Cutting a sorry figure, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has admitted that its conclusion on melting of Himalayan glaciers by 2035 was based on "poorly substantiated" estimates while the scientist blamed for the goof-up pointed the finger at the expert who included the year in the UN report.

The panel, led by Rajendra Pachauri, expressed "regret" for "poor application of well established procedures" for concluding that Himalayan glaciers would melt completely by 2035.

"It has recently come to our attention that a paragraph in the 938 page Working Group II contribution to the underlying assessment refers to poorly substantiated estimates of rate of recession and date for the disappearance of Himalayan glaciers," an IPCC statement said in Geneva.

"The Chair, Vice Chair and Co Chairs of the IPCC regret the poor application of well-established procedures in this instance," it said.

However, the IPCC stood by its overall conclusion on the accelerated melting of glaciers in major mountain ranges like Himalayas, Hindukush and Andes throughout the 21st century.

Syed Iqbal Hasnain, the scientist who is working with the Pachauri-led Energy and Resources Institute, had himself admitted that by 2035 glaciers would recede but now he backtracks saying it was nothing more than speculation.

"I am not an astrologer. I can't say that the glaciers will melt in 2035 or 2040. I gave an interview in 1999 for New Science popular magazine where I have said that the glaciers will lose their mass in 40 to 50 years and glacier mass will decline drastically. But they won't disappear, they just put a number on it," he said.

(With PTI inputs)