Charcoal Plan Must Be Put On Ice

M.A. Chitale of India's Central Water Commission does not give up. Yet again, there is a flurry of consternation over his proposal to cover Himalayan snows with charcoal dust, the idea being that charcoal absorbs solar heat, which helps more snow to melt, which increases the flow of the north-Indian rivers, which, supposedly combats drought. "The threat of drought could be eliminated if the vast frozen ocean on the high mountains were tapped," says Chitale. Our research, however, reveals the following:

— there are inherent dangers in fiddling with the complexities of nature. Glaciers, such as Pindari and Gangotri are already receding, and artificially accelerating this trend with charcoal could be ecologically costly. Glaciers play a crucial role in controlling climate and water level in the major river systems. The sub-continent does not need man-made catastrophes to supplement natural calamities.