The sudden and massive flood on the Bhote Kosi early Tuesday morning washed away a strategic bridge on Nepal’s main border crossing with China for trade, tourists and pilgrims. Slurry from the nearly 10m high debris flow left 9 dead and 20 missing, 12 of them Nepalis and six Chinese nationals, and 150 others were rescued by helicopter.&nbsp; Four <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-smarter-himalayan-infrastructure">hydropower plants</a> Rasuwagadi, Trisuli III, Trisuli, &nbsp;Benighat and the Trisuli substation sustained heavy damage, knocking &nbsp;out 230MW of Nepal’s power supply – approximately 8% of the total. Over 100 cargo trucks and new electric vehicles parked at &nbsp;Timure Dry Port were swept away. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mapping-kangchenjunga-glacial-flood-risk">Mapping Kangchenjung glacial flood risk</a>, Gabe Allen Officials had initially thought &nbsp;the Bhote Kosi had flooded due to heavy rain in Tibet. However, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) now say a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/living-below-nepal-s-melting-mountains">Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)</a> is likely.&nbsp; NDRRMA spokesperson Suresh Sunar said it was too early to tell which one, but the flood was most likely the result of one of the glacial lakes in Tibet. Bhote Kosi begins on the north slope of the Ganesh Himal near the Nepal-China border, and its tributary Lende drains the catchment area north of Langtang. The slurry flood on Tuesday was on the Lende (map).&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250709110720_bbc99c5f3e3d61a3d340892e0273fee3605a8d334a2beb354126137bcf0c8d27.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250709110720_bbc99c5f3e3d61a3d340892e0273fee3605a8d334a2beb354126137bcf0c8d27" data-rendition-name="original" width="629" height="759" loading="lazy" alt="Bhote Kosi flood map"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250709110720_39e2f574ff8c12cecda2e5a999d2ba8a0310f599f6b2261dcad7dd43f94df2a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250709110720_39e2f574ff8c12cecda2e5a999d2ba8a0310f599f6b2261dcad7dd43f94df2a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="997" height="613" loading="lazy" alt="Bhote Kosi flood map"> </figure>  “Preliminary study suggest that the disaster was not caused by rain in Tibet, but by a glacial lake burst, or another accident,” said Kamal Ram Joshi of the DHM. The level of water at a self-monitoring station in Timure in Rasuwa increased by 3.5m at 3:10AM on Tuesday morning while 13km downstream in Syabrubesi, the level rose by 3.65m at 3:30AM. The same station recorded 5.37m ten minutes later, after which it stopped giving a reading, possibly because the station was also washed away. The flood reached <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/neither-side-lost-both-sides-won">Betrawati</a> by 5AM, and some of the debris flow reached Mugling during Tuesday. DHM’s Flood Forecasting Division noted that there was no major precipitation in the Bhote Kosi watershed in Nepal and China in the 24 hours preceding the flood.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250708100724_313a684b65fc5317064779e47409a40f2bbce2c0c84db995e7f8fc6e1c142105.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250708100724_313a684b65fc5317064779e47409a40f2bbce2c0c84db995e7f8fc6e1c142105" data-rendition-name="original" width="3600" height="1662" loading="lazy" alt="Bhotekosi flood"> <figcaption>The Miteri bridge before it was swept away by the flood in Bhotekosi on the Nepal-China border. Photo: SUBASH DHUNGANA / RSS</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250708100732_ec43f13bae979f7b61bc0db939db4157dc93d3f0767ed527f564bd5c3d12be27.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250708100732_ec43f13bae979f7b61bc0db939db4157dc93d3f0767ed527f564bd5c3d12be27" data-rendition-name="original" width="720" height="432" loading="lazy" alt="Bhotekosi flood NT 2"> <figcaption>The bridge after the flood.</figcaption> </figure>  On Wednesday, several remote-sensing experts using Copernicus &nbsp;satellite images pinpointed the cause of the flood to Purepu Cangbu where supraglacial ponds had merged in June to form a large lake which did not burst, but overflowed &nbsp;and found a channel through englacial conduits to the headwaters of the Lende. The river meets the Bhote Kosi at the Nepal-China checkpoint in Rasuwa.&nbsp; “Analysis of weather forecasts and satellite data shows the Tibet region did not receive enough rain to cause this scale of flooding,” explained Binod Pokharel, associate professor of hydrology and meteorology at Tribhuvan University. “The flood could have been caused by a GLOF."&nbsp; Two weeks ago, Chinese officials had reportedly warned the Rasuwa District Administration in Nepal to be on high alert for floods on rivers that originate in Tibet. It could be that Chinese scientists had observed the alarming<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-climate-crisis-is-a-water-crisis-in-the-himalaya"> expansion of glacial lakes</a> in the Lende and Bhote Kosi catchments. If that was the case, it is an example of the kind of trans-boundary forewarning that would be critical to save lives in future.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250708100736_1710142917b30d4f85b343ed52743554d723db918c708f0bade8a0491ba999b2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250708100736_1710142917b30d4f85b343ed52743554d723db918c708f0bade8a0491ba999b2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1001" height="500" loading="lazy" alt="Bhotekosi flood"> </figure>  However, Rasuwa’s Assistant Chief District Officer Dhruv Prasad Adhikari seems to have knowledge of any warning from the Chinese side, either formally or informally. &nbsp; “The Chinese Embassy has said the cause of the flood is unknown that it will coordinate with Nepal to find the cause," Adhikari told us. Chinese Ambassador Chen Song and Prime Minister Oli visited the border on Tuesday (pictured). &nbsp; The sharing of real-time trans-boundary rainfall and river flow data would be crucial in early warning about the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mapping-kangchenjunga-glacial-flood-risk">risk and consequences of GLOFs</a> to reduce human and material loss. But Nepali officials say China has been reluctant to share weather-related information and data not just in this disaster, but in the past as well. “There is no mechanism or system in place for us to obtain hydrological and meteorological data of the Tibetan region,” said DHM Director General Joshi.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250710050732_eb09f183925e9f8131d9561659b2941f15147320f3cc3f6f01b7a61d54cd5103.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250710050732_eb09f183925e9f8131d9561659b2941f15147320f3cc3f6f01b7a61d54cd5103" data-rendition-name="original" width="3600" height="2399" loading="lazy" alt="PM Oli inspecting Bhote Kosi flood damages"> <figcaption>Chinese Ambassador Chen Song and Prime Minister K P Oli visited the Nepal-China border on Tuesday to inspect damages caused by the flood. Photo: RSS</figcaption> </figure>  The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/for-destruction-ice-is-also-great-and-will-suffice">Himalaya is melting twice as fast as the rest of the world</a> due to a phenomenon called ‘elevation dependent warming’, and receding glaciers have led to an increasing number of transboundary GLOFs.&nbsp; According to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/danger-nepal-s-glacial-lakes-are-filling-up">a 2018 ICIMOD study</a>, of the 47 of the most dangerous lakes that threaten Nepal, 25 are on glaciers in China, 21 in Nepal and one in India. Many of these glaciers are expanding rapidly due to global warming. One of the authors of the report, glacial lake expert Samjwal Bajracharya, says that the report was prepared based on data from 2015. But climate change has accelerated since then. Moreover, seismic activity has further destabilises the landscape, adding to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-glacial-lakes-in-danger-of-bursting">GLOF risk</a>.&nbsp; “Considering the rapid rate of snowmelt and consequent increase in size of Himalayan glaciers, studies should be conducted every year, and a monitoring system should be set up on the glaciers,” says Bajracharya. “However, no studies have been conducted in the Himalaya in a decade, which has been our biggest weakness.” &nbsp;

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News

Rasuwa flood likely a GLOF

<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/including-local-knowledge-to-study-climate-change">Alton Byers</a> has organised frequent research expeditions to the Himalaya for more than 50 years. Recently, he returned to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tracing-past-glacial-floods-in-kangchenjunga">Kanchenjunga region</a> which he has visited three times since 2019. His team was there to gather more data for an ongoing study of glacial, ecological and socioeconomic changes in the region. But, his attention was soon diverted when a young man from the local community told Byers that locals had noticed large meltwater ponds forming at the toe of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-kangchenjunga">Kanchenjunga</a> Glacier, upstream from Ghunsa and Kambachen. “He asked if we could go take a look at it,” Byers said. “We were on our way up to the Kanchenjunga base camp, so we made a detour. Sure enough, you could see these considerable lakes, perhaps a half-a-square-mile and growing.” Byers sprung into action. First, he interviewed other community members about the ponds — they confirmed the observations and growing concern. Then, over the ensuing months, he assembled a team of experts to conduct a study of how the ponds were changing. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17/10/1457#:~:text=This%20study's%20modeling%20results%20suggest,Ghunsa%20in%20the%20form%20of">The study was published in the journal Water earlier this month</a>. The paper outlines a number of potentially dangerous flood scenarios that could be triggered at the site in the future. The researchers urge regional authorities to implement mitigation measures, including a monitoring program and an early warning system for flooding.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250708030756_e4eda873993e7aa17a2e90dc95a162c85e4dc4627f6251ee8a9543681e3367b3.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250708030756_e4eda873993e7aa17a2e90dc95a162c85e4dc4627f6251ee8a9543681e3367b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1967" height="2128" loading="lazy" alt="Mapping Kangchenjunga glacial flood risk"> <figcaption>Predicted future Kanchenjunga proglacial lake extent and depth, frontal moraine, and potential avalanche location, which were used as input for modeling the GLOF cascade in r.avaflow. The background image is from Google Earth Imagery taken on 25 December 2020.</figcaption> </figure>  Byers’ first call for collaboration was to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/himalayan-people-appeal-for-sonam-wangchuk">Sonam Wangchuk</a>, an expert in snow and ice research via satellite imagery at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. The images were striking. From 2022 to 2024, the ponds grew from puddles to large, interconnected bodies of water.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250708030740_d60cec33fe26074cb49a6a7c4d8f42ef8870c63f606c945d60fc3bf0327b1a3b.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250708030740_d60cec33fe26074cb49a6a7c4d8f42ef8870c63f606c945d60fc3bf0327b1a3b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1861" height="2126" loading="lazy" alt="Mapping Kangchenjunga glacial flood risk"> <figcaption>Evolution of supraglacial lakes on debris-covered glacier (27.7726, 88.0187) at Kanchenjunga. Time series satellite composite images were acquired by Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument between September and October, with the exception of the April–May 2024 images. Two large and distinct lakes which expanded rapidly in 2022 and continued to grow in 2023 and 2024 are labeled as 1 and 2, for locational comparison with the oblique view taken on 25 May 2024. Photo: ALTON BYERS</figcaption> </figure>  “It’s sort of an indicator of how these melting processes are accelerating,” Byers said. Next, Byers and collaborators estimated that the meltwater ponds could form a large glacial lake. That lake, if it forms, will be vulnerable to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-mountains-are-melting">outburst flooding</a>, which could be triggered by melting processes, structural collapse or rockfall from surrounding slopes. Finally, the researchers focused their efforts on modeling potential floods. They identified four scenarios, from small to large.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250708030744_ecafcf2013548954fcd0c76ce9ab299d68222fae99892d168dcba70f0fd802ae.png" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250708030744_ecafcf2013548954fcd0c76ce9ab299d68222fae99892d168dcba70f0fd802ae" data-rendition-name="original" width="2637" height="3197" loading="lazy" alt="Mapping Kangchenjunga glacial flood risk"> <figcaption>Flood extent under various scenarios: areas impacted by all four GLOF scenarios are labelled as 4, those affected by three scenarios as 3, by two scenarios as 2, and by only one scenario as 1. (B) Hydrograph generated from GLOF modeling in r.avaflow and used as the input flow data for modeling each GLOF scenario in HEC-RAS. Flow depth and velocity at Kampachen (C,D) and Ghunsa (E,F). Discharge rate and time of peak, and flow arrival at Kampachen (G) and Ghunsa (H) under different scenarios.</figcaption> </figure>  Under the mildest scenario, the flood surge would travel 100km down the Tamor River, and under the worst-case scenario it would travel at least 220km with impact on houses and bridges, livestock, crops and tourism infrastructure. Byers warns that without adequate preparation, glacial outburst flooding can be deadly. The paper advises local and regional authorities to take measures to prevent a flood originating from the study site. Their recommendations include establishing early warning systems for flooding, partnering with research organisations in Kathmandu to monitor the site and adapting zoning laws to prevent new buildings in flood zones.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250708030748_dccee85332d2844413dc5693050899b4bc49a25f9c66abc6b1ac1f5a80786d58.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250708030748_dccee85332d2844413dc5693050899b4bc49a25f9c66abc6b1ac1f5a80786d58" data-rendition-name="original" width="1356" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="Mapping Kangchenjunga glacial flood risk"> <figcaption>Imja Lake, a glacial lake in the Mount Everest region of Nepal, began as meltwater ponds in 1962 and now contains 90 million cubic meters of water. Its water level was lowered to protect downstream communities. Photo: ALTON BYERS</figcaption> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-not-so-permanent-frost">The not-so-permanent frost</a>, Wilfried Haeberli and C Alton Byers One of the cheapest and most effective early warning systems is deceptively simple: cell phones. Says Byers: “Not everyone can afford multi-million dollar early warning systems that rely on laser readings of water depth. But, studies have shown that cell phones, at least during the daytime, are one of the better early warning systems out there.” Byers hopes the study can help the same people that brought the issue to his attention: “The goal was always to share the research with the local community. Then they have all of the information they need to make the best decisions possible.” <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/instaar/2025/05/27/researchers-model-dangerous-glacial-lake-himalayas-and-propose-solutions">Gabe Allen</a> is Senior communications specialist at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Mapping Kangchenjunga glacial flood risk

Barely 60km from the Nepal border in India is the village of Uditpur where most residents are retired <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/beginning-of-the-end-of-the-gorkha-empire">Gorkha soldiers and their descendants</a>. Called ‘Army Village’, there are 85 households with former veterans from Nepal and their families. Every other house in this neighbourhood belongs to a former soldier, and Nepali can be heard being spoken on the streets. The village was previously named Baikunthapur, but was renamed Army Village by the district magistrate as a sign of respect to Nepal by the Indian government, says Suk Bahadur Gurung, 76, one of the retirees. Suk Bahadur was deployed in the artillery unit of the Indian Army before retiring as a major in 1994, and now heads the Gorkha Village Social Welfare Committee. Gurung has a family of three including his wife Basanti and son Sonu who has followed his father’s footsteps and is posted with the Indian Army in the border town of Pathankot in Punjab. As tensions between India and Pakistan rose last month, Suk Bahadur worried for his son. “I have fought in previous <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nukes-in-the-neighbourhood">India-Pakistan wars</a>, it was our duty as soldiers,” he says, “but even so, I wish there was peace. As parents, we worry.”  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250703090736_273530fe33ad194f4249ab12ca68d01cc0e582ef9d4c8ec516c05bd52b648895.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250703090736_273530fe33ad194f4249ab12ca68d01cc0e582ef9d4c8ec516c05bd52b648895" data-rendition-name="original" width="2622" height="1681" loading="lazy" alt="Village in India with retired soldiers from Nepal NT"><figcaption>Gurung's descedants, including the next generation all live in a village near Gorakhpur. </figcaption></figure>  Suk Bahadur Gurung was awarded medals for his bravery in both the 1962 and 1965 wars with China and Pakistan. But now in late life, he says wars do not solve anything, and all disputes can be peacefully negotiated. The larger irony, of course, is that Nepali nationals are fighting on behalf of one neighbour against two other neighbours with which Nepal has good relations. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/recruitment-of-nepalis-into-indian-army-paused">Recruitment of Nepalis in the Indian Army</a> is a geopolitically sensitive matter. At present, there are an estimated 32,000 Nepali nationals in the Gorkha Regiments of the Indian Army, and there are many other Indians of Nepali origin. But recruitment of soldiers from Nepal into the Indian military has been stopped since 2022 after Prime Minister Modi’s Agneepath scheme. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-forgotten-gurkha-rebellion-e8z403ab">A forgotten Gurkha rebellion</a>, Ram Kandangwa Suk Bahadur Gurung was himself born in India but his ancestral home is in Gulmi district. It was his grandfather who moved to India after enlisting in the British Indian Army. After retirement, he stayed on in India. Suk Bahadur has not tried to trace his roots in Nepal, and does not feel the need either. “When my grandfather came here, he also invited our relatives and other people. There is no one left back in Gulmi,” he says.

Village in India with retired soldiers from Nepal

In 2023, northern India suffered record-breaking heat. In 2024, it broke its own record. In 2025, the Indo-Gangetic plains and the Nepal Tarai suffered a prolonged pre-monsoon heat wave and humidity, forcing closure of schools and workplaces. This week, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/europe-heat-wave-intensifies-as-fresh-warnings-issued/live-73108302">southern Europe is suffering the worst heat wave</a> since temperature records began. Football matches, tennis tournaments have been affected, and tourist sites have been closed off. Qatar has ordered a midday work curfew for Nepali and other migrant workers are the maximum temperature this week touched 45°C.&nbsp; Kathmandu Valley experienced its highest temperature in 25 years in May 2024 at 35.3°C. This year, the maximum temperature exceeded 30°C on many days — heat that till a decade ago would be considered unusual. Rains in early June also meant that towns in the mountains sweltered under high heat plus humidity.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250703090748_6975cfc2ad573f3a09ca301a299a9e92a420da7f1c5c90b8e4d061a2053dcd3e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250703090748_6975cfc2ad573f3a09ca301a299a9e92a420da7f1c5c90b8e4d061a2053dcd3e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1935" height="801" loading="lazy" alt="maximum average temperature in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Source: DHM</figcaption> </figure>  Measuring just temperature does not give a true picture of how hot it is. When humidity is factored in, the heat index this summer has been much higher in northern India and Nepal. Also, the hotter the air temperature the higher the concentration of water vapour in it. “We feel it is getting hotter, and our statistics back that up,” says Shanti Kandel at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, which issued two heat wave warnings this year, compared to 11 last year. “We need more research to analyse how humidity is make this situation worse.” <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/india-faces-alarming-30-rise-in-moist-heat-stress-over-40-years-affecting-wide-swath-of-country-imd-study/articleshow/109376863.cms?from=mdr">A recent analysis</a> by the Indian Meteorological Department has found that heat stress in that country has increased by nearly 30% over the past 40 years. Similarly, India’s Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) noted that cities like Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Lucknow have experienced a 6-9% rise in relative humidity in the last decade.&nbsp; It also states that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/majority-indian-districts-face-high-heatwave-risk-study-shows-2025-05-20/#:~:text=%22About%2057%20per%20cent%20of,usual%20number%20of%20heatwave%20days.">60% of Indian districts</a>, home to three-quarters of the country’s 1.3 billion people face a high to very high risk from extreme heat, with rising night-time temperatures and humidity. The heat index is also called ‘<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/north-indian-heat-wave-hits-nepal">wet-bulb temperature</a>’ and is a measure of how hot the human body feels when humidity levels are also high — usually much hotter than the recorded temperature. For example, a wet-bulb temperature of 35°C is considered the maximum limit of heat and humidity that humans can handle, beyond which the body cannot cool by perspiration, leading to death. One indicator of increasing humidity is a rise in average minimum temperature, and Nepal recorded the highest figure since 1981 last year, with a peak of 15.8°C. Higher minimum temperature denotes warmer nights, which in turn is an indication of heat stress caused by increasing humidity, which in turn is a result of global warming. Aside from higher average temperatures worldwide this year, what makes heat and humidity more unbearable is that cities are always hotter than their surroundings. This is due to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/preparing-for-kathmandu-s-heat-waves">urban heat island (UHI) effect</a> – for example the temperature inside Kathmandu’s Ring Road can be hotter by <a href="https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/what-are-heat-islands">up to 4°C during the daytime and by 1 to 3°C in the evening</a> compared to the outskirts. “Climate change is one reason for rising temperature, but there are other factors like increased heat in urban spaces due to concrete buildings and infrastructure, emissions from vehicles, industries, and home appliances,” explains urban planner Bhushan Tuladhar. He adds: “Much of this comes down to how we have developed our cities, not just our roads and buildings but also our water system, waste management, culture and customs as well as economy.” There is a feedback loop at work: as it gets hotter, more energy is used for fans, coolers, and air-conditioners which in turn add to the urban heat bubble. The way to reduce the UHI effect is to have more parks, tree-lined streets and water bodies to cool cities down.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212095525002093">A recent study published in the journal Urban Climate</a> by Nepali researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Tribhuvan University, University of Groningen, etc showed that even within Kathmandu, urban forests cooled neighbourhoods by as much as 1.2°C while ponds reduced the temperature by up to 0.85°C compared to nearby houses.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250703090748_e4de75dbdfb5fcfdeb0935eda364dc16b5dca8857ba335ab0f4586ebdc5093a9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250703090748_e4de75dbdfb5fcfdeb0935eda364dc16b5dca8857ba335ab0f4586ebdc5093a9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2580" height="1038" loading="lazy" alt="urban heat island in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Source: URBAN CLIMATE et al.</figcaption> </figure>  ‘Our results demonstrate that blue-green spaces provide significant cooling benefits across the Kathmandu Valley, with distinct patterns by type, size, design, and urban context,’ concluded the paper, whose lead author is Saurav Bhattarai at Jackson State University in the United States. The old towns in Kathmandu Valley with traditional brick and tile architecture, ponds and trees managed hot summers better. Compact houses around a courtyard gave people just the right amount of sunlight, and use of clay mortar and bricks insulated houses in winter while cooling them in summer. There were open spaces, fertile land along the floodplains for farming, and brick pavements that allowed for seepage. “Our cities were planned taking nature into account,” says Sangeeta Singh, a professor of urban planning at the Institute of Engineering. “Kathmandu Valley is now built up, but we can still reintegrate blue-blue spaces into town planning with vertical gardening, urban forestry, using local material and harvesting rainwater.”&nbsp; Kathmandu’s municipalities have by-laws controlling building design and structure, but strict enforcement of land use and zoning are missing. Extreme heat disproportionately affects the urban poor who may not have access to fans or air-conditioners, exacerbating poverty.&nbsp; Cities in the plains have it even worse. As heat and humidity rise simultaneously, it could <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/garmi-se-behal-chalo-nepal">reverse the current mass migration</a> of people from the mountains to the Tarai, where 53% of Nepal’s population lives. <a href="https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/92fbbbc6180238e18e7b239fad83e38a-0280032024/original/12-DHNT-Temperature-poverty-inequality-September-2024.pdf">A World Bank study</a> put the cost of a 1°C rise in temperature at 17.1% increase in poverty globally. Estimates put the total number of urban poor in developing countries exposed to the worst heat extremes at 26 million presently, this number is bound to grow to 215 million by mid-century, an over eight-fold increase. Meanwhile, 489,000 health-related deaths occur each year, 45% of them in Asia alone. “Heat has to be seen from a class perspective,” says Singh. “Those with money can afford gadgets and appliances to keep their homes and offices cool, but not day labourers or poor families living in cramped housing with poor ventilation.” Climate breakdown is going to widen the class divide in cities, as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/unthinkable-in-the-current-climate">summers become unliveable</a>. Says Singh: “We need policy intervention to address this class injustice. Our building by-laws and new town development must urgently integrate climate and energy efficiency elements.”

Sonia Awale

In the heat of the moment

Recent outrage in Sikkim over an Indian Army expedition climbing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-kangchenjunga">Kangchenjunga</a>, the world’s third-highest peak, has spiked attention to the need to balance mountaineering jobs with indigenous reverence for sacred landmarks. Kangchenjunga (8,586m) is not a peak as much as it is a mountain range with 16 peaks above 7,000m on the border between India and Nepal -- the word itself means ‘five treasures of the snows’ in Tibetan. Some of the highest prominences like Kangchenjunga West and Kangbachen are in Nepal, while the Main, Central and South Peaks are on the border. Climbing the peak from the Indian side has been banned since 2001 because the indigenous Lepcha community there regard the mountain as the abode of Dzoe-nga, the patron deity of Sikkim, which was an independent Himalayan Kingdom until it was annexed by India in 1975.&nbsp; Buddhists in Sikkim say their saint, Padmasambhava, recognised the mountain as a protective spirit. The state has declared the base of the mountain Kangchenjunga National Park, which covers an area one-third of Sikkim. ‘The act of scaling this sacred peak is not only a matter of serious concern but also a violation of both the prevailing legal provisions and the deeply held religious beliefs of the people of Sikkim,’ read a letter from Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) to Amit Shah, India’s Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation.&nbsp; Tamang continued: ‘We further request Your Honour to take up the issue with the Government of Nepal to ensure that no future expeditions are permitted on the sacred mountain, in deference to the deeply held beliefs and cultural values of the people of Sikkim.’ Kangchenjunga was climbed for the first time exactly 70 years ago by a British team who told King Tashi Namgyal, the Choegyal of Sikkim, that they would not set foot on the summit. Since then, there have been about 532 successful climbs of the peaks and 52 have died while trying.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250628060616_5c268e08cf49f36b79ef9b31933fc2d9bf9a6f65414e7ca06dd028bf04e7ccc1.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250628060616_5c268e08cf49f36b79ef9b31933fc2d9bf9a6f65414e7ca06dd028bf04e7ccc1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1782" height="1178" loading="lazy" alt="Kangchenjunga: too sacred to climb NT"> <figcaption>Indigenous communities in Sikkim held purification ceremonies following the Indian expedition to Kangchenjunga. Photo: THE VOICE OF SIKKIM / FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-climbing-season-2025-s4abrxny">This spring climbing season</a> alone, there were 70 climbing permits for foreigners issued for Kangchenjunga by the Nepal government, and made it to the top while one French climber died.&nbsp; One of the expeditions this year was an Indian Army team led by Col Ranveer Jamwal, who has summited the highest peaks on all seven continents, and Mt Everest thrice. Jamwal’s team was on the final leg of a ‘<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/nimas-summits-mt-kangchenjunga-concludes-historic-har-shikhar-tiranga-mission-successfully/articleshow/121341315.cms?from=mdr">Har Shikhar Tiranga</a>’ (The Tricolour on Every Peak) mission to plant the Indian flag at the highest points of each of India’s 28 states. Kanchenjunga was the last peak they had left, and the hardest, but the expedition put five climbers on the summit. What seems to have incensed the Sikkimese is that while it has banned climbing the mountain from its side, it was an Indian military expedition that went to Nepal to climb the mountain. After news broke of the climb in May, the Sikkim Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association asked people to observe purification ceremonies in temples across the state. Mayalmit Lepcha of the association acknowledged that the Sikkim government was also partly at fault: “I don’t think such an expedition could have gone forward without the state government being informed, so it could have done something to intervene. It shows weakness. What’s done is done, all we can do is carry out these sanctification ceremonies.”&nbsp; In 2000, one year before Sikkim’s ban, the state allowed an Austrian team to attempt Kanchenjunga’s northeast face for a fee of $20,000, on agreement that they would stop 10m before the summit. Despite this, there was outrage over the expedition on the grounds that it violated Indian laws regarding the defiling of religious sites and Sikkim’s rights to maintain its culture after merging with India. The Indian Army expedition was also seen to have circumvented Sikkim’s law and violated religious sensibilities by going through Nepal. While the team may have thought they were respecting Sikkim’s beliefs by finding a way to complete the mission, the people of Sikkim saw it as defilement.&nbsp; The somber mood of the Sikkim people at the ritual contrasts sharply with Jamwal’s sense of accomplishment. “Without a doubt, the most difficult summit of my life,” he told reporters after the climb. “It tested every ounce of our will.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250628060616_ccfe079c78dab788d19fe2080ee8a5d5dcb11de4157316f6d94e5964da097157.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250628060616_ccfe079c78dab788d19fe2080ee8a5d5dcb11de4157316f6d94e5964da097157" data-rendition-name="original" width="787" height="377" loading="lazy" alt="Kangchenjunga: too sacred to climb NT"> <figcaption>Prayer flags along the Sikkim-Kangchenjunga trekking route. Photo: TREKKINGININDIA.COM</figcaption> </figure>  The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">controversial Nepali-British mountaineer Nirmal Purja</a> was also on Kangchenjunga this spring the mountain, on a mission to summit all 14 8,000m peaks for a third time. He echoed Jamwal about the tough conditions: “The conditions above camp were extremely tough, with deep snow and challenging terrain—more crevasses than usual.” Nepal’s government has not said anything publicly, but it is unlikely that it will ban climbing on Kangchenjunga, since it is becoming popular with expeditions because of its technical challenges, and overcrowding on Mt Everest. Nepal does have bans in place for some of its mountains out of respect for local beliefs. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/to-open-machapuchre-for-mountaineering-or-not">Mt Machapuchre</a> (6,990m) the imposing pyramid that looms over Pokhara, for example, is seen as an icon of purity by the Gurung people and a symbol of Vishnu by the Hindu communities who live at its base. A strict climbing ban has been in place since 1957, when a British expedition led by Col Jimmy Roberts stopped 45m short of the summit – either because the last bit was too difficult or out of deference to local sentiments.&nbsp; Khumbila that stands above Namche Bazar is only 5,761m high, but like Kanchenjunga is considered the protector deity of the Sherpa people. Gauri Shankar on the Nepal-China border, called Chomo Tseringma by the local community, was off-limits between 1965 and 1979 due to its association with Lord Shiva and Gauri, his consort. Although expeditions are now allowed, there are not too many takers. In Tibet, climbing Mount Kailash is prohibited by the Chinese government because it revered by the Hindus, Buddhists and followers of the Bon faith. Even Mt Everest is regarded as sacred, and its Sherpa name is Chomolungma, Goddess Mother of the Earth.&nbsp; Economically, climbs on Kanchenjunga bring in decent revenue. This climbing season, the 41 permits, at $1,800 each, brought in $73,800. This is somewhat comparable to Makalu, Lhotse, and Annapurna I, but these numbers are dwarfed by the $4 million in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-everest-industry">Everest permits</a>. Revenue from Kanchenjunga climbing permits is something Nepal could potentially forgo if necessary, but the expeditions also provide jobs to hundreds of high altitude guides, porters, base camp support staff and other logistical costs.&nbsp; As the third highest mountain in the world and the tallest in India, there will always be significant motivation to climb it from the Nepal side, especially as climbers are drawn by the technical climbing at high altitude.

Vishad Raj Onta

Kangchenjunga: too sacred to climb?

A lot of the most critical healthcare software used in the United States, from insurance, medical records, &nbsp;analytics, billings to general operations are made in Nepal.
Coding is outsourced to IT companies in Nepal because it is cheap, and there is a large pool of coders with 15,000 graduates entering the job market every year.&nbsp;
Churn is low, and programming remains a desirable career, with people able to work remotely for high pay with little investment, often even without a degree.
Indeed, building US healthcare software holds up the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-needs-to-be-more-intelligent-about-ai">growing Nepali IT industry</a> which last year exported software worth $900 million, nearly as much as Nepal earns from tourism every year.
IT exports have a long history, starting from when Rudra Pandey co-founded D2Hawkeye, which pioneered healthcare analytics. The company is now Verisk Health. &nbsp;
There are over 15 technology companies that specialise in medical software, operating mostly as subsidiaries of US companies, but some are also ‘vendors’ that are completely Nepali-owned.
One such company is <a href="https://techkraftinc.com">TechKraft</a>, which builds software for clients across the world in healthcare, but also in finance. Its Executive Director Santosh Koirala says: “A big advantage Nepal has in making US healthcare software is simply how long it has been involved in it. This has created many domain experts, and new programmers here are technically excellent as well.”&nbsp;
The trust and skills that companies and individuals have built up is also how TechKraft gets clients, referrals and business, and they have to strictly ensure data security and privacy protection.
“This is personal information about people’s insurance, their visits to the hospital, their diseases. Any breaches could lead to expensive lawsuits,” says Koirala.&nbsp;
While it is much easier for subsidiary companies to keep data within their systems, vendors must put in place multiple layers of physical and cybersecurity to convince clients to work with them. They must work in what is called a ‘cleanroom’: a controlled environment where teams can work on sensitive data without compromising security or privacy.&nbsp;
Laptops and even pen and paper cannot leave the workplace, and all employees must pass training in globally recognised information security standards.
AI is transforming processing of healthcare data, and companies like TechKraft have integrated it in everything they do. Agentic AI is designed for a high level of autonomy, and can handle booking, rescheduling, and reminders for patient visits, detect anomalies in medical imagery, analyse patient data to create custom treatment plans, predict outcomes, even catch medical fraud.&nbsp;
AI also helps programmers at TechKraft write better code, faster. “AI has had a huge impact on our workflow, it is faster and more efficient,” says Koirala, ”but since it makes things so much easier, it may become harder to find business.”&nbsp;
It also means that a project may require only four engineers skilled with AI instead of say, ten. The remaining six are out of a job.
Another Nepali company, <a href="https://wiseyak.com">Wiseyak</a>, also works on a host of AI healthcare products. One is software that can diagnose diabetic retinopathy and pneumonia at least as well as the best doctors. Another is AI-EMR algorithms that can analyse patient data to provide insights and recommendations.&nbsp;
“We help doctors by building powerful tools, and not replace them.” says co-founder and CEO of Wiseyak Suresh Manandhar, who has been studying and working with AI for 40 years, long before it became a part of everyday life.&nbsp;
Wiseyak now wants to make software that can be used in Nepal’s hospitals to diagnose various diseases. For retinopathy, an AI is trained on publicly available datasets of retinal scans.&nbsp;
The model can then learn to detect a range of symptoms such as microaneurysms in the eye, ‘cotton wool’, and macular degeneration. It can then make a diagnosis based on the quantity and size of the anomalies it detects.&nbsp;
“AI can be fine tuned by feeding it retinal scans of Nepalis,” says Manandhar who admits to difficulties because medical records in Nepal are still paper-based and not digital, and few hospitals want to retool. “The government should &nbsp;invest and build momentum to adopt these technologies.”&nbsp;
Santosh Koirala of TechKraft is also president of Nepal Association for Software and IT Services Companies (NAS-IT), a group that focuses on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/self-learning-comes-before-machine-learning">policy and advocacy with the government</a>. He is optimistic about gradual progress in lobbying efforts.&nbsp;
“The government is slowly getting it,” he told us. “Removing limits to Foreign Direct Investment and allowing Nepali companies to have offices abroad are big steps in the right direction.”&nbsp;
NAS-IT also advises universities on the development of courses to keep students up to date with the latest developments in AI, as well as pushing for data insurance to make clients less reluctant to work with Nepali companies.
Both Koirala and Manandhar are optimistic about the general direction Nepal’s IT sector is going in, and can build on.
&nbsp;“There is a lot of potential which is being recognised quite quickly,” says Koirala. “We know the technology now, and we know how things are done at a global level. The next step is for Nepal to start making products that can be used widely across the world.”&nbsp;
IT products for application within Nepal are now designed in Nepal itself, and software companies such as eSewa were ahead of their time in the region.
Manandhar is also bullish: “There is no limit to how helpful AI can be for Nepal. Trained, super-specialised doctors are scarce, so AI can be a substitute and make them three, four times more efficient.” &nbsp;&nbsp;

AI widens scope for IT exports

On 16 March 2024, New Delhi Police arrested Neeraj Chauhan and others for selling fake anti-cancer drugs to patients at a hospital in a suburb of the Indian capital. The <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/fake-cancer-drugs-case-4-more-employees-of-delhi-gurgaon-hospitals-arrested-9217401/">Indian media reported</a> they were filling empty vials of expensive drugs with fake ingredients for which they charged up to INR300,000. They ran the racket in collusion with hospital staff, drug dealers, pharmacists, and brokers. Here in Nepal, the family that lost its mother two years ago to oesophageal cancer was shocked by the news. They had ordered a medication for cancer from the same Neeraj Chauhan in Delhi.&nbsp; The woman’s daughter told us her mother was treated between 2021-2023 at <a href="https://www.nepalmediciti.com/" target="_blank">Nepal Mediciti Hospital</a> by a team including oncologist Pankaj Barman, who is also Indian and allegedly put her in touch with Neeraj Chauhan. Barman’s team at Mediciti had treated the woman with chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy at Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital. She was readmitted to Mediciti on 5 February 2022 where Barman and another doctor, Vijay Sah, put her on Nivolumab, an immunotherapy drug, among others at various stages of treatment. She was in remission for a while before the cancer came back. The family reached out to Barman and Sah after the relapse, who advised another immunotherapy drug called Pembrolizumab, sold under the brand name Keytruda. The daughter was told the drug was not available in Nepal because it was very expensive and needed temperature control for storage. Barman is then said to have told the family about Neeraj Chauhan, who also supplied drugs at a cheaper rate to other Mediciti patients.&nbsp; The family purchased the drug, and started administering it to their mother, but her health deteriorated and a month later she died on 9 February 2023.&nbsp; Believing that they tried their best to save their mother, but she eventually died of a complex illness, the grieving family moved back to everyday life. A year later, the daughter chanced upon a news item in the Indian Express news about Chauhan’s arrest. Was the medicine they had ordered for their mother from Chauhan also a fake? This question haunted the family, and they started to investigate the drug and the company. When they went to the Department of Drug Administration (DDA), they found that Keytruda was not even registered in Nepal when it was prescribed to their mother. The daughter opted for legal remedy and filed a case at the Lalitpur District Court against Mediciti, the doctors Barman and Sah and Neeraj Chauhan as defendants demanding a compensation of NPR70 million.&nbsp; Counterfeit drugs is a major problem worldwide, and Nepal is affected because it borders <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3765" target="_blank">two of the biggest sources of fake medicines</a>. Domestic production now meets <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-taste-of-our-own-medicine" target="_blank">half of Nepal's needs</a>, but even here quality control is lacking with some manufacturers.&nbsp; Mediciti Response  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250624110616_11e8e677e3f55e1f9c35d608d1786354ffbafa51bdfec4d381b29a8ed1a8c032.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250624110616_11e8e677e3f55e1f9c35d608d1786354ffbafa51bdfec4d381b29a8ed1a8c032" data-rendition-name="original" width="1776" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="fake anti-cancer drug Mediciti"> <figcaption>Nepal Mediciti Hospital in Nakhu, Lalitpur.</figcaption> </figure>  Earlier this year, Mediciti Hospital filed a response at the Lalitpur District Court through its lawyer Manju Phuyal. It alleged that while the woman was indeed at Medicti, the family had tried to conceal that the patient was also treated at Paras Health in India in 2021. It also states that drugs not registered in Nepal have been used for treatment, since the law allows a doctor to recommend medicines essential for a patient, if a special permission is granted by the DDA. &nbsp; However, the department does not appear to have approved the use of Keytruda for the concerned patient. Mediciti also argued that there is no proof that the person mentioned in the news is the same Neeraj Chauhan who sold the medicine for the patient. Raj Rana, Medical Superintendent of Mediciti says the two doctors left the hospital voluntarily. Rana added, “Since it was a recommendation made by the doctor, the hospital was not responsible.” The Nepal Medical Council has launched an investigation and taken steps against Barman for practicing without renewing his license. Foreign citizens must apply for registration with the council every year, but Barman had not. The Council has also written to Chitwan Medical College where Barman worked till recently. Sah has not been investigated.

Drug dealers push fake medicine

Marking 80 years since the dawn of the nuclear age, peace advocates, diplomats, educators, and atomic bomb survivors from around the world gathered for the ‘Choose Hope’ Symposium recently in Santa Barbara, California.&nbsp; Co-organised by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF) and Japan’s Soka Gakkai International (SGI), the symposium was inspired by the 2001 dialogue book Choose Hope co-authored by NAPF founder David Krieger and SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, revisiting the ethical and strategic urgency of nuclear abolition. “This is not just about legacy,” said Ivana Nikolić Hughes of NAPF. “We are here to continue the journey they started and to build a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons.” Tomohiko Aishima, Director of Peace Affairs at SGI, recalled witnessing their dialogue firsthand: “What impressed me most was that their dialogue was not merely about ideals—it was a call to action, rooted in practical solutions.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025062212068_492dba80d3efcb28180c4114d0d892d1be5cb305b1a18b80fe55923eadebb53d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025062212068_492dba80d3efcb28180c4114d0d892d1be5cb305b1a18b80fe55923eadebb53d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1536" height="1311" loading="lazy" alt="Tomohiko Aishima of SGI opens the symposium with reflections on the dialogue between Daisaku Ikeda and David Krieger, which he witnessed during his time as a reporter at Seikyo Shimbun　"> <figcaption>Tomohiko Aishima of SGI opens the symposium with reflections on the dialogue between Daisaku Ikeda and David Krieger, which he witnessed during his time as a reporter at Seikyo Shimbun.</figcaption> </figure>  In the keynote lecture, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author Annie Jacobsen posed the question: “What happens if nuclear deterrence fails? No matter how it begins, nuclear war will end in total annihilation.”&nbsp; She explained that once a nuclear exchange is triggered, retaliatory strikes could spread globally within just seven minutes, leading to uncontrollable destruction and the collapse of human civilisation. A panel moderated by Hughes, Princeton University’s Professor Emeritus Richard Falk, Jimmy Hara of Physicians for Social Responsibility–Los Angeles (PSR-LA), Professor Peter Kuznick of American University, and ICAN Executive Director Melissa Parke addressed policy transformations urgently needed to prevent such a catastrophe. SGI’s Director for Disarmament and Human Rights, Chie Sunada warned against the increasing role of nuclear weapons in national security doctrines and said: “Nuclear deterrence itself is a threat to human survival.” Ambassador Elayne Whyte, who presided over the 2017 UN negotiations that adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), emphasized the need for sincere dialogue, even with those who hold opposing views. Atomic bomb survivor Masako Wada from Nagasaki addressed the symposium via video message, urging participants: “Continue telling the truth about the horrors of the bomb.” Mary Dickson, a thyroid cancer survivor and US ‘downwinder’ affected by radioactive fallout from nuclear testing, said: “We were deliberately exposed. Justice is needed not only for us, but for victims in the Marshall Islands, Kazakhstan, Polynesia, and everywhere else.” SGI United Nations Office Disarmament Program Coordinator Anna Ikeda shared testimony on the health effects, stigma, and trauma experienced by victims. “Nuclear justice means establishing the collective understanding that the use, testing, or threat of nuclear weapons can never be justified,” she said. Togzhan Kassenova from Kazakhstan presented findings on intergenerational health effects stemming from Soviet-era nuclear tests in Semipalatinsk in her country. Christian Ciobanu, representing Kiribati and Youth proposed establishing an international fund for victim assistance and environmental remediation. Veronique Christory of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stressed the importance of humanitarian principles in disarmament efforts.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025062212068_73f295f941b747e0d93946e73286b7f90b33f6a95175ac00b09ef123dd142d3f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025062212068_73f295f941b747e0d93946e73286b7f90b33f6a95175ac00b09ef123dd142d3f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1224" loading="lazy" alt="Miyuki Horiguchi of SGI left moderates the final panel discussion The Intersection of Climate and Nuclear Justice Empowering Youth for Change"> <figcaption>Miyuki Horiguchi of SGI left moderates the final panel discussion The Intersection of Climate and Nuclear Justice Empowering Youth for Change</figcaption> </figure>  In the final panel on The Intersection of Climate and Nuclear Justice: Empowering Youth for Change moderated by SGI Disarmament Program Coordinator Miyuki Horiguchi, Anduin Devos of NuclearBan.US reflected on how concern over the climate crisis led her to become involved in the anti-nuclear movement.&nbsp; “Resources spent on nuclear weapons should be redirected to address climate solutions,” she said. Young activists Kevin Chiu and Viktoria Lokh spoke on the importance of integrating youth voices into nuclear policy discussions. Horiguchi cited a Native American proverb ‘We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children’ and a quote from the book Choose Hope: ‘Hope is another name for youth.’ The symposium’s final declaration also underscored the role of culture and creativity in promoting peace and deepening empathy and concluded with the adoption of <a href="https://www.nuclear-abolition.com/language/full-text-choose-hope-symposium-declaration/">the Choose Hope Declaration</a>. With the Doomsday Clock set at 89 seconds to midnight, the declaration warned that a nuclear-free world is possible only through intentional and collective choices.&nbsp; ‘We choose hope over despair,’ it stated. (<a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/">INPS Japan</a> in collaboration with <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/">Soka Gakkai International</a>.) <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yX2XfmoIsyQ?si=kyweJ4SISA4rKw2a" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX2XfmoIsyQ">Annie Jacobsen, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Nuclear War: A Scenario delivers the 20th Frank K Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future at the start of the symposium.</a>&nbsp;

From deterrence to disarmament

Widespread abuse of antibiotics has led to patients not responding to treatment because bacteria causing infections have developed resistance to the drugs.&nbsp;
In 2021 alone, the last year for which statistics are available, nearly 20,000 patients died because the antibiotics they were prescribed did not work for such diseases as tuberculosis, pneumonia and other infections.&nbsp;
Now, public health experts are pushing for vaccines to address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Nepal. Vaccines are highly effective tool since they prevent infections, reduce the need of antimicrobial use thereby mitigate the emergence and spread of AMR.
Last week, the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership Nepal (GARP -Nepal) in collaboration with Nepal Public Health Foundation and The One Health Trust launched a policy brief titled ‘The Value of Vaccines to Mitigate Antimicrobial Resistance’.&nbsp;
“We need to integrate vaccines more effectively into national AMR strategies and cross-sectoral collaboration under the One Health framework,” said Sharad Onta of the Nepal Public Health Foundation. “The solution to antimicrobial resistance in Nepal is prevention, since there is no cure for it. And vaccines are an effective tool.”
Narayan Dhakal of the Department of Drug Administration (DDA) agreed that preventing infections was easier and cheaper than treating it with antibiotics. He added: “Promoting WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) and infection prevention measures can be effective complementary strategies.”
The launch event brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministry of Health and Population, the Department of Livestock Services, academia, clinical professionals, veterinarians and non-government stakeholders like World Health Organisation, and FHI360.
Overuse of antibiotics in the veterinary sector has also contributed to AMR in humans due to the chicken, eggs and various other meats in the food chain. &nbsp;
Paras Kumar Pokharel of GARP-Nepal said: “Effective vaccination programs can lead to herd immunity, where a large proportion of the population is immune, protecting even those who are not vaccinated. So, maximise coverage and minimise anti-microbial uses.”&nbsp;
Sameer Mani Dixit of the Centre for Molecular Dynamics Nepal (CMDN) said: “We need more action, not more words to fight AMR in Nepal.”
The GARP policy brief recommends actions that include sustained policy advocacy, use of health economics to demonstrate vaccine benefits, and learning from best immunisation practices. It calls for inclusion of the livestock sector, adherence to treatment guidelines, prioritisation of high-risk populations, and improved surveillance systems.&nbsp;
The brief also emphasises the need for evidence generation, investment in vaccine development and regulatory support, international collaboration, and efforts to ensure equitable access, public education, and AMR awareness.

Drugs vs Bugs

This week, all seven of Nepal’s provincial governments announced their annual budgets even as debate in the federal parliament over the central budget has been stalled for two weeks due to obstruction by the opposition RSP. There are no big surprises in the provincial Red Books — they are all in the red with reduced allocations from the centre. Even so, while Gandaki and Lumbini have slightly reduced the size of the budget compared to the preceding fiscal year, the budget for the other four provinces are marginally bigger. Even though revenue is short, the central and provincial governments have chronically been plagued by their inability to spend what has been budgeted, especially under capital expenditure. Five out of the seven provinces have in fact spent less than half of their allocated budget, the other two have fared only slightly better. The provinces’ underspending, as well as the flurry of last minute budget dispensation across projects (known as ‘असारे खर्च’ after the current Nepali month) has been attributed to competing political interests, mismanagement and kickbacks on projects. For instance, while Lumbini has been able to spend 59.1% of its allocated capital expenditure, Madhes Province has managed to spend just 16% of its development budget even though it has the second biggest budget among the seven provinces for the upcoming year. Even as provinces struggle to spend their budgets and implement development projects, the federal leadership in Kathmandu continues to display its reluctance to decentralise power to the provinces, and to hold tightly to the purse strings, rendering the provinces largely functionless.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025062001064_0ccb183b0c1f65fcd798ecb826c5d11f04d0a381c78f864bf00698041ad74450.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025062001064_0ccb183b0c1f65fcd798ecb826c5d11f04d0a381c78f864bf00698041ad74450" data-rendition-name="original" width="1337" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Federalism express NT"><figcaption>Photo: @PHALANO</figcaption></figure>  August marks the tenth anniversary of the promulgation of the 2015 Constitution and the establishment of a three-tiered system of government that envisioned the devolution of political power from Kathmandu to provinces and local municipalities. In the decade since, local governments have been lauded for their performance as the country’s municipal units saw multi-sectoral grassroots development. Rural municipalities and elected ward councils were forced to be more accountable to voters since they were in close proximity. However, the mainstream political parties and their leaders have continued to override the authority granted to provincial governments by the Constitution – especially when it comes to revenue collection, policy-making, and decisions on development projects. Earlier this month, Gandaki Province decided to suspend its newly-introduced Ride Sharing regulatory guideline after the Prime Minister’s office sent a letter instructing it to temporarily halt implementation following nationwide protests by public transport entrepreneurs associations who oppose the new regulation, and many of whom are affiliated to the ruling parties. The federal government’s circular overriding a provincial decision on local transport went against the Constitution and infringed upon the rights of the provinces. “Our federalism was supposed to be a cooperative system,” explains federalism expert Khim Lal Devkota. “But citizens and civil society, the political leadership and bureaucracy across all three levels of government have not yet let go of their Kathmandu-centric mindset.” The dissatisfaction with dysfunctional provincial governments has contributed to the perception that federalism is wasteful and should be scrapped, a narrative that the pro-monarchist parties have used in their rallies to get rid of the 2015 Constitution. It is true that federalism was an outcome of the peace process, and a demand the Maoists wanted fulfilled in exchange for giving up arms. But devolution was never allowed to deliver at the grassroots. “Nepal’s three-tired government was the result of our vision not of a limited government, but one with maximised capabilities of looking over all affairs of the state,” explained political scientist Sanjeev Humagain at a recent event discussing the rise of right-wing populism in Nepal and globally. “But perhaps we have not fully understood the concept of this political system, or we think of federalism as a transitional idea until we eventually adopt another form of governance,” he added. A recent survey by Social Science Baha gauged how Nepal’s ‘local elite’, people who wield socio-political influence at the subnational level, view federalism. As expected, the survey found that a majority of the respondents feel positively about the performance of local governments. The survey also showed support for federalism, but there was dissatisfaction with the functioning of provinces, along with recognition that there was too much interference from political parties and their leadership in Kathmandu reluctant to cede authority to them. ‘The state of federal and regional party politics marked by ever-changing alliances leading to frequent changes in government at both levels has eroded confidence in the provincial governments being able to perform efficiently,’ read the report. ‘Government officials and civil society representatives alike also viewed provincial governments as passive recipients of the federal governments’ plans, policies and projects contradicting the very purpose of creating provincial governments in the first place.’ But not everything can be blamed on the central government. Many provincial leaders are happy to be proxies of their parent parties, and lack initiative to use their constitutionally mandated right to self-governance. Opposition to federalism is also fueled by the idea that it has merely decentralised corruption, that it unnecessarily triplicates overhead costs of government and is wasteful. The general feeling is that it is an expendable and costly second tier of government. But data contradicts this. Nepal’s Economic Survey 2024/25 shows that the share of provinces in the total national expenditure last year was just 10%, and has remained consistent since the first elections under the federal system in 2017. Says Khim Lal Devkota: “Federalism is still nascent in Nepal, and we must give it a chance to stand on its feet. Nepal must not be a laboratory to experiment with new systems of governance just because the existing one is not working fast enough for our liking.”

Shristi Karki

Federalism Express

The debate about who is less accountable to the public: politicians or bureaucrats is as old as Nepal’s democracy itself.
Some blame politicians for being beholden to the businessmen who finance their electoral campaigns, and are forced to return the favour with contracts and kickbacks when in power.&nbsp;
Others say it is civil servants who are neither civil nor servants, and know the inner workings of the system to exploit loopholes – they then teach ministers, MPs, mayors, or ward chairs which juicy projects can be squeezed. And everyone gets their share.
In reality, it is probably not a case of either, or. Both have their hands deep in the honey pot. Corruption is now such a given that yet another exposé in the mainstream press, like the latest visit-visa scam, does not raise eyebrows anymore.
We may have to edit Lord Acton’s famous quote to say that in Nepal we do not even need absolute power to corrupt absolutely. The ruling cartel has divvied up the spoils, so that no one ever faces charges. The three parties all know about the skeletons rattling in each other’s closets, and they cancel each other out.
Politicians and bureaucrats get all the blame for taking bribes, but what of the givers of bribes? In this crony capitalism, businesses invariably need political patrons in an elaborate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-only-growth-industry-private-sector-corruption" target="_blank">national network of give-and-take</a>.
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-only-growth-industry-private-sector-corruption" target="_blank">Politicians and businesses work hand-in-glove</a> so that conflict of interest in contracts, insider trading, cartelling, and non-performing assets of banks become the norm. Our survey after the 2017 local election showed that out of the 753 newly-elected local government chairs, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/elected-contractors" target="_blank">nearly 300 were contractors</a> involved in sand-mining, quarrying, or transportation syndicates.
Nepal’s tycoons have discovered that instead of donating to election war chests of politicians, it is a much surer return on investment to spend the money to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-business-of-politics-in-nepal" target="_blank">become legislators and politicians themselves</a>.
In democracies, there are checks and balances to control corruption when it becomes endemic. The Nepal Police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are supposed to do the detective work without political interference. The courts are required to be independent in dispensing justice and punishing crooks.
But the less said about the judiciary the better. A writ petition in the Supreme Court last week accused our sister magazine <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/" target="_blank">HimalKhabar</a> of contempt of court for two stories: one about how high courts have been overturning a majority of verdicts of district courts in cases of rape, and another about the Biratnagar High Court clearing a self-proclaimed holy man, Krishna Bahadur Giri, of rape despite police presenting physical evidence.
The doctrine of the separation of powers stipulates that it is when the other three pillars in a democracy are compromised that the role of the free press becomes even more vital. The world over, as soon as populist autocrats are elected to the executive, their first order of business is to co-opt the legislature and the judiciary. Then they buy off, intimidate, or neutralise the media with Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP).
Nepal’s officialdom seems to be taking midnight Zoom lessons from other despots on how to gag the media. Last month, popular talk show host Dil Bhushan Pathak was served an arrest warrant by the Kathmandu District Court for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CntsnTrtG8" target="_blank">a YouTube explainer</a> about the alleged involvement of the son of Foreign Minister Arzu Deuba Rana in a reported purchase of Kathmandu’s Hilton Hotel.
The Lalitpur District Court ruled that Pathak could not be arrested without fair trial, but this week the Kathmandu District Court filed another case against the journalist based on a complaint by the Cyber Bureau, and put him on a fugitive list.&nbsp;
Without going into the veracity of Pathak’s explainer, it is deeply problematic that the Electronic Transaction Act has been invoked – proof that politicians are getting the courts and investigating agencies to make an example of a high profile journalist.&nbsp;
The intention is to silence media investigations into the fake refugee scandal in which the main partner in the ruling coalition is implicated, and in which one of its former home ministers was jailed last year.
The Kathmandu High Court has been mysteriously active in targeting journalists these days. <a href="https://bizmandu.com/" target="_blank">Bizmandu</a> and <a href="https://nepalkhabar.com/" target="_blank">Nepalkhabar</a> were served a notice last month <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-freedom-after-expression-y4inku06" target="_blank">to withdraw a story they did</a> on the Chair of the <a href="https://www.sebon.gov.np/" target="_blank">Security and Exchange Board of Nepal (SEBON</a>) Santosh Narayan Shrestha allegedly demanding kickbacks from hydropower investors.&nbsp;
Incredibly, the court even asked the two portals not to report on the subject anymore – a ruling so absurd that the Patan High Court overturned it a week later.&nbsp;
The allegations against Shrestha were made in a public meeting of the <a href="https://www.ippan.org.np/members/3060/bungal-hydro-ltd" target="_blank">Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN)</a>, and MPs demanded a <a href="https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/parliament-demands-probe-into-sebon-chairman-over-alleged-commission-demand-40-32.html" target="_blank">Parliament inquiry</a> into the regulator. <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/144523/santosh-narayan-shrestha" target="_blank">HimalKhabar</a> reported this week that while Shrestha was reportedly demanding commissions from private investors for IPOs, he cleared primary share sales in Bajhang’s 10.75MW <a href="https://www.ippan.org.np/members/3060/bungal-hydro-ltd" target="_blank">Bungal Hydro</a> in which his family members have investments, company records show.
And then just on Monday, bureaucrats hoodwinked MPs by deleting references in a bill requiring a two-year ‘cooling off’ period under which retiring civil servants could be barred from holding constitutional positions for two years.
The contest for who is more corrupt: bureauacrats, politicians, or the private sector is on.
Kunda Dixit

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Village in India with retired soldiers from Nepal

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AI widens scope for IT exports

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From deterrence to disarmament

Drugs vs Bugs

Federalism Express

Rasuwa flood likely a GLOF

Kangchenjunga: too sacred to climb?

SLAPPing Democracy

In the heat of the moment