An avalanche of water and debris has swept away at least one hydroelectric dam and has resulted in the evacuation of many villages in northern India, with latest reports indicating 31 people have died and 165 more are missing. The torrent was triggered when a piece of a Himalayan glacier in the Nanda Devi reserve apparently broke off, despite it still being winter in the region, which borders Nepal and China. The tragic incident has demonstrated how critical it is for government to heed the advice of experts and meaningfully engage with local populations most threatened by climate change.

The area, known to be ecologically sensitive, experienced catastrophic flooding following a 2013 monsoon, leaving some 6,000 dead. As regional authorities and the Indian military continued search and rescue operations in the wake of Sunday’s incident, various media outlets reported that experts had previously warned of the region’s fragility and how damaging the many planned infrastructure projects could be, especially with the threat of climate change. Former water resources minister Uma Bharti recalled her disapproval of dams in the region, and environmental groups expressed their hope that the recent incident would send a message to the government that ignoring experts’ warnings regarding climate change and infrastructure projects is dangerous and unacceptable. 

As these organizations and experts have made clear, especially since the 2013 disaster, climate change continues to make the Himalayas more vulnerable to destruction of life, livelihoods, and property. While the exact cause of Sunday’s glacier break is still being investigated, the region has just emerged from its warmest January in six decades, with NASA satellites showing snow-free glaciers near Mount Everest. This has led some to fear that the region’s ‘avalanche season,’ the result of normal thawing at the end of winter, is becoming earlier due to climate change. 

Unfortunately, despite experts’ calls, the region remains worryingly vulnerable to climate change. Some risk may be unavoidable; the Nanda Devi glacier reserve is notoriously difficult to reach, so only 10-15 out of its nearly 1000 glaciers are being monitored. But even on aspects that can be improved, the government has shown that it values infrastructure projects like hydroelectric dams over the safety of the region’s residents and the views of climate experts and environmentalists. 

While dams may bring much-needed electricity - India’s electricity grid was still short on power a day following Sunday’s disaster - their construction in fragile areas actually worsens impacts of glacier-triggered avalanches by causing more debris to be carried downstream. The threat of destruction from such projects is so great that a group appointed by the Indian Supreme Court after the 2013 disaster recommended that no dam be built above an altitude of 2000 meters, advice the government largely ignored. 

In addition to highlighting the importance of listening to experts, especially those engaged with climate risk and the protection of local populations, this latest incident has shown how vital it is to listen to local knowledge when designing climate resilience strategies. Of those missing or feared dead, most are not local residents, but rather workers at various hydroelectric sites and road projects. One reason for this is that communities are generally located well above the river bed, reflecting generations of experience and knowledge about how powerful the surrounding environment is. 

Traditional knowledge has a major role to play in ensuring climate solutions are appropriate for the people who live in a particular area, from India to Mexico and beyond. Meaningfully engaging with villages in the Himalayas will be critical in developing long-term solutions that protect the people who call it home, which should take priority over infrastructure projects like new dams.

As officials in India grapple with yet another disaster in the Himalayas, they must recognize that climate risk will only increase and that the standard process of bypassing locals and ignoring experts will not bode well for its people. (Reuters, NPR, Public Radio International, Al Jazeera, PreventionWeb/The Third Pole)