As the crisis is particularly grave in the Himalayas where the glaciers are receding fast, members of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) have emphasised the need to study the effects of global warming on mountain glaciers. "If nothing is done within the next decade or two, the Indus, the Satluj, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra are likely to become seasonal rivers," they warn.

Highlighting this grim fact at a press conference here on Thursday, IMF president H. P. S. Ahluwalia said: "Greenhouse gas emissions are causing drastic climate changes in the Himalayas. Receding glaciers and a rise in the rate of melting of ice are resulting in a significant increase in the flow of many rivers, thereby posing a serious threat of floods and drying up of the sources of the rivers. To study all this and more, the IMF has decided to undertake a scientific and exploratory expedition. Our perennial rivers, the Indus, the Satluj, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, which have been sustaining life for centuries, are likely to become seasonal rivers over the next decade or two."

On the occasion, Major Ahluwalia on behalf of IMF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Director of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Liang Limin, for exploring the feasibility of launching an Indo-Chinese joint expedition to study the effects of global warming on the mountain glaciers and explore the sources of the Brahmaputra and the Satluj. The Indo-Chinese expedition of the IMF and the Chinese Academy of Sciences is all set to embark for Tibet in China in June next.

Revealing that the last known recorded exploration of the sources of the Brahmaputra and the Satluj had been undertaken more than a century ago, Major Ahluwalia said that after the famous explorer Sir Young Husband's exploration no attempt had been made to explore the sources of "these two mighty rivers".

"India is a non-starter as far as pollution is concerned. We mountaineers have decided to save the Himalayas in whatever way we can. We would also share information of our investigation. The Chinese Government has accepted our proposal to conduct the study in their country."

The study area is mainly restricted to the Pulan and Zhada regions of Tibet, where there are two famous mountains -- Mount Kailash or Gang Rinpoche and Mount Jiemayangzong -- where glaciers are widespread. Comprising four Indian and three Chinese scientists and two mountaineers because of mountainous topography, the team will collect baseline data so as to have better "management of our water resources".