Srinagar: The government on Thursday accorded sanction to the constitution of Focused Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) Monitoring Committee (FGMC) for the Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
Headed by Principal Secretary to the Government, Home Department, the FGMC shall have 16 members, according to a government order.
However, Deputy Commissioners of the concerned districts shall be permanent invitees to all meetings of FGMC, it said. “The Chairperson may co-opt any member(s) to obtain required technical and inter-disciplinary Input(s) for the Committee.”
“Facilities to be extended to the Committee members shall be governed in terms of Section 21(3) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.”
The Committee shall be assisted by concerned Department(s) in their field studies/observations, it said
The terms of the reference for the committee include to review the current status of glacier and glacial lakes in the Union territory of J&K and identify the vulnerable glacial lakes in J&K in terms of GLOF, as per the list provided by National Disaster Management Authority.
It is to also suggest the site-specific best technical measures to minimize glacial threat in identified glacial lakes and the roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders.
Further it is to suggest action required on human resources generation/capacity building towards the study and management of glacial retreat and associated threats; to suggest any other specific measures to minimize the glacial threat in J&K The proposed Committee may, as and when required also consult leading experts/organizations and to ensure compliance with relevant technical standards, regulations and best practices.
The Committee shall be serviced by the Disaster Management Relief Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Department

KR Desk