Kathmandu: Melting Himalayas due to the
impact of climate change pose real threat to the lives of the
people living in the Hindukush region and there is an urgent
need to exchange trans-boundary information to minimise the
danger, an environmental body said Saturday.
International Centre for Integrated mountain
Development Director General Andreas Schild said that there is
an urgent need to exchange trans-boundary information
especially related to water resources.
Schild admitted that during the Copenhagen conference
climate change in the Himalayan region was not the focus of
discussion, as no mountain range country had raised the issue.
He expressed hope that in the next climate change
meeting slated to be held in Mexico later this year, the issue
of melting Himalayas will emerge as priority topic.
The ICIMOD is a regional knowledge development and
learning centre serving the eight regional member countries of
the Hindu Kush-Himalayas Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
Out of more than 8,000 glacial lakes situated in
the Himalayan range, 1,466 lie in Nepal, according to the
latest data, said Pradeep Mool, an expert with the ICIMOD.
Of them 21 glacial lakes have been identified as
priority lakes and six of them are taken as high priority due
to the high risks associated with it, he said.
Madhav Karki, another expert with the ICOMOD said
that Nepal need to work in close coordination with China and
India in order to mitigate the impact of the climate change.
PTI
