Kathmandu: Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah Tuesday said that the devastating flood that entered Rasuwa through the Bhotekoshi River bordering Tibet last week was due to climate change.
“There is no doubt that climate change has caused this disaster, as it has been confirmed that the temperature in the Himalayan region has increased by 1.8 degrees,” he said in a post on social media.
Shah further said that climate change is a global contribution and disaster response remains a global responsibility.
“This incident points towards the growing risk we have to bear as the consequences of climate change in the Himalayas,” he said.
Flash floods, triggered by a collapse or avalanche of ice and rock near the Nepal-Tibet border, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal August 26.
The death toll from the floods surged to 1,050 Tuesday, officials said.
Nearly 4,000 people, including 583 foreigners and 83 security personnel, remain missing, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said.
“During discussions with experts, we came to the conclusion that the disaster caused by the flash flood in Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa was the consequence of the rock ice avalanche in the Himalayan region,” PM Shah said, underscoring the need for people in the region to become more cautious.
“It is time we present the issue of the disaster we are facing due to climate change before the international community strongly,” he asserted.
“Experts say that the flood in the Bhotekoshi River may have been caused by a large portion of the glacier falling from a great height, which may have caused a major flood, starting with a large portion of the glacier melting at the site of the flood and continuing to melt. As the land is descending from the height of the Himalayas towards Nepal, the flood caught more steam and devastated the downhill area,” Shah said.
He said that the government is actively launching search and rescue operations as well as relief and rehabilitation works in the aftermath of the disaster, besides providing medical treatment and psychological counselling.
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