Thousands flee as Himalayan lake threatens to burst

Indian troops were on alert today amid fears that a lake created by landslides in the Chinese Himalayas could burst, triggering cross-border floods and threatening thousands of people.

Air force helicopters were ready at bases across northern India in case they need to mount an emergency rescue.

Aerial surveys – and a warning by China’s government – indicate the lake, formed by the blocking of the Parechu River in Tibet, is ready to burst its banks and inundate hundreds of villages in India’s Himachal Pradesh state.

The state has evacuated thousands of people from 50 villages that are likely to be submerged if the lake breaches its banks, said Munish Garg, a top government official in Kinnaur district of the state.

Chinese engineers today carried out restricted dynamite blasts at the lake to let out controlled quantities of water and prevent a breach in the sides of the lake.

Chinese authorities, who have been monitoring the lake since it was formed after a massive landslide last month, warned India to “make preparations for disaster prevention”.