{"id":54173,"date":"2026-09-01T18:44:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/?p=54173"},"modified":"2026-09-01T18:44:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:59:04","slug":"interview-all-out-efforts-made-for-search-and-rescue-in-aftermath-of-bhotekoshi-flood-ndrrma-executive-head-reiterates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/interview-all-out-efforts-made-for-search-and-rescue-in-aftermath-of-bhotekoshi-flood-ndrrma-executive-head-reiterates\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: All out efforts made for search and rescue in aftermath of Bhotekoshi flood, NDRRMA Executive Head reiterates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kathmandu, Sept 1:<\/strong> The devastating flood that hit the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa on August 26 caused major damage in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, and Chitwan districts. The flood, which came unexpectedly, not only caused huge losses to people and property but also raised questions about Nepal’s disaster preparedness and early warning systems.<\/p>\n

This immense disaster has shown the need to make the cross-border early warning and information exchange system more effective, and also the need to review the existing disaster management system for immediate search and rescue, relief, and long-term rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

In this context, RSS’s reporter Pragati Dhakal has interviewed the Executive Chief of the National Disaster Risk Reducation and Management Authority (NDRRMA), Dr Dharma Raj Uprety. Here are the excerpts:<\/p>\n

Q: The devastating flood that hit Bhotekoshi in Rasuwa on August 26 caused huge damage to life and property. Preliminary studies show that the flood was triggered by landslides, falling rocks and debris, and the breaking of temporary dams formed by blocked rivers. How much of a role has climate change played in this event, and what seems to be the real cause of the Bhotekoshi flood?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Looking at various facts and statistics so far, it seems there has been an avalanche. Snow with rocks accumulates on the mountain and becomes really hard. When that hardened snow weakens, due to rising temperature, rainfall, or some other reason, it can fall as an avalanche. Environmental changes or climate change might have also caused it.<\/p>\n

It feels like one thing has been happening after another, especially after the dam that formed there broke when the avalanche came down. You can see this as a kind of connected series of events. Another thing is that this is also an El Ni\u00f1o year. For Asia, an El Ni\u00f1o year means temperatures are higher than usual. Right now, in many places, temperatures are above average.<\/p>\n

Compared to the long-term average of 30 years or more, various meteorological agencies in Asia had already predicted that temperatures this year would be above average. In a similar situation, there was also an avalanche in Pakistan, which claimed the lives of five Nepali climbers. Avalanches also occurred this year in some parts of India. In Nepal, a similar incident happened in the northern region this year. A glacial lake burst, causing a major disaster.<\/p>\n

Q: What’s the preliminary estimate of the current damage? How many people are affected?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: The human loss so far is huge. There are reports of over 900 bodies being found. About 50,000 people seem to be affected. This preliminary estimate comes from multiplying around 7,500 households by the average family size. But this isn\u2019t the final number.<\/p>\n

Right now, the technical team is conducting a detailed assessment. They are figuring out how many houses were damaged, how much damage there was to physical structures, and how much agricultural land was affected. They are also separately evaluating the damage to structures in government, non-government, and private sectors.<\/p>\n

The plan is to initially estimate how much economic loss was incurred in two to three days. That will also clarify the path and scope for post-disaster needs assessment.<\/p>\n

Q: Now, along with search and rescue, the work of rehabilitation also seems challenging. Looking at the mental and physical state of people, who have lost their relatives, homes, and property, how is rehabilitation possible on such a large scale? What is the government’s plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: We have now looked at the restoration in three ways. As the search and rescue work is finishing, the relief efforts are also going on simultaneously. Right after that, the work of building temporary shelters, putting people in tents, and managing the camps has already started. Plans need to be made for the next three months as well.<\/p>\n

Then the winter period arrives. To avoid risks in winter, we need to arrange tents that can be used in the cold. We are planning to bring tents, with support from donor agencies, that prevent the outside cold from getting in.<\/p>\n

So, where should the settlement be moved for rehabilitation? Where should the temporary camp be set up for now? And which place is safe for permanent habitation? There’s still a lot of work to be done on these questions. Since the whole area is affected, we need to see how to place settlements in a safe place rather than just in the same area.<\/p>\n

We also need to look at how to remove the debris accumulated in the river. In the future, during floods, there may be a need to build large embankments to prevent the settlements from being affected.<\/p>\n

Construction must take into account that floods coming from the Himalayan region can take such a huge form. Plans might also need to be made by considering the area affected by the current flood as a natural river zone. Along with that, the value of the tourist destination should also be preserved.<\/p>\n

Since we need to plan the reconstruction while keeping the cultural heritage and its significance alive, this has to be looked at more carefully than other reconstructions. Discussions about this are still ongoing.<\/p>\n

Q: Local representatives in the affected areas are complaining that rescue efforts couldn’t happen on time and that the federal government didn’t coordinate properly with the local levels. Where did the coordination between the federal, provincial, and local levels fall short? What should the government do to ensure effective coordination and immediate rescue and relief in such disasters in the coming days?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Two hours after the flood, we held a meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chaired by the Prime Minister. Within an hour of the meeting, we sent 25 million rupees\u201410 million to Rasuwa, 10 million to Nuwakot, and 5 million to Dhading. The money was sent through the District Disaster Management Committees to reach the local municipalities. The aim was to help get immediate work underway.<\/p>\n

After the funds are released, the rural municipality can purchase the materials itself and distribute them, and the reimbursement for that can be arranged through the District Disaster Management Committee to the Authority. The Disaster Management Act, 2017 has clarified everyone’s role. Nepal’s constitution also clearly explains the role of local governments. So, in terms of facilitation and coordination, the federal government has to coordinate with the provincial and local governments, and local governments should also coordinate with the federal government as needed. The roles of all three levels are clearly defined by the constitution and the law.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s more important during a disaster is not who coordinated with whom or didn\u2019t, but how to coordinate and move forward. It\u2019s important how active and proactive you are. That very night, under the leadership of the Home Minister, we sent eight trucks of relief materials to Nuwakot from the airport. Since air rescue wasn\u2019t possible at night, we sent the materials that very night. After that, the distribution process was also started.<\/p>\n

Right now, the road up to Rasuwa and Dhunche has been opened, and alternative routes are also available. We are sending relief materials through those routes as well. Helicopters are being deployed for management purposes. Where it has been difficult to send relief materials to hilly areas, the army has sent food supplies. We’ve also received information that the local governments are providing meals in many places.<\/p>\n

International organizations and NGOs are also working in various places to provide food, help with camp management, and assist with health services. It’s natural to feel a bit confused at the beginning during such a huge disaster, but we have been working around the clock. We’ve been working continuously for six days. The staff go home around midnight and are back at the office by 6 in the morning.
\nIf all tiers of the government work at this level, we can overcome this disaster. Right now, rather than focusing on who coordinated or didn’t, moving forward with a solution-oriented approach on how to coordinate is the correct principle of disaster management.<\/p>\n

Q: Were there any possibilities to reduce the human casualties to some extent from the disaster, if the preparedness and early warning system had been strengthened? Where did our preparedness and early warning system fail in disaster management?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: We should have some time in advance to issue an early warning for the people so that they could get time to move to safer places. But this time, people in the upper riverside areas and northern the customs office and border areas to run to safety. The flood was so sudden and giant. It also washed away the flood measurement stations on Nepali side, preventing the entire relevant system to access the flood indication and its magnitude.<\/p>\n

After the structure was washed away, it was not possible to measure how high the flood water was, but based on the information received from the district administration, we issued an SMS notification within five minutes for the areas from northern Rasuwa to Chitwan, dividing them into four clusters.
\nThrough the message, we urged everyone to stay safe, move to a safe place, informing them that a significant flood had occurred.<\/p>\n

Such SMS system also played a role in preventing the potential additional loss.<\/p>\n

We were not in the position of clearly stating that the flood was so catastrophic because our available measurement system had already collapsed.<\/p>\n

Some people considered that it was like a usual one that occurs every year and stay in home. Such ‘calculation’ also caused further losses.<\/p>\n

While analyzing the catastrophe from the aspect of climate change impact, it is not just limited to Bhotekoshi river system and Rasuwa district.<\/p>\n

Nepal’s three to four significant water systems have trans-border connectivity. If we don’t have access to any development in the upper areas of the river systems, its impact will be in the lower areas either it be from the climate or other change in the glacier ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Q: Is there a lack of coordination in disaster-related early warning and data exchange between Nepal and China? What kind of early warning and information exchange mechanism do you see as necessary between the two countries to reduce the risk of cross-border disasters in the coming days?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: For a long time, we have been stating that a cross-border early warning system, a bilateral early warning system or a multilateral early warning system is necessary. There have been weaknesses in the overall communication and exchange of disaster information. We are not sure whether China had an early warning of the flood or not. Perhaps it did not.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, the need for such bilateral mechanism has been greatly realized.<\/p>\n

Among the four major pillars of early-warning system are awareness and knowledge of disasters, monitoring, information flow and communications and how to convey information to the public.<\/p>\n

Q: After the floods, another challenge has emerged which is public health concern. Some bodies may be rotten soon in absence of timely identification of bodies and their proper management. This may result in water and environment challenge and also pose a risk for the spread of infectious diseases. In such a situation, what is the government’s preparation and management to minimize the risk to public health in the affected areas?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Works towards that end are underway. The health team is working on that. Works from spraying the required medicines for sanitation to managing the dead bodies are underway. The Ministry of Health is leading such endeavours. The respective ministries are also working on their relevant areas. Efforts are underway to restore disrupted roadways.<\/p>\n

Q: What is the major lesson that the Bhotekoshi floods have taught us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: The Bhotekoshi incident may reoccur in Mahakali, Karnali and Koshi rivers as well. That’s why, it’s urgent for us to take significant steps to strengthen our mechanisms and response system.<\/p>\n

The communication system should also be strengthened. It is required to strengthen the real-time system to know what changes are happening in the glacier ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Effective institutional development requires coordinated roles for the province government and the local government, ward-level disaster management committees, meteorological, and water-related agencies, and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.<\/p>\n

Along with all these, the community should realize the essence of given information and potential consequences. Now, it should be understood that ‘ just flood does not come, but a grave disaster may come.”<\/p>\n

We are expected to fix a fresh flood measurement station in the upper part of the Bhotekoshi River with the help of a helicopter by this evening. Such system will enable us to calculate the scale of any potential flood in the future, providing us some comfortable time to move to safety. It will be significant to mitigate the potential losses.<\/p>\n

In such situation, the State should also force citizens for timely evacuations. The incident has also taught us about the responsibilities of the State for the citizens during time of grave disasters.<\/p>\n

Q: The massive loss of lives and property in the recent flood has made not only search and rescue but also relief and rehabilitation operation a major challenge. What are the immediate and longer-term policies that the incumbent government has adopted to make these efforts more effective?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: We are currently working on two or three major fronts. Firstly, search and rescue operations are being carried out in full swing.<\/p>\n

For the first two days, we found that the geography of the affected area was extremely difficult. Much to our dismay, the weather also did not cooperate.<\/p>\n

We sent helicopters, but they had to turn back after reaching only as far as Nuwakot. It took us some time to reach Rasuwa district.<\/p>\n

The area had a large number of religious and other tourists, while settlements were also located along the riverbanks. As a result, we have suffered a heavy loss of human lives.<\/p>\n

Hence, our immediate focus is on search and rescue operation. Having said that, we have also now intensified relief distribution efforts.<\/p>\n

In the wake of devastating Bhotekoshi flood, we have set up as many as 21 relief camps where a large number of people are temporarily housed.<\/p>\n

We are arranging food, healthcare facilities and electricity supplies for them.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, portable generators are being dispatched to those temporary tents while charging stations are also being set up and delivered to the affected areas.<\/p>\n

Among the relief supplies sent by various countries, we are sending lists of items that are urgently needed for the disaster survivors.<\/p>\n

Yesterday alone, the government of Dubai pledged financial assistance worth USD 10 million.
\nTo make relief distribution more effective, we have deliberated on the essential items that the flood survivors urgently needed and thus sent a list of those items to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That assistance is also on its way.<\/p>\n

At present, we are working on how best to deal with this unprecedented disaster.<\/p>\n

The affected people are enduring an immense pain as the tragedy has agonized the entire country.
\nApart from Nepal, people from several countries, including India and China, have also been hit hard by the catastrophic disaster. Some have lost their lives, some bodies have been recovered, while others are still missing.<\/p>\n

We are required to work relentlessly round-the-clock in the days ahead. Reports are doing the rounds that some remain trapped inside tunnels at six hydropower projects.<\/p>\n

A team of experts from India has arrived for this purpose. We also immediately sent the rescue team to the affected sites by helicopter.<\/p>\n

The State, within its power and capacity, is leaving no stone unturned to fulfill its humanitarian responsibility.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, we are also coordinating closely with the provincial governments. Towards this, we invited the Chief Minister of Bagmati Province yesterday itself and held discussions with him.<\/p>\n

The Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2074 BS has clearly defined the role of provincial governments when it comes to disaster risk reeducation and management.<\/p>\n

The Act also lucidly clarified that the provincial governments are required to establish disaster management funds, participate in rescue and relief operations and work on disaster risk reduction.
\nWe, therefore, discussed how the provincial government could effectively shoulder its responsibilities within its jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the Chief Minister has pledged that the provincial government will shoulder responsibility for the distribution of relief materials and its management at local level within its jurisdiction in the manner the federal government has delivered relief materials to the flood-affected areas.<\/p>\n

We are coordinating efforts with local governments in the same manner for distribution of relief materials.<\/p>\n

In a gist, the federal government is responsible for international coordination, bringing in international relief and rescue supplies and mobilizing international experts.<\/p>\n

At the implementation level, provincial and local governments are delivering on their duties in line with the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2074 BS.<\/p>\n

Q: Nepal has long been raising its voice on climate-induced loss and damage and climate justice. It seems that a substantial scale of resources is required for rehabilitation and reconstruction operation in the wake of the devastation caused by the Bhotekoshi flood. What initiatives should Nepal now take to secure adequate support from international climate finance and loss-and-damage funds, particularly in the form of grants, without adding to the country’s debt burden?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: We have been prioritizing grants and are working to secure assistance primarily in the form of grants.
\nThere has also been a commitment to provide Nepal with support from international loss-and-damage funds for the losses we have suffered. Works are in progress towards this end as we have already submitted a proposal.<\/p>\n

Additionally, a number of development partners have also articulated their commitment to provide assistance for post disaster response effort.<\/p>\n

We are working to ensure that such assistance comes entirely in the form of grants. The government of Nepal is also preparing a plan for discussions with the donor community in the coming period.<\/p>\n

Q: Electricity and communication services have been restored in many areas, but extensive damage to roads and bridges has left several affected communities still cut off from the road network. What is the government’s immediate plan to reconnect these areas?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: We have initiated discussions on immediately transporting and installing the Bailey bridges available with the Nepali Army in the affected areas.<\/p>\n

Also, the government of Dubai has expressed its commitment to provide Bailey bridges while a similar commitment has come from the government of India.<\/p>\n

Plan is underway to install Bailey bridges as temporary structures as early as possible. You should be able to witness significant changes on the affected areas within the next few days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kathmandu, Sept 1: The devastating flood that hit the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa on August 26 caused major damage in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, and Chitwan districts. The flood, which came unexpectedly, not only caused huge losses to people and property but also raised questions about Nepal’s disaster preparedness and early warning systems. This immense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-main-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54173"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54176,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54173\/revisions\/54176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}