Lt. Col. Bharat Lal Shrestha, who led the team of soldiers during the
six-month project, said they were able to lower Imja Lake's water level
by 3.4 meters (11 feet), averting the immediate risk of an outburst.
Imja, at an altitude of 5,000 meters (16,400 feet), is considered one
of the most likely glacial lakes to burst its banks because it keeps
rising every year from melting snow and ice from the Himalayan
mountains.
Forty soldiers working with around 100 villagers dug through boulders
and rocks to build an outlet to drain out as much as 4 million cubic
meters (141 million cubic feet) of water from the lake.
The soldiers, who camped out in tents and worked through the rainy
season, battled high-altitude sickness, freezing temperatures, snow and
strong winds.
"It was physically tiring working in an area where there is about half
the oxygen available, but we were able to complete the task and ensure
the villagers and visitors are safe," Shrestha said.
The team was sent after years of warning from environment groups that
the glacial lake, which is up to 150 meters (500 feet) deep, could burst
anytime, causing flash floods that could sweep many villages.
A devastating earthquake that struck Nepal in April 2015 is believed to have made the lake even more unstable.
Shrestha said at least five villages right beneath the lake with a
total of about 8,000 people would have been in danger of being flooded
if the lake had burst its banks.
Thousands of Western and Nepalese tourists visit the area during the
autumn and spring to trek the trails to the Mount Everest base camp.
http://www.cortezjournal.com/article/20161101/AP/311019924/Nepal-drains-dangerous-glacial-lake-to-safe-level
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