Mandi, Sept. 2 -- IIT Mandi has conducted a study on 2,000 glacial lakes and classified nine to twelve lakes as critical amid the expansion of water bodies due to glacial melting.

Dericks P Shukla, founding chairperson and Associate Professor at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, IIT Mandi, told ANI that rising tourism, which causes pollution and dust deposits on glaciers, has led to melting and climate change, which also cause permafrost melting, leading to instability in terrain.

Shukla said, "There are many aspects to it. The glaciers are melting, and with a rise in tourism, there is carbon and dust deposition. This deposition is enhancing glacial melting. There is permafrost in the areas where the average temperature...