As reported in the Kathmandu Post, “We were at the farm at Kiul bazaar when the flood hit. My husband was trying to steer us towards safety. He asked me and our daughter to start running. He was running towards us when he disappeared in the floods,” said Kumari, a resident of Helambu, central Nepal. Kumari’s grief summarizes the current reality at Melamchi, a municipality devastated by flash floods, where more than 50 people are feared to be dead. Another resident of the same ward, Nila Bahadur Khadka, continues to wait on the news of his mother who went missing in the floods. “I go to the river every day in search of my mother. I hope to find her soon,” said Khadka.
Scale of the disaster
With geologically fragile mountains, Nepal faces serious risks from climate change, most of which are already being experienced. Every year, these risks are intensifying yet the country is struggling to fix gaps in disaster policies and strategies. One week into the monsoon season, on June 15th 2021, Melamchi endured intense catastrophic flash floods which resulted in massive human, ecological, and economic loss. Soon after the flood, 1200 people have been displaced and forced to live with no proper source of food or income, lack basic access to health care facilities and continuous risks.
It is estimated that 38 people were killed, and more than 50 are injured. The scale of infrastructure damage is also significant as many houses were submerged, 60 houses completely swept away, highway bridges destroyed, and the $800 million Melamchi Water Supply Project, which only started supplying water from March 2021 after a 23-year-long wait to operate, was destroyed. Given the precarious situation of the area, those who survived are migrating to other areas where they are struggling to rebuild their lives with little to no resources.
As explained in the Kathmandu Post by 32-year-old Subhadra Rupakheti of Chanaute in Helambu Ward No 7, “There’s only sand left where our fertile land once lay. How long can we live here? So, we decided to go to Kathmandu and try our luck in the city.”
What caused the flood?
The frequent occurrence of climate induced disasters in Sindhupalchok has left everyone shocked, devastated, and fearful as we try to understand the main cause behind it. ICIMOD and Nepal Engineering Association conducted separate studies in the area which concluded that the Melamchi flood disaster was caused primarily from the breach of a landslide dam that released debris into the settlements continuously for 10 days.
However, there were other contributing factors that triggered the landslide dam: climatic, anthropogenic, and geological. The heavy snow melt in the Melamchi catchment area followed by a sudden rise in precipitation before June 15th, resulted in the erosion of glacial deposits in the Pemdang river. The deposits then flowed into the newly occurring landslide near Melamchi river, which gradually overflowed. Sindhupalchok was also heavily impacted by the 2015 Nepal earthquake, through the destabilization of landscapes which allowed rainwater to penetrate into the soil, making it loose, and consequently causing frequent landslides.
Policy failures worsening flood disasters
It is a well-known fact that the mountainous district of Sindhupalchok is prone to natural disasters. Monsoon Preparedness and Response Plan, 2077 has spotlighted that Sindhupalchok could be the most affected district. However, such plans have not been effective in reducing disaster risks because of their priority in post-recovery disaster relief and also due to the lack of collaboration between multiple ministries that have delayed the process of implementation. Additionally, by solely focusing on “development” and not integrating resilience considerations adequately the government has allowed the infrastructure projects to go against the limit of the geologic land structure. The worsening records of floods is an indicator of the failure to mitigate disaster risks associated with development infrastructures. Research shows that Nepal is not prepared for the intense disasters which are looming under climate change and unscrupulous development interventions.
Rethinking our disaster risk management strategies
As we read about and experience disasters, many of us are deeply concerned about climate change. We advocate for the need for more scientific research, government collaboration, and funding to help adapt to and mitigate disasters. But moving forward in an unknown future with a high possibility of frequent and severe climate-induced disasters, it is crucial for us to rethink our disaster risk management strategies.
Currently, Nepal’s disaster risk management strategies are centered on adaptation, which is not sufficient enough to face a future where disasters will only continue to exacerbate. We need a paradigm shift from solely focusing on adaptation to diversified approaches that help address both adaptation and mitigation risks. For instance, flood risk management should not only include building embankments but should also prioritize proper planning of settlements based on thorough research in the area.
Two questions are crucial to be considered for proper disaster risk management:
- How do we combine academic and local knowledge into effective climate change-related policies?
- How can we convert the combined knowledge into community-relevant disaster risk reduction solutions?
A thought-provoking paper on building an engaged Himalayan sustainability science explains the importance of having an inclusive approach with participation at all levels. It is crucial to have co-production spaces such as group discussions that allow academic knowledge to integrate with community knowledge through proper engagement with everyone in the local community. This is required because we cannot simply talk about the impacts of disasters and put forward solutions without considering the knowledge of local people who experience disasters first-hand. Due to their lived experiences, local people know what solutions are suitable and realistic in adapting and mitigating flood risks. Failure to consider their opinions will never make a solution effective because of the lack of relevance to the situation they are actually facing.
A research reflecting this inclusive approach of considering community knowledge for effective and relevant solutions was jointly done by the Institute for Study and Development Worldwide (IFSD) and Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS) on water security in Bidur, Nepal. It was found that the small water schemes which sourced water from local springs continuously provided water supply to the entire community at times of need, compared to the large-scale water supply project supported by the Asian Development Bank, which constantly had technical issues. This is an important lesson for developing countries like Nepal as we heavily rely on international funds for development projects and fully support it without properly considering the impact it will have on the community. The same study also brings to attention the importance of communicating local knowledge to key policymakers, either on the regional or national level. If knowledge is not communicated, then effective disaster-relevant policies will never be implemented.
Moving forward
As the planet warms, climate change will continue to wreak havoc in every corner of the world.
Nepal will see a steep increase in the frequency of disasters and the intensity of destruction caused. With COP 26 approaching, it is crucial that nations bring forward their concerns about current disaster risk management strategies and affirm for the need to have a holistic participatory approach which can be achieved by co-creating knowledge through active participation between researchers and local communities, which then should be properly communicated to the relevant policymakers.
Priyanka Gurung is a research intern at Institute for Study and Development Worldwide (IFSD) and Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS).
“Views expressed here are personal and not associated with any affiliated organisations”
Published on October 22, 2021
