• A recent study conducted by IIT Indore in collaboration with international researchers has revealed that the Gangotri Glacier—one of the largest glaciers in the Himalayas—has lost 10% of its snowmelt flow over the past 40 years, primarily due to climate change.
• The Gangotri Glacier, located in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand in the Garhwal Himalayas, is the primary source of the Ganges, India’s largest river.
• It originates from the northern slopes of the Chaukhamba range and is fed by snow and ice from peaks like Shivling, Thalay Sagar, Meru, and Bhagirathi III.
• The glacier stretches about 30 km in length and 4 km in width, lying at an altitude of around 4,000 meters near the Tibet border.
• Its terminus, popularly known as Gaumukh, resembles a cow’s mouth, from which the Bhagirathi River emerges and later joins the Alaknanda River to form the Ganges at Devprayag.
• Gangotri Glacier is also of immense religious significance in Hinduism, attracting thousands of pilgrims annually who trek to Gaumukh, the sacred source of the Ganges.
• The study underscores the urgent need for climate action to preserve this vital glacier and the water resources it sustains.