Libya, Greece, Spain, China — videos of catastrophic floods have flooded the international media.&nbsp; Floods swept away most of the Libyan city of Derna, killing more than 11,000 people. Climate change was blamed, but it was also caused by war and unheeded warnings about weak dams. The disasters are a warning to Nepal where a range of factors could worsen monsoon flooding in the coming years. The Melamchi flood in 2021 that nearly destroyed Nepal’s largest infrastructure project, and this monsoon’s destructive floods in eastern Nepal show that these disasters are already happening.&nbsp; But every monsoon there is also a flood of recrimination in India about Nepal releasing water on its rivers and unleashing floods — even though there are no reservoir projects and sluice gates on two border barrages on the Kosi and Gandaki, both controlled by India. &nbsp; Yet, every monsoon the media in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are full of headlines blaming Nepal.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-kosi-returns-to-its-old-ways">The Kosi returns to its old ways</a> The 2008 flood that affected 2.3 million people in Nepal and India was actually caused by a breach in the eastern embankment of the Kosi. The rain that year was not even heavy, so one wonders what would happen in a year when there is abnormal precipitation in the Kosi catchment.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023092204098_d8c61f36859d2d0f2aef053ea1c5a15358d618a3d8b2e772dba7ba06e8d38e0b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2023092204098_d8c61f36859d2d0f2aef053ea1c5a15358d618a3d8b2e772dba7ba06e8d38e0b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Kosi NT"> <figcaption>Photo: GOPEN RAI</figcaption> </figure>  “After the completion of Kosi Barrage in the 1960s, the embankments have collapsed about eight times until now, but the major one was 2008,” says Ajaya Dixit, a water expert.&nbsp; In 2008, the Indian media had ill-informed headlines like ‘Nepal opened the Kosi Barrage’ which has affected public opinion. The real story is about faulty engineering of the barrage and its embankments on the Kosi, which is a river with one of the highest sediment loads in the world. Eklavya Prasad, water campaigner who is with Megh Pyne Abhiyan in Bihar, says it is unreasonable to blame Nepal for annual floods in India. He explains: “Geographically, a large number of Himalayan rivers flow down from Nepal and discharge the waters and sediment into the north Bihar region. It is a natural drainage path that flows across the international boundary and beyond human capabilities.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kosi-s-sorrow-and-scope">The Kosi’s sorrow, and scope</a>, Kanak Mani Dixit Kosi, also known as Sorrow of Bihar, is notorious for frequently changing its course. In the last 200 years, the Kosi has gradually shifted 120km westwards. “River always chooses the path of least resistance. And when it doesn’t get to flow, it forces its way through,” says Dixit.&nbsp; Ignoring this nature of the river when infrastructure and new settlements are designed on old floodplains is what has increased the intensity and impact of floods. In many ways, it is the same reason Kathmandu gets flooded every monsoon. Infrastructure has been sited along floodplains constricting rivers such that even moderate rain becomes destructive. “All of the 56 floodgates of the Kosi Barrage are operated by the Bihar government, and if they fail to open the Nepal side is flooded. If they are opened, the flood goes downstream,” says Dwarika Nath Dhungel, former secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-geopolitics-of-nepal-s-water-and-electricity">The geopolitics of Nepal’s water and electricity</a>, Ramesh Kumar Although there is no clear clause on the operational right of the barrage in the agreement between Nepal and India, on the Kosi Project, Dhungel surmises that a subclause is being used by India to manage the barrage. Says Dhungel: “The same clause also uses the word 'maintenance' of barrage here, but there has been no maintenance effort from the Indian side.” The barrage impounds water forcing the river to deposit its sediment behind it so that the river is now flowing a few metres above the surrounding land — increasing the dangers of floods.&nbsp; The solution to transboundary floods is to look at the river system in totality. If India and Nepal are to prepare for cataclysmic water disasters in the future, the two countries must work together. The ‘national interest’ in harnessing Nepal’s rivers must be based on bilateral benefit. Says Ajaya Dixit: “Studying the nature of the rivers, not just where it floods but also from where it originates, and incorporating these elements while building infrastructure can minimise the risk of river-related disasters.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-nepal-ignore-climate-crisis-in-river-talks">India, Nepal ignore climate crisis in river talks</a>, Ramesh Bhushal

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A flood of recrimination

On the evening of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster">15 June 2021</a>, Baburam Bhandari was sitting down for dinner with his family, when the police sent out a warning about a flood on the Melamchi River.&nbsp;
The family quickly started packing, but the debris flow soon engulfed the house. While Bhandari, his wife, daughter-in-law, and grandson survived, the flood took away his son Madhav.&nbsp;
“All I have now is a piece of paper,” says Bhandari, holding up his land ownership certificate (pictured above last week). "Everything else, my son, my home, my crops, they are all gone.”
<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/the-monsoon-mess-in-melamchi">The flood</a> claimed the lives of 25 people in Helambu, 360 families were displaced, their homes and farms destroyed. Downstream in Melamchi Bazar, two motorway bridges, six suspension bridges, 41 government buildings and 322 houses were destroyed with losses estimated at Rs57.3 billion.
Nepal sustains infrastructure damage worth 2% of its GDP annually, amounting to Rs80 billion to calamities like this. The state spends Rs 700 million in reconstruction. &nbsp;
A 2021 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/narrow-escape-for-melamchi-fact-finding-team">postmortem</a> of the Melamchi flood by ICIMOD blamed extreme weather caused by climate change and human factors, concluding that glacial moraines collapsed and washed down older sediment deposits.&nbsp;
Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state"> In a disastrous state</a>, Sonia Awale
The Nepal Engineering Association also concluded that the flood was due to a localised cloudburst at the headwaters of the Melamchi River with slopes destablised by the 2015 earthquake contributing.&nbsp;
“While rainfall was evenly distributed over monsoon seasons in the past, it now rains heavily in short localised bursts due to climate change,” explains geologist Basanta Raj Adhikari at Pulchok Engineering Campus. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Lack of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-needs-weather-stations-in-the-himalaya">accurate local weather forecast and early warning</a> has also been cited as contributing to disaster-related loss and damage.&nbsp;
Floods similar to Melamchi hit eastern Nepal in June this year, causing damage worth Rs121 billion, affecting 15 hydropower plants and washing away highways in Panchthar and Taplejung. But Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology was still predicting that the monsoon was a few days away.
What caused the deadly flash flood was that a later westerly front blocked the progress on the monsoon, forcing it to dump the rain over eastern Nepal.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) says 34 people have been killed in the first 23 days of the monsoon, with disaster-induced losses amounting to Rs10 billion.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/think-globally-in-glasgow-and-act-locally">At COP27 in Glasgow</a>, there was a proposal for developed countries to help climate vulnerable nations by compensating for climate change-induced loss and damage. However, this fund has not got anywhere due to a lack of commitment from rich countries. The Biden administration in the US has flatly refused to fund loss and damage.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/we-have-not-respected-the-fragility-of-the-himalaya">“We have not respected the fragility of the Himalaya”</a>, Nepali Times
But there are things Nepal can do <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/drones-to-the-rescue-in-melamchi">with its own resources</a> to adapt to the climate crisis. Rajendra Raj Sharma Nepal, formerly with the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport says substandard infrastructure and their location in high-risk areas adds to the loss of life and property and the cost of reconstruction and rehabilitation after disasters.&nbsp;
“The mayors themselves want the work done before the assessment is complete to cut costs,” says Sharma.&nbsp;
The National Planning Commission's ‘Sustainable Development Goals, Status and Roadmap: 2016-2030' states that physical infrastructure construction must be strong, well-planned, safe, and sustainable. In reality they are anything but.
Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Strategic Plan of Action (2018-2030) focuses on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/a-disaster-resilient-nepal-is-possible">disaster risk reduction</a>, relief and rescue.
The head of the NDRRMA Anil Pokharel says there is little hope that the West will keep its pledge for a loss and damage fund, but feels successive governments have also not done enough. He says, “Houses, roads, and bridges are a priority but as much attention needs to be paid to the suffering of families affected by disasters.”
All this is no relief at all for the family of Baburam Bhandari and others in Melamchi Valley two years after the disastrous flood that upturned their lives.
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/better-forecasting-reduces-flood-impact-in-nepal">Better forecasting reduces flood impact in Nepal</a>

Lost and damaged

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/637219399c7e80680e0baa8ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>The Melamchi flood of 15 June last year and several hours of a historical hailstorm on 20 February earlier this year in Pokhara are just the two latest examples of climate-related loss and damage in Nepal.The Melamchi flood almost exactly a year ago went beyond lives lost and infrastructure damaged. The entire stretch of the scenic river valley lost its base of ecosystem services and aesthetic value that was a draw for visitors.There are several theories concerning the origin of the flood and what exactly triggered it, but there is no doubt that it is a combination of climate change-related trends.The other freak weather event, an off-season heavy rainfall coupled with hailstorm during the dry season meant that much of the ready-to-harvest paddy in Pokhara valley was laid to waste. The intensity and the subsequent damage was unprecedented.But is Nepal, one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate emergency, ready to cope with loss and damage on such scales?Nepal’s existing two-pillar climate policy — adaptation and mitigation — does not have provisions to compensate for the losses and damages. This policy is therefore grossly inadequate and ineffective in saving lives, livelihoods and ecosystems.In fact, with climate change impact now crossing the adaptation threshold, loss and damage have become unavoidable across vulnerable countries. This requires the third pillar for a climate solution, namely Loss and Damage (L&amp;D), a concept which gained momentum during the COP26 in Glasgow last year.But the L&amp;D mechanism is moving at a much slower pace during global climate negotiations, with some fundamental disagreements remaining unresolved, especially as the developed nations intend to limit response measures within the scope of the adaptation and mitigation pillars, and have not accepted L&amp;D for fear of additional economic burden.One of the reasons behind this is that, while the global discourses on L&amp;D are helpful to inform theoretical debates, they rarely offer practical solutions. A growing body of anticipatory research advocates L&amp;D as the third way to counter multi-dimensional climate change impact, but falls short of clarifying an approach and an actionable framework to measure and respond to the loss and damage events.In a notable progression of the agenda, the 2013 Conference of Parties (COP) adopted the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage. This first international policy document paved the way to address the issue. Since then, the focus of global advocacy has been on securing climate finance to support the most affected countries with weak economies.In recent years, Nepal has been pursuing the agenda at international fora by sharing anecdotal cases of recurrent climate-induced loss and damage. But, despite being a ‘hotspot’ for climate change extremities and subsequent impact, progress on L&amp;D remains extremely slow with climate policies lacking robust framework to guide action.Weather ‘surprises’ have become the new normal, and Nepal is on an uncharted path of climate crises bearing immense losses. But what is worrying is that the intensified climate impact is pushing many communities and ecosystems beyond adaptation thresholds.Reports of loss and damage start pouring in from early monsoon and continue for the next 100 days during which 80% of the country’s annual rainfall occurs. The predictable pattern of rhythmic monsoon rains has now become more erratic with short, intense and localised rainfall, often followed by a period of longer breaks or droughts.Rainfall events in Nepal are still recorded at weather stations with 24-hourly manually operated rain gauge. Thus the ‘mean’ and ‘average’ climate data of the past could not measure instant fluctuations and extreme weather incidents, rendering them quite useless when it comes to determining trends like cloudbursts.The good news is that record-keeping has largely improved over the years even though these are not easily accessible to the public. Linking local incidents of loss and damage to instant data of extreme weather and climate phenomena (intensity, frequency and volume) may help to identify and articulate the L&amp;D issues more clearly in the days ahead.Like many developing countries, Nepal’s early responses to climate change were framed largely based on global scenarios as there was no scientific database at local levels. While these shortcomings persist, the rapid emergence of medium and large scale climate extremes is already taking a toll on the national economy and livelihoods.With the recently launched ‘National Framework on Climate Change-induced Loss and Damage, 2021’, Nepal has positioned itself among the countries in the frontline to articulate the loss and damage component, redefining it in the national context with a focus on the urgent need of saving the diverse natural ecosystems and development infrastructure, including cultural heritage.The definition itself reflects the underlying ideas but it hardly helps with identifying and categorising the recurrent events in the country. As the Least Developed Countries advocate for compensation payments based on assessments of economic and non-economic losses, the focus should be on assessing, categorising and prioritising the changing climate and weather events. Nepal now must address L&amp;D through a three-pronged strategy.First, by recognising it as a critical component of climate response at home, and a key strategy for policy negotiation.Second, by mapping adaptation thresholds and the unavoidable risks to lives and livelihood, accommodating underlying economic and ecosystem vulnerabilities of localities to create a scientific analysis and database.Third, by making our development plan climate-resilient through the use of scientific data and transparent governance so that we can avoid or minimise risks and losses, such as the Melamchi flood at the start of the monsoon exactly a year ago.All of this means conceiving a multifront response mechanism to save lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable at local levels while strengthening the national database of climate-induced losses and damages by overcoming the existing barriers.Ngamindra Dahal is the chair of Nepal Water Conservation Foundation for Academic Research (NWCF) and a Senior Research Fellow at Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies. Hemant Ojha is a Senior Policy Adviser with the Institute for Study and Development Worldwide (IFSD) and an Associate Professor at the University of Canberra.

Who will pay for climate disasters?

<figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14149c7e80680e0a995cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>After the flashflood of international media coverage of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the climate emergency has now fallen off the headlines. The Nepali delegation has returned after setting ambitious targets for forestry, adaptation and net-zero.Now, the real work begins. It is time to walk the talk, so that the people of Manang and Melamchi who suffered devastating floods this monsoon do not just get relief, but are protected from future climate calamities.My own home and farm along the Melamchi <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/think-globally-in-glasgow-and-act-locally/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/think-globally-in-glasgow-and-act-locally/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637647216248000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1l6Qdqf2cPzviP8RzuawAE">was washed away by the freak floods of 15-16 July</a>, and there is no doubt that the severity of extreme weather has increased due to the warming trend in the Himalaya.  Despite being pitted as a ‘make-or-break’ climate summit that would set strict global targets to reduce carbon emissions by 45% from 2010 levels in the next nine years, and net-zero by 2050, to keep the warming at 1.5°, the UN conference was reduced to just a photo-op for leaders from over 140 countries and their 40,000+ delegates.Aside from their own combined carbon emissions for roundtrips to Glasgow, the leaders did not show the needed commitment to limit global heating to below 2° Celsius, let alone 1.5°. In fact, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) submitted by 194 countries will bring down the warming to only 2.4°. Global carbon emission cuts are needed to prevent continental-scale wildfires, more extreme heat waves, flash-floods, glacial melt,  and mass extinctions. The summit also came short in delivering committed finance to developing countries and addressing loss and damage issues. At most, the two-week-long intense negotiations ended with the adoption of the ‘Glasgow Climate Pact,’ which was watered down with the last minute change from coal ‘phaseout’ to ‘phasedown’. But semantics aside, the explicit mention of coal reduction in the climate summit was indication that fossil fuels may finally be on their way out.Even so, the COP26 outcomes did not meet the expectations of countries like Nepal. The Nepal delegation sent a clear message about the urgency of tackling the planetary emergency, citing recent experiences of climate-induced disasters in the country, and pledged to do its bit.Developing countries failed to get desired commitments from industrialised countries about compensation for climate-induced disasters, especially on the agenda of ‘loss and damage’ which would have directly benefited Nepal.The demand of developing countries in establishing the Loss and Damage Facility to finance and support poor and vulnerable nations where climate adaptation limits are exhausted was limited to agreeing on the functions and financing arrangements for technical assistance under the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage.The failure of developed countries to jointly mobilise $100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action was met with harsh criticism prompting them to lay out the ‘Climate Finance Delivery Plan’ in meeting the previous commitment as well as pledge to double the adaptation finance by 2025.Similarly, a clear roadmap was developed to decide on a new collective quantified goal on climate finance going beyond 2025 from a floor of $100 billion per year. A work program from 2022 to 2024 to deliberate and agree on a new goal has been set up.COP26 completed the remaining elements of the Paris Agreement ‘Rulebook’ that had been pending for six years. Market and non-market rules for trading carbon credits have been agreed upon by allowing nations to meet their NDC target by offsetting through green projects in other countries. Developing countries including Nepal gain to benefit from investment in renewable energy, forest protection and other carbon reduction projects through the flow of capital and technology transfer. A levy of 5% from these projects will go to the Adaptation Fund to support adaptation actions in developing countries.Industrialised nations have committed to double adaptation finance with grant components. They have also pledged nearly $1.5 billion to the Adaptation Fund (AF), Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). Nepal must reap benefits from these limited opportunities for its climate action.If Nepal is to benefit from any of these outcomes and international agreements, it will have to start meticulous preparation. More importantly, we need to craft a robust implementation plan with the neediest and the most vulnerable at the centre, to meet the climate targets we have committed to in the NDC and the National Adaptation Plan submitted to the UN.At the end of the day, attending international conferences and raising mountain issues will not protect local communities from the worsening impacts of the climate crisis. These climate summits provide guidance, but most of our work has to be done here at home.Let us start with what is within our resources: build climate resilient communities by electrifying transport and cooking, reduce the import bill and improve public health. Raju Pandit Chhetri works on climate change issues and attended the recently concluded COP26 in Glasgow. <img width="80" height="109" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14179c7e80680e0a995djpeg.jpg" alt="">Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/think-globally-in-glasgow-and-act-locally/"> Think globally in Glasgow, and act locally</a>, Raju Pandit Chhetri

Post-COP26, Nepal’s real work now begins

The monsoon, and nature’s arithmetic

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93019c7e80680e06f180jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1502" height="1000"/><figcaption>Mahendra Shrestha, 61, of Melamchi Bazar breaks down as he surveys the damage to his house on Wednesday. Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>Nepal sits upon a pyramid of problems: poverty, inequality, exclusion, domestic violence, social injustice, l<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-epidemic-of-hunger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ack of food</a> ... the list is long.On top of all that, for more than a year now, Nepalis have struggled with the health and economic emergency set off by the pandemic. And this week, we suffered floods that killed at least 25 — mostly in the same areas affected by the 2015 earthquakes.Meanwhile, Nepal’s predominantly rain-fed agriculture is affected by extreme weather events exacerbated by the climate crisis. Nepal had the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG7snQxuyb8ljJ-v8_vj85fB3rJtg">worst wildfire season</a> in living memory this spring. Right across the Himalayan foothills, the mountains burned from November till March – and at its peak there were nearly 2,000 fires raging out of control.The scorched earth barely had time to regenerate when <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF6XySMZiv3mcpFc2sspLEcF7C1MQ">the monsoon arrived this week with a bang</a>. A low-pressure system lingered over Central Nepal 13-16 June, dumping record precipitation, much of it in the trans-Himalayan region which is supposed to be in the rain-shadow. The denuded slopes could not hold the water, and the runoff surged into rivers washing away homes, bridges, roads and hydropower plants.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93049c7e80680e06f181jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1174" height="770"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Disasters are of two kinds: ‘natural’ calamities that hit without warning, and slow-moving ones that worsen incrementally. Earthquakes, floods and landslides get all the media attention — especially if there are good social media visuals. News, by definition, has to be unexpected, preferably sudden and with lots of casualties in one place.Journalism is less prepared to cover lingering crises, where thousands die over time, silently and scattered across remote areas of the country. The fact that half the country’s children suffer some form of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/hunger-for-governance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">malnutrition is a disaster</a>  So are the high maternal and neonatal mortality rates. These are silent emergencies.We chronicle the daily Covid-19 death toll, but there are no headlines that say dozens of children died yesterday all over Nepal due to preventable causes. There is no one doing that daily tally, and announcing it in a press briefing.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93079c7e80680e06f182jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2244" height="1122"><figcaption>Aerial view of the Melamchi Water Supply Project headworks is covered in mud after Tuesday's flashflood. Eight staff, including Indian and Chinese nationals are missing. Photo: SHER BAHADUR TAMANG</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/dont-just-blame-god-for-floods-and-landslides/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/dont-just-blame-god-for-floods-and-landslides/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHKPr6SuzZQataATHZkSSug0XBLuA">Natural disasters are not natural</a>. Floods by themselves do not ‘wreak havoc’, they do so when houses are allowed to be built along floodplains. This week’s floods in Manang, Mustang, Kaski, Sindhupalchok were not unexpected. The intensity of rain may have been beyond our control, but preparing for a flood in a high-risk zone should have been.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/sindhupalchok-losing-hope%20,2224" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/sindhupalchok-losing-hope%2520,2224&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE3Asf_cnEe616L_p7i6YacCKXJnA">Sindhupalchok</a> was hit by both the 25 April and 12 May <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/being-prepared-for-monsoon-and-outbreaks,2293" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/being-prepared-for-monsoon-and-outbreaks,2293&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGldHe3LcBfv9vWQUhfUXZhfPWjmQ">earthquakes in 2015, </a>which caused massive landslides. Haphazard road-building on fragile slopes increased the danger, and one of these landslides blocked the Melamchi about 3 km upstream from the headworks of the water supply project. A similar slope failure dammed the Indrawati.When it burst, the Melamchi Khola swept into the water supply project camp, and eight people including six Indian and Chinese and two Nepali workers are missing. Downstream, two more bodies have been found and 17 are more unsccounted for. Luckily, the 26.5km tunnel bringing water to Kathmandu from Melamchi had been closed a few hours before for inspection, and this saved the project from major damage.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b930a9c7e80680e06f183jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2110" height="1388"><figcaption>The Melamchi Khola was dammed by a landslide 3km upstream from the tunnel intake. Photo: SHER BAHADUR TAMANG</figcaption></figure>The torrent of liquid mud on both rivers arrived simultaneously at their confluence in Melamchi Bazar. Geographer Narendra Khanal has traced the Indrawati River blockage to a point 20km upstream. The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology monitoring station shows the Indrawati flowing at 4.7m at 4OM on 15 June, decreasing to 3m, and then shooting up to 6m at 6:45PM.“This is an indication that the river was blocked upstream in an area with major landslides after the 2015 earthquake, and suddenly the water broke through,” Khanal explains.T<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHl03Z5EnJptFLNkk3GSzcew1FCVw">he river overflowed into Melamchi Bazar</a> at high velocity because much of the sand and boulders that would have slowed it down had been mined by construction contractors.He says none of the glacial lakes in the Jugal Himal appear to have burst. Although this was fortunate, it also shows how much more catastrophic future floods can be if <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/danger-nepals-glacial-lakes-are-filling-up/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/danger-nepals-glacial-lakes-are-filling-up/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGpEfjfrRnTUfi0zqzCpVxtkmmU-A">expanding Himalayan lakes formed by global warming burst</a>.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b930c9c7e80680e06f184jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1440" height="1074"><figcaption>Google Map showing the Melamchi and Indrawati Rivers and the location of landslide dams. Illustration: NARENDRA KHANAL</figcaption></figure>The reason for the loss of property was not the flood itself, but unplanned construction on the floodplain. Luckily, Ward 11 Chair Rudra Dulal in Melamchi Bazar had advance information about the incoming flood and moved 100 families out of harm's way after informing police to begin evacuation.“We received an early warning and we mobilised our team, informed everyone. This is the only reason why we didn’t have any casualties in our community,” Dulal says.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93109c7e80680e06f185jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1686" height="656"><figcaption>Measurements on the Indrawati on the evening of 15 June showed how the water level dropped and rose suddenly, indicating that the river was dammed upstream. Graph: DoHM</figcaption></figure>Elsewhere, at least 12 under-construction hydropower plants have been badly damaged. The worst hit was a 44MW project nearing completion on the Madi Khola in Kaski. The powerhouse and headworks were hit, while 15 excavators, tipper trucks and other vehicles washed away. Other functioning private and government hydropower plants in Central Nepal have either been shutdown as a precaution, or have been damaged.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-braces-for-monsoon-pandemic-double-hit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-braces-for-monsoon-pandemic-double-hit/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE1lKvl7D25KSM42Af5nLcpa0I1MQ">None of this was unexpected.</a> Anil Pokhrel of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) had warned last week that weather modellers had predicted that this year’s monsoon would be above average in Nepal. What could not be forecast was how much more rain there would be, and which districts would be most vulnerable.Indeed, areas of the Himalayan rain shadow which usually lie north of the mountains and receive scanty rainfall, were also bad affected after continuous rain for 24 hours from Monday till Tuesday afternoon.Pokhrel of the NDRRMA had <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/a-disaster-resilient-nepal-is-possible/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/a-disaster-resilient-nepal-is-possible/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGXs55ZclYXxCduK6EEyQl0Crdbfw">written in Nepali Times</a> last week: “<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/wildfires-ravage-nepal-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/wildfires-ravage-nepal-mountains/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFbSPEJs2UX-K7QIAOTig451h4l5A">Wildfires that raged for months</a> burnt through forest-shrub cover, undermining the ability of mountain slopes to absorb rainfall and prevent soil erosion. This could potentially result in more landslides and floods.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93129c7e80680e06f186jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2081" height="1260"><figcaption>Weather modelling by the South Asia Climate Outlook Forum last month showed that the 2021 monsoon would be above normal in most parts of Nepal. Source: NDRRMA</figcaption></figure>Last year was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/deadly-monsoon-in-nepal-turns-deadlier/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/deadly-monsoon-in-nepal-turns-deadlier/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDVMmcO2dZ90k97FCI0k-ydO2hNw">the worst monsoon season</a> in the past two decades in terms of casualties: there were 500 major landslides, nearly 300 killed and 70 missing. Most of the landslides were, again, in Sindhupalchok and were blamed on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-deadliest-monsoon-in-recent-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-deadliest-monsoon-in-recent-times/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH4Q6nXwNjQTaXeXHnXeFPJ9JHJfw">poor and unregulated road construction </a>that disturbed the slopes.A cyclonic circulation over northern India means the rains have continued along the Himalayan foothills, and it is forecast to continue through the weekend. In Melamchi Bazar, there was fresh warning of inundation and people were evacuated on Thursday afternoon.As the monsoon progresses, much of the flood action will shift to the Tarai. There, too, this year the floods will 'wreak havoc'. And again, the submergence will largely be due to constriction of rivers by embankments, settlements along flood plains, perimeter walls that act as dams, and the denudation and destruction of the Chure Range.There was a flood of recrimination last year, many <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/in-nepal-either-too-much-or-too-little-water/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/in-nepal-either-too-much-or-too-little-water/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624001295575000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFQI0_rIuaafLfQ4j-eHmMPV_JmRg">commentators lamented the lack of oversight. </a>But there has been no let-up in destructive road-building. This week, Nepal’s seven provinces passed budgets in which most of their revenue is going to be derived from quarry and sand-mining contractors allowed to unsustainably exploit natural resources. The government has allowed river valleys and the fragile Chure <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-nature-of-pandemics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to be mined for stone exports to India</a>.With politicians distracted by one upmanship, and federalism not functioning because of micro-management by parties in Kathmandu, this season of disasters will be talked about for a while. Until next year’s monsoon.

Disasters in Nepal come in waves

<figure><img width="1875" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86989c7e80680e067863jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The summit ridge of Mt Everest on 22 May before the bad weather from the remnants of Cyclone Yaas stopped climbing. Photo: MINGMA G</figcaption></figure>More than 100 international <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/peak-season-on-everest-during-nepals-peak/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climbers and their Nepali guides who braved a Covid-19 outbreak at base camp</a> are now stuck at 6,500m on Camp 2 of Mt Everest because of high winds and days of heavy snow over the Himalaya.The periphery of Cyclone Yaas has been more or less stationery over central Nepal for the past two days, and is expected to linger till late Saturday. It has already forced some expeditions to give up their summit bids on Everest and Lhotse, while other climbers are stuck high on other mountains.Some climbers who were on their way down after summiting Everest earlier this week are also trapped at Camp 2. Among them, there are injured mountaineers who were hoping for a helicopter rescue, reports said.The mountaineers are racing against time because the official end of the climbing season is 31 May, after which time the ‘Ice Fall Doctors’ stop maintaining the route up the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Khumbu Icefall</a> on Everest. However, if there are enough climbers still making a push for the top after the snowstorms stop, there is talk of extending the season by a few days.Despite the pandemic, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/peak-season-on-everest-during-nepals-peak/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this year saw a record number of expeditions on Mt Everest</a> and other 8,000m peaks in the Nepal Himalaya. There were 42 expeditions and 408 foreign climbers from 80 countries just on Mt Everest. <img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b869b9c7e80680e067864jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b869e9c7e80680e067865jpeg.jpg" alt="">There were 100 other mountaineers and staff from 11 expeditions on Lhotse, 25 climbers and staff climbing Nuptse, and ten climbers attempting Pumori, who were all also at Everest Base Camp.On Dhaulagiri, there were 35 foreign climbers from five expeditions, some of whom were among the 68 climbers who had summited Annapurna in April. However, all the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/annapurna-dhaulagiri-double-take/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dhaulagiri expeditions</a> have turned back because of heavy snow, avalanche danger and Covid-19 infection among climbers and staff. <figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86a19c7e80680e067866jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa returned to Kathmandu on Tuesday after scaling Mount Everest for a record-breaking 25th time.</figcaption></figure>Before the weather got bad, more than 250 climbers and their Nepali guides had made it to the top of Mt Everest. This included Kami Rita Sherpa who summited for the 25th time, and Jangbu Sherpa who climbed to the top after recovering from Covid-19. Sixteen-year-old Sonam Sherpa and his father P K Sherpa from Taplejung made a father-and-son summit of Everest to raise awareness about climate change.On 23 May, Arthur Bennet Muir, 75, became the oldest American to climb Everest.  News from Everest has overshadowed the extreme alpine style climb of nearby Baruntse (7,162m) by the Czech duo Marek Holeček and Radoslav Groh, who have been bivouacked at 7,000m after summiting in whiteout conditions on 26 May. They climbed free-style without Sherpas and oxygen up the unclimbed northwest face of the mountain, and are waiting for the weather to clear before descending further.The last Instagram post by the pair was on Wednesday from their bivouac: ‘White darkness. We are imprisoned here by the weather. Another bivouac on the ridge of Baruntse at 6900 m. It is snowing, it is blowing and there is white darkness all around. We would need 3 hours of good visibility and we would be safe down. We will try to descend at night. It should snow until Saturday. I will send current messages as long as the battery works.’On Friday, Holeček siad he was ‘waiting for a miracle on Saturday’ for the weather to clear and the snow to let up. The pair is said to be extremely tried and running low on batteries for their satellite phones.  <figure><img width="1276" height="684" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86a49c7e80680e067867jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Czech climbers Marek Holeček and Radoslav Groh have been stuck at 7,000m on Baruntse due to heavy snowfall after their summit on 25 May.</figcaption></figure>Because there was almost no climbing in 2020,  a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/everests-covid-dilemma/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">backlog of expeditions started arriving in Nepal</a> this spring just before India’s Covid-19 second wave struck the country with devastating force. The 750 foreign climbers on 13 peaks in the Nepal Himalaya, including six 8,000m peaks, pushed on despite widespread criticism that they should not be climbing during a pandemic.On Everest, even if the weather clears as expected late on Saturday, the snow will be so deep that it will have buried most of the ropes to the summit, making it difficult for the climbers still trying to make it to get to the top. <figure><img width="1674" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86a79c7e80680e067868jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Precipitation map of Nepal for the last 24 hours, showing areas with heaviest rain and snow. The system is moving very slowly from west to east. Map: NDRRMA</figcaption></figure>Several expeditions were cancelled even before the bad weather set in, after their Nepali climbing guides became sick with Covid-19 and had to be medevaced to Kathmandu. Without the Sherpas, they would not have been able to make it to the top.The bad weather has grounded not just flights to Lukla, but also helicopter rescues, although several helicopters flew out in pouring rain from Kathmandu to Lukla at noon on Saturday.

Yaas stops Everest climbers at Camp 2

<figure><img width="1875" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceea29c7e80680e09ae40jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The summit ridge of Mt Everest on 22 May before the bad weather from the remnants of Cyclone Yaas stopped climbing. Photo: MINGMA G</figcaption></figure>More than 100 international <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/peak-season-on-everest-during-nepals-peak/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climbers and their Nepali guides who braved a Covid-19 outbreak at base camp</a> are now stuck at 6,500m on Camp 2 of Mt Everest because of high winds and days of heavy snow over the Himalaya.The periphery of Cyclone Yaas has been more or less stationery over central Nepal for the past two days, and is expected to linger till late Saturday. It has already forced some expeditions to give up their summit bids on Everest and Lhotse, while other climbers are stuck high on other mountains.Some climbers who were on their way down after summiting Everest earlier this week are also trapped at Camp 2. Among them, there are injured mountaineers who were hoping for a helicopter rescue, reports said.The mountaineers are racing against time because the official end of the climbing season is 31 May, after which time the ‘Ice Fall Doctors’ stop maintaining the route up the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Khumbu Icefall</a> on Everest. However, if there are enough climbers still making a push for the top after the snowstorms stop, there is talk of extending the season by a few days.Despite the pandemic, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/peak-season-on-everest-during-nepals-peak/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this year saw a record number of expeditions on Mt Everest</a> and other 8,000m peaks in the Nepal Himalaya. There were 42 expeditions and 408 foreign climbers from 80 countries just on Mt Everest. <img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceea59c7e80680e09ae41jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceea89c7e80680e09ae42jpeg.jpg" alt="">There were 100 other mountaineers and staff from 11 expeditions on Lhotse, 25 climbers and staff climbing Nuptse, and ten climbers attempting Pumori, who were all also at Everest Base Camp.On Dhaulagiri, there were 35 foreign climbers from five expeditions, some of whom were among the 68 climbers who had summited Annapurna in April. However, all the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/annapurna-dhaulagiri-double-take/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dhaulagiri expeditions</a> have turned back because of heavy snow, avalanche danger and Covid-19 infection among climbers and staff. <figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceeab9c7e80680e09ae43jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa returned to Kathmandu on Tuesday after scaling Mount Everest for a record-breaking 25th time.</figcaption></figure>Before the weather got bad, more than 250 climbers and their Nepali guides had made it to the top of Mt Everest. This included Kami Rita Sherpa who summited for the 25th time, and Jangbu Sherpa who climbed to the top after recovering from Covid-19. Sixteen-year-old Sonam Sherpa and his father P K Sherpa from Taplejung made a father-and-son summit of Everest to raise awareness about climate change.On 23 May, Arthur Bennet Muir, 75, became the oldest American to climb Everest.  News from Everest has overshadowed the extreme alpine style climb of nearby Baruntse (7,162m) by the Czech duo Marek Holeček and Radoslav Groh, who have been bivouacked at 7,000m after summiting in whiteout conditions on 26 May. They climbed free-style without Sherpas and oxygen up the unclimbed northwest face of the mountain, and are waiting for the weather to clear before descending further.The last Instagram post by the pair was on Wednesday from their bivouac: ‘White darkness. We are imprisoned here by the weather. Another bivouac on the ridge of Baruntse at 6900 m. It is snowing, it is blowing and there is white darkness all around. We would need 3 hours of good visibility and we would be safe down. We will try to descend at night. It should snow until Saturday. I will send current messages as long as the battery works.’On Friday, Holeček siad he was ‘waiting for a miracle on Saturday’ for the weather to clear and the snow to let up. The pair is said to be extremely tried and running low on batteries for their satellite phones.  <figure><img width="1276" height="684" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceead9c7e80680e09ae44jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Czech climbers Marek Holeček and Radoslav Groh have been stuck at 7,000m on Baruntse due to heavy snowfall after their summit on 25 May.</figcaption></figure>Because there was almost no climbing in 2020,  a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/everests-covid-dilemma/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">backlog of expeditions started arriving in Nepal</a> this spring just before India’s Covid-19 second wave struck the country with devastating force. The 750 foreign climbers on 13 peaks in the Nepal Himalaya, including six 8,000m peaks, pushed on despite widespread criticism that they should not be climbing during a pandemic.On Everest, even if the weather clears as expected late on Saturday, the snow will be so deep that it will have buried most of the ropes to the summit, making it difficult for the climbers still trying to make it to get to the top. <figure><img width="1674" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceeb09c7e80680e09ae45jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Precipitation map of Nepal for the last 24 hours, showing areas with heaviest rain and snow. The system is moving very slowly from west to east. Map: NDRRMA</figcaption></figure>Several expeditions were cancelled even before the bad weather set in, after their Nepali climbing guides became sick with Covid-19 and had to be medevaced to Kathmandu. Without the Sherpas, they would not have been able to make it to the top.The bad weather has grounded not just flights to Lukla, but also helicopter rescues, although several helicopters flew out in pouring rain from Kathmandu to Lukla at noon on Saturday.

<figure><img width="873" height="581" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011110/636ccc8b9c7e80680e08bc2bjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>A weir built 20 years ago reduced the level of the water by 3m in the Tso Rolpa glacial lake in Nepal, but it needs to go down by 20m to reduce the danger of a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF). Photo: RASTRARAJ BHANDARI</figcaption></figure>It should not take a tragedy for the Himalaya to change its approach to mountain development. Yet every disaster that occurs is a poignant reminder that narrow solutions to short term threats are not the way forward.On Sunday, 7 February, a glacier near Nanda Devi was bulldozed by a massive rockfall which triggered a tsunami-strength rush of water, killing hundreds downstream. This  flood was yet another sign that the Himalayan region must take a broader view on climate action--one that addresses the drivers of glacial instability and considers the climate system as a whole.The climate crisis is particularly potent in the Himalaya, where the glaciers on the roof of the world are disappearing at an <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/06/himalayan-glaciers-melting-alarming-rate-spy-satellites-show/">unprecedented scale</a>, losing over a quarter of their volume in the last four decades alone. Mountain dwellers and more than 1 billion people living downstream will suffer from its consequences.One fifth of the world’s population is now at <a href="http://www.nepalpolicynet.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/EDITORIAL-INTRODUCTION_Pandey-et.-al.-2020.pdf">risk of water scarcity </a>as the frozen fresh water above them disappears, and downstream communities live in fear of being washed away in unpredictable floods. To make matters worse, ice melts to form lakes, which absorb heat and speed up the melting of the glaciers. <a href="https://www.icimod.org/new-glacial-lake-inventory-report-released-47-potentially-dangerous-glacial-lakes-ranked/">As of 2020</a>, Nepal alone held 2,070 of these glacial lakes, 47 of which were at high flood risk.There is a sizeable body of research on glacial lakes and their threats to downstream communities. Proposed solutions include risk knowledge and assessment, monitoring and early warning systems, and structural mitigation activities like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-face-of-a-himalayan-climate-crisis/">construction of gated outlet channels</a> to control the release of water from swelling lakes. Yet, limited climate adaptation funding means that despite these potential solutions, returning to the example of Nepal, only two out of 2,070 lakes have had their <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-glacial-lakes-in-danger-of-bursting/">levels </a>reduced.If glacial lake outburst floods are such a pressing environmental threat, why is more action not being taken? Responsibility for managing future floods is passed like a baton from activists to scientists to policy makers and back, each group blaming something different for the lack of concrete action.We need more research, we have wasted too much time on research, we need more finance, we need science-based policy, why does the developed world not step in? And on and on. In this ever-changing blame game, no one takes responsibility, and it is the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-face-of-a-himalayan-climate-crisis/">most vulnerable who suffer.</a>The problem is not solely a lack of finance or research, but a flawed outlook on climate change itself. In a drought-prone region, it is costly and perhaps short-sighted to drain freshwater from natural reservoirs into the ocean through the Himalayan river system. The fact that there is not yet a way to safely harness glacial water should not serve as the end of our innovation.<a href="https://www.himalayanwaterproject.org/post/dr-alton-byers-podcast-highlights">Some experts have proposed </a>that these glacial lakes could work as dams to retain meltwater--which could be tapped to produce hydropower and help farmers in drought prone months. This is just one example of how innovation must look past immediate threats and solutions to address the broader systems of environmental change at work.For too long, the Himalayan region has overlooked the impact of their domestic policies and local environmental degradation, and instead blamed the west for the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.Yet atmospheric carbon is not the only driver of ice loss. <a href="https://www.icimod.org/reducing-black-carbon-in-the-region-will-have-multiple-benefits-and-save-lives/">Black carbon</a> from fires, cookstoves and diesel engines is a growing threat to glacial stability lurking right in the Himalaya’s backyard. This regional pollution darkens the surface of the glaciers, accelerates melting, and cannot be blamed on faraway foreign governments.As sustainability has emerged as a key developmental agenda in response to climate change, the time has come to look beyond reliance on international finance and external blame It is time to reconceptualise the Himalayan region’s relationship with climate action and mountain development.The Himalaya hold a wealth of local and indigenous knowledge from communities who have lived in harmony with the mountains for centuries. Rather than relying on narrow technological solutions to the immediate threat of glacial floods, the way forward is to look at the Himalayan climate system as a whole. Local knowledge can point to a more thoughtful, effective path that taps into nature-based solutions and centers a systems science approach to climate action.We need an interdisciplinary approach that takes responsibility for our own contributions to the climate crisis while acknowledging our agency in creating regional results. We need to change the way we think about glacial melting and climate action in the Himalaya and introduce a broader view.It is time to end the blame-game, time to move away from narrow solutions that only address one aspect of the impact of the climate crisis on Himalaya. Glacial melting, ecosystem change, and water resource management are all connected and must be treated as such.Killian Dumont and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-climate-connection-to-covid-19/">Rastraraj Bhandari </a>are both research fellows at the <a href="https://www.himalayanwaterproject.org/">Geopolitics &amp; Ecology of Himalayan Water</a>Initiative at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Alarm bells from Nanda Devi

<figure><img width="640" height="359" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd96e9c7e80680e080212jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>Thirty-seven people were killed when a landslide on 12 July tore through the settlement of Lidi of Sindhupalchok district. More than half of them were women. When another landslide in nearby Barabise on 11 August killed 31 people, 20 were women. Most of the 15 still buried under the debris are women.  A month later, another massive flashflood in Dhorpatan of Baglung district washed away nearly the entire village, 22 people were killed and 15 are still missing. Of the dead and missing, 21 are women and 16 men. More women have been killed also in landslides in Myagdi of Tanahu and Parbat districts earlier this year. Nepal’s fragile Himalayan terrain gives it one of the highest fatality rates in the world from landslides and flash floods. And 2020 has been particularly destructive with three times more casualties compared to previous years. So far 291 people have lost their lives, 67 are still missing, and 223 have been injured in 481 landslides across the country between 1 April to 13 September.Women bear the brunt of most disasters like floods, earthquakes and landlsides in Nepal because the countryside has been ‘feminised’ by the outmigration of men. And it is the women who tend to be inside the house more often than men.For example, the 25 April 2015 earthquake struck just before noon on a spring day. The men were mostly out in the fields sowing maize, while women were indoors cooking or doing home chores. Of the total 8,193 fatalities in the 2015 earthquake, 55% (4,497) were women. Even among the children killed, girls (17%) outnumbered boys  (15%). It was only in Kathmandu city that more men than women were kiled five years ago."Women are more likely than men to die from an outbreak or a disaster because they have less access to information and seldom participate in disaster learning skills,” says Sirjana Tamang, vice-chair of Jugal village of Sindhupalchok which saw multiple landslides this monsoon. “Socio-cultural perceptions of sexuality and traditional beliefs about gender responsibility also put women at greater risk in disasters.” <figure><img width="966" height="634" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd9719c7e80680e080213jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Casualties of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.</figcaption></figure>This trend is prevalent worldwide. The Asian Development Bank's 2013 study found that women had higher mortality rates than men in major disasters in Asia. Of those killed in the April 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh, 91% were women, and 67% of the casualties in Aceh of Indonesia in the 2004 tsunami were women.  Researchers from the London School of Economics and the University of Essex studied major outbreaks in 141 countries around the world from 1981 to 2002. They concluded more women than men died in the disasters. The Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) also concluded that women are more at risk from disasters than men. The findings were published in its 2019 report ‘The Hindu Kush Himalayan Assessment’ which analysed statistics from the 2015 and of other natural disasters of the last few decades in the Himalaya. This reflects on the Women's Resilience Index (WRI) that assesses countries’ capacity for risk reduction in disaster and recovery. Nepal performed poorly scoring only 45.2 out of 100 points in the list compiled by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and ActionAid. "It’s not that women are more affected in disasters, but their different role in society does lead to more impact,” says Basanta Sapkota of Nepal’s Ministry of Forest and Environment. “Women also have limited access to disaster prevention systems. There is also language barrier.”  ICIMOD’s research also concluded that gender inequality reduces women's access to early warning systems, and that they are more vulnerable because rescue and management are not targeted at them. Much of the information and decision-making process about early warning systems and pre-disaster rescue is under the purview of men.  Similarly, ADB reports that gender issues have not been adequately addressed in intervening in natural disasters. Lack of access and control for women in post-disaster situations, including shelters, transportation and food, is another major reason for their risk. There have also been many cases of sexual violence against women in rescue camps post-disasters. Therefore, it is not enough to just tally the total fatalities  when discussing the impact of the disaster on women, say experts. The risk is also heightened by women’s reproductive role: mothers of new-borns or pregnant women also have to care for their babies. Reduction in food productivity, loss of livestock and shortage of water after a disaster also disproportionately affects women.  Climate change expert Ngamindra Dahal says women are also more affected by slow-moving disasters like climate change. In fact, women and children are more at risk in all three phases: pre-, during and post-disasters. In the aftermath of a disaster, women are less likely to find work, and more likely to be responsible for their families. "Women don't have much of a role in making a disaster worse, but the impact is greater on them," says Dahal. "Planning and investment should be focused on women to reduce the impact of disasters and enable them." The government has enacted some laws and policies addressing disaster management and preparedness: National Strategy for Disaster Management, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, and Climate Change Policy. However, they either do not have a clear perspective on gender vulnerabilities, nor programs targeting women at risk.  Increasing women's participation in training and groups such as rehearsals, rescue teams, and first aid for disaster relief could be a start to bridging this gap.

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