Gangotri Glacier System (GGS)

Published on 17 Nov 2025

• A study by IIT Indore and ICIMOD (Nepal) reveals that the Gangotri Glacier System (GGS), the primary source of the Ganga, has lost 10% of its snowmelt flow over 1980–2020 due to rising temperatures and climate change.

• It is located in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand within Gangotri National Park, is one of the largest Himalayan glaciers originating from the northern slopes of the Chaukhamba range.

• It is a compound valley glacier, fed by several tributary glaciers like Meru,Raktvarn, Chaturangi, and Swachand glaciers.

• It is fed by peaks including Shivling, Thalay Sagar, Meru, and Bhagirathi III  and it terminates at Gaumukh, from where the Bhagirathi River emerges and later joins the Alaknanda to form the Ganga at Devprayag.

  
  

Keywords:

Gangotri Glacier System GGS Ganga river Gangotri National Park Gangotri National Park Climate change Glacier melting