Kathmandu, Oct. 6 -- More than 40 days after a devastating flood tore through the Bhotekoshi, Trishuli and Narayani river systems, a government-formed panel tasked with determining what caused the disaster is still bogged down in a debate over what to call it.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah highlighted the disaster at the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, describing it as a 'Himalayan tsunami' as Nepal sought to frame the floods as a climate-related catastrophe on the international stage. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal had already argued at several international forums that Nepal should receive climate finance and compensation.

But the government has been slow to gather the scientific evidence needed to substantiate such cl...