SRINAGAR: The University of Kashmir is among four universities of the country which have been awarded a 185-million rupees mega multi-partner research initiative on Himalayan glaciers.
New Delhi’s Department of Science and Technology has sanctioned the research initiative – the partners include Kashmir university (Earth Sciences department), Jammu University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Sikkim University.
Prof Shakil A Romshoo, Head, Department of Earth Sciences who is coordinating the initiative at the Kashmir University said the research project has been sanctioned primarily to strengthen the in-situ observations and model development that were lacking in Himalayas.
“Himalayas are among the largest glacier-covered regions of the world. Changes in Himalayan cryosphere due to climate change are now being considered as one of the catalytic forces adversely impacting human and ecological regimes in South Asia,” Romshoo told the United News of India.
About a billion people are dependent on the water resources originating from snow and glacier melt in the Himalayas.
People in South Asian countries like Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh are provided freshwater by the Himalayan glaciers, not only for drinking but also for irrigation and energy production.
