Kathmandu, Aug. 31 -- Nepal had sought greater access to information from China on glacier movements, water levels and other hazards in the Himalayan region months before a devastating flood struck the Nepal-China border. Officials from the two countries met in Kathmandu on May 27 to discuss cooperation on monitoring and responding to floods, weather events and glacier-related risks. The meeting called for joint measures such as preparing inventories of glacial lakes and mapping areas vulnerable to hazards.
However, Nepali officials said they did not receive as much information as they had sought after the meeting. They wanted earlier alerts about glacier movements and other developments that could pose a threat to communities downstream. China said it had maintained close contact with Nepal and shared important information in a timely manner. Its embassy in Nepal said the two sides had made substantial progress on cross-border disaster information sharing during the May meeting. Nepal had raised similar concerns the previous year after a flood in the same region was triggered by the sudden release of water from a glacial lake in Tibet. According to Nepali officials, China provided forecasts and observations related to heavy rainfall in Tibet, but information on avalanches, water levels, landslides and other extreme events remained limited.
Twelve days before the latest disaster, China's World Meteorological Centre warned Nepali officials that a monsoon depression was expected in the region between August 14 and 19. The message warned of increased rainfall across much of Nepal and highlighted the possibility of secondary hazards, including landslides and flash floods. The latest disaster was triggered by the collapse of a glacier in a relatively unmonitored area. The resulting torrent of water, mud and rock travelled downstream from the Nepal-China border, destroying infrastructure and causing widespread devastation. The importance of an effective early-warning system became evident during the disaster. The flood struck a border crossing in Tibet at around 8:32 am Nepal time. Twenty-six minutes later, Nepal's disaster management authorities were alerted about flooding on the Trishuli river.
Several monitoring stations stopped transmitting data, with at least four stations eventually destroyed by the flood. After confirming the flooding with local authorities, Nepal's team issued a public alert to mobile phone users at 9:13 am. The flood travelled around 168 km downstream from the border and carried an estimated 57.4 million cubic metres of water. It damaged 19 bridges, affected about 40 km of highway and disrupted more than 10% of Nepal's power-generation capacity. Nepal now plans to seek deeper cooperation with China on monitoring avalanches and the release of water from glacial lakes. Officials are also expected to propose a formal data-sharing arrangement covering more frequent information on rainfall and river levels. Nepal wants data at intervals of around 10 minutes to strengthen its ability to issue timely warnings and reduce the impact of future disasters.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.