“Glacial lake outburst flood” by Luca Catalano Gonzaga on exhibition at Helvetia Group in Milan

The Tsho Rolpa Lake, the largest and most dangerous glacial lake in Nepal is located in the Rolwaling Valley, approximately 30 km southwest of Mt. Everest. It has been formed over the last forty years as the Trakarding Glacier has stagnated, melted and retreated. The lake located 4.580 meters above the sea level, is approximately 3 km long, 500 m wide and up to 130 m deep. It is retained by a natural moraine dam that is unstable and threatens to burst. If the dam is breached, the resulting flood of approximately 80 million cubic meters of water would cause serious damage for 100 km or more downstream, endangering as many as 6000 lives. It also threatens the construction site of a 60 Megawatt hydroelectric project and other infrastructures. The ensuing damage would have a serious impact on the economy of Nepal.
The current risk of a failure is considered to be high and rapidly increasing. While waiting for the engineers to be able to nd a way to lower the water level, Tsho Rolpa Lake is currently surrounded by sensors and alarms that are connected to sirens in the villages in danger. Those devices can only give an advance notice of 10 minutes which is not enough time for a possible evacuation. Whole families of farmers living in the Rolwaling Valley, are therefore seriously worried about their own survival and their children’s future.Nevertheless, they are forced to remain in their villages, as growing potatoes is their only source of income, along with the care of yaks.