical challenges, funding constraints and the sheer ruggedness of the Himalayas have delayed the deployment of permanent sensors and automated early‑warning systems. Experts are now urging the Indian government to replicate its polar‑research infrastructure in the Himalayas, leveraging satellite data, ground‑based GPS, and unmanned aerial systems to provide real‑time alerts that could avert future tragedies similar to the Langtang disaster.