Snow cover down by 10 per cent, could lead to water shortage in Himachal

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, May 20

Notwithstanding the prolonged winter spell, the snow cover in the Himalayan region of Himachal has declined by 10 per cent in the four river basins of Chenab, Beas, Ravi and Satlujas compared to the snowfall in 2021-22.

The reduced snow cover this winter is already a cause of major worry with fear of water shortage in summers and decline in power generation being its worst fallout.

As per the mapping of seasonal snow cover undertaken by the State Centre for Climate Change in the HP Council for Science, Technology and Environment, an overall 10 per cent decline has been witnessed over the previous winters after analysing the snow mapping mapping data.

“There is clear evidence that most glaciers are losing mass and with Shimla receiving no snowfall there are fears of water shortage,” said Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena. Initiatives like switch over to e-vehicles and renewable energy need to be put in place to arrest this disturbing trend, he added.

Scientists have already been echoing concern over accelerated glacial melting and variation in snow cover in the Himalayan region, over the past few years.

It was observed that in Chenab basin there has been a decline of 0.39 per cent, 6.9 per cent decline in Beas, 22.42 per cent decline in Ravi and 14.61 per cent decline in case of Sutlej river. A good snowfall augurs well for hydro-power generation as the river basins sustain the hydrology.

“The winter precipitation was mapped in all the major river basins including Chandra, Bhaga, Miyar, Beas, Parvati, Pin, Spiti and Baspa was analysed through satellite imagery between October and April,” said DC Rana, Director, Environment, Science and Technology. Even though there was early snowfall in October-November but the four river basins of Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej witnessed negative trends by way of decrease in overall snow cover in 2022-23, he added.

Though there has been an overall decrease in snow cover by 10 per cent but the worst affected have been Ravi and Sutlej basins. Due to onset of early winters, Beas and Chenab basin indicated slight increase in snow cover but Ravi and Sutlej basins showed a negative trend. However, all river basins showed an overall negative trend with reduced snow cover in comparison to 2021-22.

Decline in snow cover in 2022-23 over 2021-22

River 2022-2023 (%)

Chenab minus 0.39

Beas minus 6.9

Sutlej minus 14.61

Ravi minus 22.42