Kathmandu: Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah Wednesday called for stronger international attention to growing climate-related risks in the Himalayan region as the death toll from devastating floods in the Bhotekoshi River crossed 1,100.
Addressing the House of Representatives, Shah said Nepal must highlight more forcefully the disasters it is facing due to climate change.
At least 1,114 bodies swept away by last week’s floods had been recovered by 9 am Wednesday, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA). Around 3,916 people remain out of contact.
Experts said an avalanche blocked the Lengde Khola, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi River near the Nepal-China border. The accumulated water later breached the natural barrier, triggering a massive flood that swept downstream towards the Trishuli River and devastated settlements and infrastructure.
Shah said the disaster had raised questions about how such an event occurred and what it meant for Nepal’s future.
“The huge disaster, whose impacts of climate change we have suddenly experienced, has kept us working around the clock to manage the damage. At the same time, another profound question has arisen in our minds: How did this disaster come upon us?” he said.
Referring to expert assessments, Shah said the incident was a serious warning that climate change was increasing risks in the Himalayan region.
“We must make the international community aware of the disasters we are experiencing as a result of climate change. Climate change is a global challenge. Its impacts and efforts to mitigate and manage them are the shared responsibility of the global community,” he said.
Shah also defended the government’s response to questions over whether timely warnings were issued to the public.
“As soon as we received information that the flood was approaching, our security personnel were deployed to alert residents. However, they themselves went missing during the operation,” he said.
Some media reports had suggested that the Nepali government was reluctant to accept international assistance for the rescue and relief of flood victims.
Seven days after the disaster, Shah told Parliament that the government had never adopted a policy of refusing international assistance during major disasters.
“We had been coordinating with international countries from the very beginning to seek assistance as needed in the affected areas. We had also tried to expedite the process of receiving international assistance,” Shah said.
“Our friendly neighbours, India and China, had already sent technical experts. They had been conducting reconnaissance from the very first day, including on the first and second days,” he said.
Shah told Parliament that the flood was accompanied by huge amounts of mud and debris, making it impossible for even foreign rescue teams that arrived at the outset to land at the affected sites.
“After conducting reconnaissance and monitoring to determine whether they could reach the sites, they concluded that it was not immediately possible to land there. The Indian and Chinese technicians, along with Nepali technicians and the Army, could reach the sites only after conditions became suitable for them to do so,” Shah said. “This was an exceptional situation.”
The Prime Minister also said excavators could not be deployed initially because of the heavy mud and debris.
“There was no stable ground not only for excavators but also for personnel from the Army and Armed Police Force. That is why they tried to reach the sites by crawling as much as possible,” Shah said.“Rescue operations began only after stable ground was available for excavators and suitable places were available for helicopters to land.”
Shah also thanked countries and international organisations for supporting Nepal’s flood response, naming India, China, the US, the UK, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the UAE, Qatar, Switzerland, Singapore, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, European Union and United Nations.
Several other friendly countries and international organisations have also pledged further assistance, he said.
