GANGOTRI, INDIA, November 20, 2006: Glaciers throughout the world are in melt mode. Considered as the thermometer of global warming, world’s best-known ice masses are fast disappearing. And India’s Gangotri glacier is one of them. Studies conducted by WWF, available exclusively with CNN-IBN reveal that the Gangotri glacier is receding at an alarming average rate of 75 feet every year. Gangotri Dham–a temple–is a pilgrim site for many Hindus in India. Devotees believe that hundreds of years ago, Ganga originated from this point, which is why the temple was built in the lap of the Himalayas. In 1935 the Gangotri was melting by 23 feet per year and by 1990 the meltdown had increased to 59 feet. At the present time, key Himalayan glaciers have shrunk by almost 21 percent says a devotee Baba Prayag Giri, “I have seen the holy River Ganga receding by 546 yards in the last 20 years.”
CNN-IBN’s Special Investigation Team trekked with a team of scientists to the current source of the holy river, Gaumukh, crossing areas that were once covered by the Gangotri glacier. Scientist have rung the alarm bell. With the nearly 17 mile long Gangotri glacier shrinking, there is now less water downstream to dissolve the chemical wastes of over a 100 industries that pour into the river. With less water, the density of pollutants in the Ganga keeps increasing, making expensive projects like the Ganga Action Plan, totally ineffective. Says Scientific Officer, Birla Institute of Technology, Rajesh Kumar, “Earlier, there were no crevices on the glacier. But as more portions are exposed to the sun, crevices will form and huge blocks of the glacier will break away.” These glaciers are a primary source of water for 30 to 50 percent of the major rivers in the Gangetic plain.