Search Operations Press On in Nepal One Week After Deadly Himalayan Floods

Rescue teams are continuing search and rescue operations in the Himalayas one week after catastrophic flash floods claimed more than 1,100 lives and left nearly 4,000 people missing. The disaster struck on August 26 when a glacial collapse sent a massive torrent of water, mud, and rocks crashing through communities across Nepal and China’s autonomous Tibet region.

According to the Reuters news agency, at least 1,114 people have died in Nepal. In neighbouring Tibet, Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing individuals. The United Nations Development Programme provided a preliminary estimate that the disaster left behind at least 2.2 million tonnes of debris.

The flooding severely impacted local infrastructure, halting operations at 11 hydropower stations and one solar plant in the affected area of Nepal. An additional 15 power projects currently under construction, with a planned capacity of 470 megawatts, also sustained damage.

Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Lo, reporting from Kathmandu, stated that specialized equipment is being flown in to assist with rescue efforts, particularly for approximately 600 workers, some of whom may be trapped in tunnels beneath the hydropower stations. Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s office informed Al Jazeera that over 270 workers were successfully rescued from the tunnel sites rather than from inside them.

“Still, search and rescue operations are continuing. The Nepali army is drilling, digging and trying to reach those people. And pretty soon they are going to be joined by a team of foreign experts from South Korea after the arrival of Chinese and Indian experts who have been helping out for a few days now,” Lo reported.

Additionally, forensic experts from China and Singapore are expected to arrive to assist with the challenging task of managing and identifying the mounting number of deceased individuals and decomposing bodies. “Families here have held funerals saying they need to do it even if they don’t have the bodies of their missing relatives to free their spirits,” Lo noted.

A 2020 UN-backed study previously identified 47 potentially dangerous glacial lakes across Nepal, India, and China, placing 31 of them in Rank I as the highest risk category. Researchers had urged enhanced monitoring and early warning systems to protect downstream communities from glacial lake outburst floods driven by rising temperatures and retreating glaciers.

“These same experts are saying that it is becoming more dangerous and that the risk could be long-term, which means that people living in these villages might not be able to go back to rebuild their lives there,” Lo said.

In an interview with The Kathmandu Post, Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal called for compensation from major greenhouse gas emitters. “Nepal’s greenhouse gas emissions are virtually negligible. Yet, we are paying the ultimate price for a global crisis we did not create. The rapid melting of glaciers and these catastrophic mountain tsunamis are direct consequences of global climate change,” Khanal stated. He emphasized that top global emitters like China, the United States, and India carry a historical responsibility to compensate vulnerable nations like Nepal. The Ministry of Finance has formally dispatched a climate compensation claim letter to international partners in response.