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Nature reflects our nature
The Himalayan Covenant
It all started on a late November afternoon when I
was about six years old. I could find myself tiptoeing
on a wooden plank to level against my terrace pane.
Balancing my 4 feet stature, I finally rested my frag-
ile arms on the cemented wall. My wrinkled forehead
came to ease as I transfixed my gaze towards the
crystal-clear transcendence of the Himalayan range
that stretched northeast of Kathmandu. It was love
at first sight. Seventeen years later when I visit the
same spot now, it is more of a disappointment. The
picturesque mountain range can be compared to a
blurry shot from an old camera.
My budding affinity towards the mountains augment-
ed over time, and during my final semester, I got the
opportunity to conduct research among them. The
project was titled the ‘Study of physicochemical pa-
rameters of meltwater draining from Ponkar glacier,
Manang’ and it was funded by the University Grants
Commission, Nepal. This would not only serve as my
final semester thesis but also provided me a chance
to step into the majestic realm of the Himalayas.
The trails that seemed definitive during the first hours
of the trek slowly started disappearing as we ascend-
ed. I found solace in the wilderness, chirping birds
and the sound of the river alongside. The last hurdle
of the journey presented itself in the form of a ridge.
When I reached the top, I was overwhelmed by the
beauty of two contrasting views – on one side was a
lush hill with blooming flowers and on the other was a
sparsely vegetated valley immersed in fog and snow.
The glacier-fed rivers appealed to me at the very first
instance as they made dendritic pattern downstream.
I was awestruck by the Himalayan streams, its flow
rate, whitish appearance and all the secrets it carried
down to the hills and southern plains. It was there
on the edge of the ridge that I was struck by a mo-
ment of epiphany. I was bombarded by emotions in
the company of sheer silence, heavy breathing and
the burning blisters on my toes.
The misty Ponkar valley had me stumped from the
very first sight. We stayed at a hotel that was at the
farthest edge of the valley. The mules ran free and
there was a heavy downpour in the likes of rain and
snow within a span of 5 hours every day. I separated
the seven sampling stations to be covered in the next
three days that ranged from a high altitudinal glacier
lake to the terminus of the glacier. They covered an
altitudinal variation from 3500 m to almost 4100 m
above sea level.
The study primarily focused on utilizing the physi-
cal parameters (Temperature, Conductivity, pH) and
chemical processes to narrow down the prevalence
of cations, anions and trace metals in the study area
and its relationship with the bedrock geology. I found
out that the calcium carbonate weathering played a
pivotal role in the dominance of calcium and bicar-
bonate as the major cation and anion respectively.
Hence, we came to an important conclusion that the
bedrock geology in the Himalayan region is calcare-
ous
.
We often fail to discern the importance of glaciers and
tend to overlook the importance of mountain hydrolo-
gy. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
estimates that around the world, glaciers (excluding
the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets) will decrease
in volume between 15 to 55 percent by 2100 even if
we are able to limit global warming to under 2˚C; they
could shrink up to 85 percent if warming increases at
a higher rate. Glacier represents the snow of centu-
ries and more than one-sixth of the world population
live in the basins of glacier-fed rivers. In total, 1.5 bil-
lion people – a fifth of the world’s population - depend
on the Himalayan rivers for their water supply. In the
context of Nepal, three large major river systems:
Karnali, Koshi, and Gandaki originate from the gla-
ciers and snow-fed lakes. Therefore, it is absolutely
crucial to address its significance in our daily lives as
we depend on it so much. Once the glaciers in the
Himalayas start retreating, there is no way it can be
restored (Until Earth experiences another Ice Age,
and do you think it is happening anytime soon?), and
we will have to look for alternative primary sources
for freshwater to live off our days.
So, now that the adversities of climate change
have dawned upon us, it is imperative to become a
changemaker in this domain. I vow to protect the gla-
ciers and water resources at all costs, and I hope you
will too.
Kripa Rajyashree Thapa
BSc. Environmental Science(Honours)
Batch: 2013-2017
Nature and Social Concern Society
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