On 25th July 2025, Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS) hosted an insightful session under the Future Himalayan Research Seminar Series titled “Beyond the Tangible: Floods and Invisible Losses in Mustang, Nepal.” This session focused on a deeply nuanced aspect of climate-induced disasters: the intangible, often overlooked losses that profoundly affect individuals and communities, but remain absent from dominant policy and development discourses. The seminar featured a presentation by Mr. Kunja Shrestha, a researcher at SIAS, who explored how flooding in Mustang has led to emotional, cultural, psychological, and spiritual forms of loss, what he termed as “invisible loss,” which are often unrecognized in policy frameworks.
The session was facilitated by Dr. Gyanu Maskey, researcher at SIAS, who introduced the speaker and contextualized the importance of addressing such overlooked aspects in climate change debates.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Maskey highlighted that conversations on climate change and disaster impacts frequently focus on quantifiable damage loss of infrastructure, land, or livelihoods while failing to capture the personal and cultural ruptures that disasters leave behind. She emphasized that such invisible losses, though hard to measure, can be more deeply felt and longer lasting than tangible ones. It is within this gap of understanding that Mr. Kunja Shrestha’s research intervenes, offering a framework to grasp and communicate the less visible consequences of flooding in the culturally and ecologically sensitive region of Mustang.
Mr. Shrestha presented findings from his ethnographic research in the Mustang region, particularly in the villages of Lubrak and Kagbeni, which were severely impacted by a landslide-induced flood in the summer of 2021 and 2023 respectively. Using before-and-after images, he illustrated how floods destroyed not just homes and fields, but also spiritual and cultural landmarks; temples, stupas, monasteries, and sacred ghats embedded in the local cosmology. These losses, he argued, disrupted the rhythms of everyday life and created a sense of disorientation, particularly for communities whose identities are tightly interwoven with place and spirituality. In Lubrak, a Bon priestly village, the destruction of sacred sites was experienced as a loss of ancestral connection and religious continuity impacting their sense of culture and identity. Meanwhile, in Kagbeni, more economically diversified and reliant on tourism; the focus was on rebuilding livelihoods and infrastructure. This contrast illuminated how perceptions of loss are shaped by historical power dynamics that translate into core and peripheral regions, marked by uneven development pattern.
To explore these complexities, Mr. Shrestha introduced a “hybrid framework” that integrated value-based approaches to loss & damage with the Plural Climate Change Framework (Chakraborty et al., 2021). This approach enabled him to go beyond conventional assessments, incorporating oral histories, spiritual beliefs, and local knowledge systems into his analysis. He critiqued mainstream climate policy mechanisms and international climate finance instruments for being overly technocratic and narrowly focused on quantification, arguing that such models fail to address capture and address grounded experiences of loss in the Himalayas. Central to his findings was the idea that floods in Mustang did not just destroy landscapes, they disrupted relationships between people and place. Rivers once seen as life-giving were now viewed with fear. Such a shift in perception represents a profound form of invisible loss: the erosion of trust in nature and a rupture in human–environmental relationships.
During the discussion, participants raised critical questions about integrating these nuanced insights into policy. Dr. Dilli Prasad Poudel shared his observations of Mustang’s cultural and linguistic uniqueness, emphasizing the need for place-based responses. Dr. Govinda Poudel inquired about local, governmental, and research-based perspectives on the cause and the scale of flood impact in Kagbeni. While limited scientific assessments were available, Mr. Shrestha pointed to a preliminary analysis of an upcoming study that suggested occurrences of two landslides in the upstream region of Dzong Khola that had blocked the course of the river, eventually leading to a landslide induced outburst flood. The impact was further compounded by an RCC bridge, located at the head of Kagbeni, damming the river which eventually caused another outburst.
The conversation delved deeper into issues of mobility, displacement, and belonging in Mustang. Online participant Ms. Aastha Thebe reflected on how these dynamics shape and reshape people’s sense of place, with Kunja responding that mobility has historically defined identity in the region. Even when displaced, residents maintain strong emotional and spiritual ties to their ancestral lands through practices linked to territorial deities like “Lu”. This continuity, despite physical movement, reveals a resilience rooted in cultural ritual and cosmological belief. However, the session also brought attention to the limits of this resilience. Ms. Sneha Rai, Research Coordinator at the Prakriti Resources Centre raised the concept of “resilience fatigue”-the emotional toll of being constantly expected to adapt and recover. Drawing from her own research in Melamchi, she noted that people of lower economic status often bear the brunt of disasters without access to alternatives, safety nets, or meaningful support.
Mr. Shrestha acknowledged this critical point and reflected on the difficulty of capturing such intangible losses, which are felt differently across socioeconomic and cultural lines. Participants agreed that trying to assign value to these losses through economic tools like cost-benefit analysis or willingness-to-pay models often reinforces existing inequalities. While some frameworks exist, there is an urgent need for new approaches that center emotional realities and lived experiences. The conversation emphasized the importance of integrating emotional and psychological dimensions into climate research and policy. As Mr. Shrestha noted, quantifying intangible losses are inherently complex but probably is essential as equity and justice considerations in the current context is linked to delivering Funds for Loss & Damage to the affected communities. This, however, risks commensurating the incommensurable, particularly in a capitalized context where Himalayan communities are fraught with livelihood challenges.
This recurring concern was related to the gap between what affected communities experience and what external systems are equipped to measure. Mr. Shrestha concluded by calling for greater inclusion of local voices in loss and damage assessments and for a rethinking of recovery not as a return to physical normalcy, but as a process of emotional, cultural, and spiritual healing.
Finally in closing remarks, Dr. Maskey thanked Mr. Shrestha for his deeply moving and thought-provoking presentation. She emphasized that addressing climate-induced disasters requires a paradigm shift one that prioritizes memory, belonging, identity, and worldview alongside infrastructure and economic recovery. The session ended on a note of urgency and reflection, leaving participants with powerful questions about justice, recognition, and the true cost of climate change in fragile mountain regions like Mustang.