A Special Session
on
“Cryosphere Dynamics, and Glacial Lake Evolution, under Rapid Climate Warming”
22 February 2026, 15:00 to 16:30 PM
during 4th Roorkee Water Conclave
Transboundary Water Cooperation Through Nexus Approach
23-25 February, 2026
In Connection with
Coordinators:
Professor Ashish Pandey, WRDM IIT Roorkee,
Dr. Surjeet Singh, Scientist ‘G’ & Head C4S, NIH Roorkee,
Dr. Lavkush K Patel Scientist ‘D’, C4S, NIH Roorkee
Venue:
Centre for Cryosphere and Climate Changes Studies (C4S),
Society Room, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee
Background:
Glaciers are indispensable regulators of global climate and freshwater supply, sustaining billions of people worldwide. However, anthropogenic climate change since the 1800s has accelerated glacier retreat, altering cryospheric processes and threatening water security, ecosystem stability, and hazard resilience. The United Nations has declared the year 2025 as the “International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation” and designated 21st March as the World Day for Glaciers, emphasizing the urgent need to understand and safeguard glacier systems. Mountain regions, particularly the Himalaya, serve as critical freshwater reservoirs; accelerated warming in these regions has intensified glacier mass loss, rapid glacial lake expansion, and an increasing frequency of Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs).
The 4th Roorkee Water Conclave (RWC 2026), scheduled during 23–25 February 2026 at IIT Roorkee, jointly with the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee, provides a premier platform for policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, and water professionals to discuss global water challenges. Given its proximity to the Himalayan cryosphere and leadership in water research, RWC 2026 is uniquely positioned to host a dedicated session on cryosphere dynamics and glacial hazards.
Themes of the Special Session:
- Recent advances in glacier mass balance, debris-covered glacier dynamics, and cryosphere–climate interactions.
- Share recent research on glacial lake evolution, stability assessment, and monitoring methodologies.
- Examine physical processes, modelling approaches, Glacial lake outburst Floods (GLOF) modelling and early warning systems for GLOFs.
- Explore cryosphere–hydrology linkages and implications for long-term water availability, hydropower, and basin-scale water management.
Expected Outcomes:
- Consolidation of state-of-the-art research on glaciers and glacial lakes.
- Identification of emerging challenges in GLOF risk assessment and management.
- Strengthened dialogue between scientists, policymakers, and practitioners on sustainable water management in glacier-fed basins.
- Promotion of international collaborations and integration of cryosphere monitoring into national water security strategies.
Potential Contributions:
The session will include keynote lectures, and invited technical presentations by national and international experts from cryosphere science, hydrology, remote sensing, and climate modelling communities like:
Dr. Parmanand Sharma, Scientist ‘F’, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa
Dr. Praveen Thakur, Scientist/Engineer- SG & Head, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, ISRO, Govt. of India, 4-Kalidas Road, Dehradun
Dr. Manish Mehta, Scientist ‘E’, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG)
Mohd. Farooq Azam, Associate Professor. Indian Institute of Technology Indore, India
Dr Sushil Kumar Singh, SCI/ENG-SG. Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad
Prof. RAAJ Ramsankaran, Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
And Other
Significance:
This Special Session aligns with global priorities on glacier preservation and provides critical insights into the interplay between climate warming, glacier dynamics, glacial lakes, and water resources, contributing to both the scientific depth and societal relevance of RWC 2026. It underscores India’s leadership in cryosphere research and water security discourse.
Introducing CAMELS-IND: A Hydrometeorological and Catchment Attributes Dataset for Peninsular India
- Session Title
Introducing CAMELS-IND: A Hydrometeorological and Catchment Attributes Dataset for Peninsular India
# 2. Description
This side event will introduce the CAMELS-IND dataset, a comprehensive hydrometeorological time series and catchment attribute resource from catchments in Peninsular India, with a focus on the 228 catchments containing observed streamflow records for more than 30% of the period 1980–2020. CAMELS-IND provides 19 meteorological variables, 211 catchment attributes, and incorporates both observed and LSTM-predicted streamflow data, making it a valuable asset for large-scale hydrological studies, water management, and climate impact assessments in India.
The session will cover:
- Overview and motivation behind the creation of CAMELS-IND dataset.
- Illustration of the data structure of CAMELS-IND
- Hands-on analyses enabled by CAMELS-IND, including regional hydrology, human influences, and benchmarking models
- Live demonstration: accessing and visualizing the data
- Q&A and discussion on future research possibilities and collaborations
# 3. Prerequisites
- Basic knowledge of hydrology, hydrometeorology, or water resources
- Familiarity with data analysis tools (e.g., Python/R) is helpful but not mandatory
# 4. Focus Group
- Hydrologists, water resources engineers, and researchers
- Climate scientists and environmental data analysts
- Graduate students and early-career researchers in related fields
- Policymakers and practitioners interested in Indian hydrology and water management
# 5. Expert Name with Full Details
- Ashutosh Sharma, Department of Hydrology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Email: ashutosh.sharma@hy.iitr.ac.in
- Pankaj Dey, Assistant Professor, IIT Indore
- Nikunj K. Mangukiya, Postdoctoral Scholar, NUS Singapore
# 6. Maximum Number of Participants
40
# 7. Guidelines, if any
- Participants are encouraged to bring laptops for hands-on exploration of the dataset
- Prior registration is recommended due to limited seats
- No prior coding experience required, but familiarity with datasets and basic statistics will be beneficial
# 8. Any Other Relevant Information
- CAMELS-IND Data Repository: https://zenodo.org/records/14999580
- Manuscript: https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-461-2025
- For more information: Eco Hydro Lab, Department of Hydrology, IIT Roorkee (https://tinyurl.com/yn8a9mcu)
- The session will provide QR codes for quick access to data and publication.
Workshop cum Special Session
on
“Water-Food and Managed Aquifer Recharge Nexus”
during 4th Roorkee Water Conclave
Transboundary Water Cooperation Through Nexus Approach
as part of SPARC-GIANT project “Integration of Managed Aquifer Recharge
and Water-Food Nexus in Higher Education”
Coordinators:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. T. Grischek – HTW Dresden, Germany
Dr.-Ing. C. Sandhu – HTW Dresden, Germany
Dr. Hemant Kumar – IIT Roorkee, India
Background:
As India is the highest GW abstractor worldwide (especially from the Indo-Gangetic plains), there is an imminent need to enhance the management of aquifer recharge (MAR) techniques in the region. MAR including the natural treatment technique of riverbank filtration (RBF) are recognized as increasingly important water management strategies in areas faced with changing climate, rising intensity of climate extremes or overexploitation of GW resources, in order to maintain, enhance and secure stressed GW systems and to protect and improve water quality (Dillon et al., 2019). IIT Roorkee, HTW Dresden (Germany), NIH Roorkee and TU Dresden are conducting a workshop cum special session on the MAR – water-food nexus in the South Asian context.
Themes of the Workshop cum Special Session
The session will provide presentations and posters whose content is aimed to:
- present new international and Indian concepts for water-food nexus and MAR,
- demonstrate the purification capacity of RBF at worldwide sites in context to the water food nexus,
- present the application and development of such concepts,
- include research, case-studies and/or experiences on water-food nexus, MAR and RBF
- and offer a platform for an open discussion on the future direction of R&D on RBF in India.
Key resource persons
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Grischek, HTW Dresden, Germany (Session Chair)
- Dr.-Ing. Cornelius Sandhu, HTW Dresden, Germany
- Dr. Hilmar Börnick, TU Dresden Germany
- Dr. Gopal Krishan, NIH Roorkee, India
- Dr. Hemant Kumar, IIT Roorkee, India
- Experts from the network of the Indo-German Competence Centre for Riverbank Filtration from India and Germany
Format
- Duration – 90 minutes
- Short talks/presentations by the delegates (RWC attendees)
- Equal opportunity for all presenters would be ensured.
Organisers
Dr. Hemant Kumar – IIT Roorkee, India [hemant@ce.iitr.ac.in]
Prof. Dr.-Ing. T. Grischek and Dr.-Ing. C. Sandhu – University of Applied Sciences Dresden (HTW Dresden), Germany [cornelius.sandhu@htw-dresden.de]
Acknowledgements
This workshop cum special session is an activity of the project “Integration of managed aquifer recharge and water-food nexus in higher education”, funded through the SPARC program by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, and the GIANT program of the DAAD with funds from the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.
References
Dillon, P., Stuyfzand, P., Grischek, T. et al. (2019) Sixty years of global progress in managed aquifer recharge. Hydrogeol. J. 27, 1–30.