Nepal is becoming a hotspot of climate-related hazards with the rapidly changing climate. Last year, the flood in the Melamchi River was caused by the intense rainfall triggering the cascading hazards resulted in the loss of lives, the devastation of riverside settlements, infrastructures, and local livelihoods. It caused substantial economic damage to the Helambu-Melamchi-Panchpokhari Thangpal riverside communities and the Melamchi Water Supply System. Similarly, the unseasonal October flooding submerged or swept away ready to harvest paddies and incurred losses worth billions of rupees in many parts of the country. These damages, however, could have been reduced if not totally averted with a timely and accurate weather forecast system-based early warning system.
And this year, with the starting of the monsoon season, heavy rain has already caused flooding and landslides in the country, causing fatalities and destroying homes. Many Nepali across the country, especially those devastated by last year's unusual monsoon floods, are worried and living in fear. -blog.wb.org/blogs
A version of this article appears in the print on August 3, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.