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Bhotekoshi flash flood
Nepal’s August 26 Bhotekoshi flash flood was triggered by a collapse of ice, rock and debris in the Himalayan region, and Nepal’s government has since asked the UN-backed Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage for emergency financing.
“The Himalayas are warming”
The Times of India said scientists have not established a direct causal attribution between the Bhotekoshi event and human-caused climate change, while also warning that “The Himalayas are warming” and that warming can increase high-mountain hazards.
Hindustan Times reported that on August 26 a collapse of rock and ice near the Nepal-Tibet border sent a surge of water and debris down the Lhende Khola into the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers, and it put the toll inside Nepal at 1,066 dead and about 4,606 missing as of Wednesday.
The Kathmandu Post said the government’s urgent request to the fund seeks an immediate response to “the catastrophic flash flood that struck the Bhotekoshi river basin,” and it quoted a board member saying the letter does not specify the actual scale of the losses.
In parallel, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told Kantipur TV that Nepal is shifting from aid to justice and compensation, saying, “This is not a matter of charity; it is a matter of legal and moral liability.”
Diplomacy and contested attribution
Nepal’s diplomatic push is being framed as responsibility rather than charity, with Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal telling Kantipur TV that “This is not a matter of charity; it is a matter of legal and moral liability.”
In a separate account of the evidence, Hindustan Times said a report published on August 28 by Binod Parajuli set out what satellite pictures showed about the origins of the August 26 tragedy, including “an ice avalanche, permafrost movement and a rockslide.”
The Kathmandu Post reported that Maheshwar Dhakal, a joint secretary at the Ministry of Forests and a member of the fund’s board, said the letter does not specify the actual scale of the losses and that it is up to the board to decide on financial assistance.
Onlinekhabar English reported that Nepal’s request is tied to establishing a link between the disaster and climate change, quoting environmental economist Arjun Dhakal saying Nepal must “establish that the event was caused by climate change and carry out a detailed assessment of the losses.”
Climate Home News added that developing-country board members asked for an extraordinary meeting after Nepal’s appeal, with a letter saying the debris-laden torrent is “precisely the kind of climate-related extreme weather events the fund was established to address.”
What’s at stake next
Nepal’s request is being made while the Loss and Damage Fund has yet to approve or pay out any funding, and Climate Home News said the board has “yet to approve any funding requests.”
“yet to approve any funding requests”
Onlinekhabar English reported that the fund had called for proposals ranging from $5 million to $20 million from 134 countries, while it said more than 100 countries sought around $3 billion and that the fund has committed to providing a total of around $820 million.
The Kathmandu Post said the next board meeting is expected to convene on December 10, but Nepal wants an immediate response “before that,” and it quoted the letter’s language that “Time is of the essence.”
In parallel, Nepal’s government is also coordinating rescue and damage assessment, with Inquirer.net quoting Foreign Minister Khanal saying “We have also activated our embassies and asked them to brief their host governments,” including requests for “tunnel rescue experts, Bailey bridges, DNA and forensic experts.”
The stakes extend to reconstruction costs and infrastructure, with The Times of India saying the damage is large enough to threaten local economies and Nepal’s already constrained capacity to rebuild, while América TV reported that the floods left 4,850 people missing and that rescuers evacuated 6,541 people.