Nepal Pushes China for Better Data and Early Warnings After Deadly Floods
By Saurabh Sharma, Devjyot Ghoshal and Sarita Chaganti Singh
Calls for Improved Cross-Border Disaster Cooperation
Background and Recent Meetings
KATHMANDU, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Three months before a wall of water, mud and rock killed hundreds when it hurtled down a Himalayan valley bordering Nepal and China, experts and officials from both countries met in Kathmandu to discuss the risk of such disasters.
At the May 27 meeting in Nepal's capital, 10 officials from Nepal and about a dozen from China, including the Tibet region where the disaster struck, discussed strengthening cooperation to monitor and respond to floods, weather and glacier-related hazards, according to an agenda prepared by the Nepali side and seen by Reuters.
The participants called for joint risk-reduction measures, including inventories of glacial lakes and hazard mapping.
Concerns Over Data Sharing
But two Nepali officials told Reuters they did not receive as much information as they wanted from China on glacier risks and water levels after the meeting and they feared insufficient data sharing could hamper their ability to anticipate and prepare for major disasters.
"What we actually wanted from them, and still want, is if there are early movements of glaciers and early movements around that area, we would want to know a bit early," said Sauhardra Joshi, a hydrologist at Nepal's Flood Forecasting Division, who was in the May meeting.
Economic and Diplomatic Impact
No officials or experts have blamed either side for the natural disaster, which will cost an estimated tenth of Nepal's annual economic output to recover from. Nepali officials say the priority is to deepen cooperation with China.
China's foreign ministry said the two sides have maintained "sound cooperation in the fields of meteorology, water resources and disaster prevention and mitigation".
"China will continue to strongly support Nepal's disaster relief efforts, strengthen cooperation in disaster prevention and mitigation, and safeguard the common interests of the two peoples," the ministry told Reuters in a statement.
China's Response and Data-Sharing Efforts
Official Statements and Challenges
CHINA SAYS ITS DATA-SHARING HAS BEEN 'TIMELY'
Last week, the sudden collapse of a glacier on Nepal's Langtang mountain range into a valley that divides Tibet and Nepal set off a catastrophic flood that killed more than 900 people and nearly 5,000 are still missing on both sides of the border.
It is unclear what data — if any — China had before the disaster of the conditions of the glaciers in the area, especially those lying outside its borders.
"Detecting such failures before they occur is extremely difficult," Fan Xuanmei, director of the State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection at Chengdu University of Technology, told state-run China Daily.
Potential source areas are often above 5,000 metres, where conventional field monitoring is difficult. Satellite observations can be limited by snow and ice cover and steep terrain, while monitoring equipment has to operate in extreme cold and high-altitude conditions.
Mandate and Agreements
At the meeting in Kathmandu, the Chinese said they did not have the mandate to sign an agreement to meet Nepal's requests, asking for further discussions, said Binod Parajuli, another Nepal government hydrologist.
Details of the meeting and Nepal's demands for broader cooperation in monitoring the glaciers that threaten communities on both sides of the border have not previously been reported.
China's embassy in Nepal said in a statement on X on Saturday that Beijing and Kathmandu had kept in close contact on the issue and had made "substantial progress" at the meeting in May on promoting cross-border disaster information sharing.
Progress and Ongoing Concerns
Nepal raised similar concerns last year, officials said, though experts and officials cautioned that what they describe as slow progress was not a significant factor in the latest disaster.
Rejecting criticism from some Nepali social media users that China had failed to provide adequate warning, the Chinese embassy said Chinese and international experts faced significant challenges monitoring hazards in the remote Himalayan region.
Chinese teams had shared important information with Nepal "in a timely manner", it said.
Historical Precedents and Current Practices
Past Incidents and Data Sharing
At last year's meeting, Nepal raised concerns about a flood in the same area, triggered by the sudden release of water from a glacial lake in Tibet that killed at least nine in Nepal and left more than a dozen missing.
"When the Chinese side sees a heavy precipitation forecast in the Tibet area, then they provide us that forecast and those observations," Parajuli said. But "not for avalanche and water level, landslides, extreme events."
China began sharing forecasts of heavy rain in Tibet over China's WeChat messaging app and email a month ago, Parajuli said.
Timeline and Complexity of Disaster Response
Events Leading to the Calamity
TIMELINE TO CALAMITY
Twelve days before the disaster, China's World Meteorological Centre told Nepali officials in an email, seen by Reuters, that a monsoon depression was forecast for the area from August 14 to 19.
"Enhanced rainfall is likely across much of Nepal, and we wish to draw your attention to the potential for secondary and cascading hazards, including but not limited to landslides and flash floods," China warned.
The Chinese embassy said China has been sharing information including monitoring data on a lake formed by debris from last week's calamity.
Geopolitical and Environmental Challenges
The discussions over data-sharing underline the complexity of monitoring, forecasting and providing early warning in a region where regional geopolitical rivals — including China and India — control remote mountainous areas holding vast quantities of ice and snow that loom over densely populated South Asian plains.
Wednesday's catastrophe was sparked by the collapse of the glacier in a relatively unmonitored area, and a lack of bilateral cooperation was not a significant factor in Nepal's response, according to environmental anthropologist Austin
