Nepal has been devastated by catastrophic flash floods and mudslides, apparently triggered by the collapse of a massive glacier and avalanche. The collapse on Wednesday morning caused such a powerful shock that the U.S. Geological Survey recorded it as a magnitude 5.2 event on the Richter scale, leading to initial speculation that the flooding had been caused by an earthquake. But later, scientists ascertained that a high-altitude landslide coinciding with a glacial collapse most likely caused the flash flood.
Satellite images showed that the glacier collapse took place at an elevation of around 17,000 feet on a Nepalese mountain near the border with Tibet. It unleashed an enormous mass of water, ice, rock and debris that rapidly gathered momentum as it descended from the high mountains. It then blasted down the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers along the Nepal-Tibet border with the force of a tsunami. The sheer volume and speed of the deluge left little time for people in its path to react or seek safety. Video footage of the deluge circulating on social media is profoundly shocking, showing the torrent sweeping away entire villages, roads, bridges, schools and hydropower plants, swallowing everything in its path. The death toll from the disaster has reached 526 in Nepal and 7 in China/Tibet, while more than 1,000 people are reportedly missing.
It is a sad hour for the people of Nepal. They need material assistance as much as moral support. At the same time, the disaster should be a moment of reckoning for the whole world. Natural calamities worldwide appear to be becoming more frequent and lethal, as if something is disturbing the poise and even tenor of our planet. Humanity has made remarkable advances in predicting and managing natural hazards, yet it remains extremely vulnerable in many ways. While oceanic storms and tidal bores leave scope for advance warning, no warning can be made in the case of earthquake, tsunami or landslide. Even developed countries are struggling to cope with the increasing frequency and ferocity of natural calamities without suffering great losses. One may recall the recent heat waves in Europe, which claimed thousands of lives. If wealthy countries are struggling to cope with such disasters, the vulnerability of poorer countries, and of the poor in rich countries, can well be imagined.
Scientists will need to determine the extent to which climate change and other environmental factors caused the disaster. Scientists have said that rising temperatures caused by climate change may have destabilised the glacier and rock face. In fact, given the scale of global warming, scientists have long warned that more than 70 per cent of the glacier volume on Mount Everest could be lost by 2100. In such a scenario, Everest could be transformed from a snow-covered landscape into a largely rocky mountain peak. This would not only be a loss for Nepal but could also have dire consequences for the surrounding countries.
Everest and the surrounding Himalayan glaciers are the sources of several major transboundary rivers in Asia, some of which also flow through Bangladesh. The Himalayan glaciers and ice caps store and supply water downstream, and millions of people in the Gangetic Plains depend on glacial meltwater for agriculture, drinking water and power generation. Accelerating glacier melt could increase the risks of flooding and landslides in the short term, while the eventual loss of glaciers could deprive rivers of a crucial source of water. Many rivers in South Asia could therefore face severe water shortages in the long term.
The tragedy in Nepal, therefore, should not be viewed merely as another natural disaster. It should serve as a wake-up call. Beyond relief and rescue operations, countries across the world need to work together to protect the Himalayan ecosystem, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and push for stronger action against greenhouse gas emissions. For Bangladesh, a downstream country dependent on transboundary rivers, what happens in the Himalayas is not a distant environmental concern but a matter of water security. The fate of the Himalayas is closely tied to the fate of millions downstream, making the protection of its glaciers not merely an environmental responsibility but a matter of survival for the people of the region.
