Kathmandu: Families in flood-hit Nepal have begun performing symbolic funeral rites for relatives who have been missing for days, as the death toll from the devastating flash floods rose to 1,259 on Thursday and the number of missing people crossed 5,000.
The floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal.
According to data released by Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), 5,083 people remain missing.
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In Paharebesi village of Rasuwa district, families have begun preparing funeral rites for relatives who have remained untraced for eight days, the Onlinekhabar news portal reported.
Families in other flood-hit areas have also been using effigies made of kusha grass to perform the final rites of relatives who remain missing, The Kathmandu Post reported. They said they were resorting to symbolic funerals as hopes of finding their loved ones alive diminish and recovering and identifying bodies becomes increasingly difficult.
NDRRMA data showed that 355 bodies had been recovered from Chitawan, 218 from Nawalparasi East, 212 from Nawalparasi West, including 18 recovered in India and handed over to authorities in Nawalparasi West, and 177 from Nuwakot. Another 127 bodies were recovered from Rasuwa, 72 from Gorkha, 60 from Dhading and 38 from Tanahu.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the flash flood in Gyirong county in Tibet, near the Nepal border, rose to 21, with 541 people still missing as of Wednesday.
Fresh flood warning
With the upper reaches of the Bhotekoshi River receiving continued rainfall on Thursday, authorities warned of rising water levels in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers and smaller waterways in Rasuwa and Nuwakot.
Saraswati Bishta, a technician with the Flood Forecasting Division of Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, urged people living along the rivers and downstream areas to remain vigilant.
A medium-level flash-flood risk has been forecast in several hilly districts, including Taplejung, Panchthar, Terhathum, Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, Okhaldhunga, Udaypur, Chitwan, Gorkha, Tanahu, Lamjung, Manang, Mustang, Myagdi, Kaski, Syangja, Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.
Several mountain districts, including Kalikot, Humla, Jumla, Dailekh, Darchula and Baitadi, are also facing flash-flood risks as rivers continue to swell.
‘Himalayan Tsunami’
Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal described the floods as a “Himalayan Tsunami” and thanked neighbouring countries and the international community for their support during the crisis.
Khanal had earlier said China, the US and India, which he identified as the world’s three largest greenhouse gas emitters, had a “historical responsibility” to compensate vulnerable countries such as Nepal.
Meanwhile, schoolchildren across Nepal have been donating part of their pocket or snack money to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for flood victims.
Joint rescue teams led by the Nepal Army continued search and rescue operations for a ninth day on Thursday.
The floods have drastically altered the landscape of the valleys in Rasuwa and Nuwakot, with helicopter pilots relying on their judgement to navigate the terrain after riverbanks and familiar landmarks disappeared, The Kathmandu Post reported.
An Indian tunnel rescue team is working with the Nepal Army at the Chilime Power House. The Indian envoy visited Syabrubesi, where the team is based, and said the Indian and Nepali teams would continue their efforts despite difficult conditions.
The teams have explored 100 metres inside the tunnel using specialised equipment and plan to bring in heavy machinery to advance further, the envoy said.
China has meanwhile rescued 114 Nepali nationals stranded in Tibet after the August 26 flash floods and facilitated their return to Nepal through the Tatopani border, according to Nepal’s Home Ministry.
Around 2,500 Nepalis have already returned from Tibet, while another 1,400 are awaiting repatriation, the ministry said.
Glacier instability warning
A senior Chinese climate official has warned that glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau are likely to become increasingly unstable, raising the risk of further collapses and cascading disasters.
Gao Rong, deputy director of China’s National Climate Centre, said the glacier area on the Tibetan Plateau had shrunk by about 24% over the past 60 years, with around 7,000 small glaciers disappearing completely.
He warned that the structural stability of glaciers across the plateau would decline further, potentially making glacial disasters more frequent and increasing their destructive reach through cascading effects.
