Context
- Devastating floods in Nepal’s Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers in sparsely populated Rasuwa district (~48,000 people) killed hundreds and destroyed traditional villages, urban settlements, tourist sites, trade routes, roads, bridges, social infrastructure and hydropower projects.
- The disaster has highlighted four major challenges for the fragile Himalayan region: transboundary disaster management, energy security, local response capacity and regional climate governance.
1. Borderland Management: Nature Ignores Political Boundaries
- The flood reportedly originated from an avalanche and glacial collapse on the Chinese-controlled side near Langtang Lirung, demonstrating that natural hazards do not respect international borders.
- Himalayan security therefore requires moving beyond sovereignty-centric approaches towards interdependence in climate and disaster management.
- India, China and Nepal need data sharing, joint scientific studies, institutional cooperation and integrated early-warning systems across borders.
- Border personnel should be retrained to address climate-induced and disaster-related security threats, alongside conventional security risks.
- Human security, public awareness through simplified scientific information and traditional ecological knowledge should become part of Himalayan disaster preparedness.
2. Transboundary Energy and Infrastructure Risks
- Flooding damaged 15+ hydropower projects along the Trishuli, creating potential environmental and economic impacts across Nepal, China, India and downstream Bangladesh.
- Damage to hydropower infrastructure can disrupt cross-border electricity trade and regional power pools, creating wider energy insecurity.
- India’s Central Water and Power Commission initiated the first Trishuli hydropower project in 1953; an agreement followed in 1958.
- The 21-MW Trishuli run-of-the-river project at Tuphe was commissioned in June 1972 at a cost of ₹13.55 crore and supplied electricity to Kathmandu; it is now largely destroyed.
- Many China-built highways to Kathmandu pass through river valleys, increasing exposure to floods, landslides and other hazards.
- The 115-km Kathmandu–Kodari highway, built in 1967, follows the Sunkoshi Valley for strategic access and availability of sand and boulders; subsequent ribbon development has increased settlement exposure.
- Recurrent disasters are forcing donors and governments to rethink large infrastructure projects in fragile Himalayan terrain.
3. Local–National Disconnect in Disaster Response
- The Rasuwagadhi flood exposed a gap between local vulnerability and centralised disaster response: local residents are the first victims and responders, while major assistance often comes from distant capital-based institutions.
- India faced similar weaknesses during the October 2023 South Lhonak Glacier disaster in North Sikkim, when massive glacial calving triggered a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF).
- The Teesta rose by 15–20 metres, severely affecting areas across Sikkim, West Bengal and Bangladesh.
- Damage exceeded ₹25,000 crore, equivalent to nearly 60% of Sikkim’s 2022–23 GDP; loss of 1,800 MW of power generation alone was estimated at over ₹19,000 crore.
- Despite coordination by the State government and National and State Disaster Management authorities, the disaster exposed major gaps in local preparedness and climate-impact management.
- Local bodies lacked adequate training, technical capacity, awareness, preparedness and resources, leaving municipalities and panchayats overwhelmed.
- The absence of an effective early-warning mechanism and clearly designated responsibility further worsened vulnerability.
- National disaster-management capacity must therefore be institutionally and financially decentralised to vulnerable local communities.
4. Need for a Common Himalayan Climate Policy
- The Himalayan region lacks a coherent climate-policy framework connecting local, national and regional levels.
- The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), headquartered in Kathmandu, has repeatedly highlighted deteriorating Himalayan glaciology and the risk of reaching climate tipping points.
- India has a National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), State Action Plans and eight National Missions, including the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE).
- The SAARC Convention on Cooperation on Environment came into force in 2013, providing an existing regional framework.
- These initiatives remain relatively fragmented and need integration into a common Himalayan climate and disaster-management platform.
