After the Melamchi disaster

Planners need to realise and accept that the era of megaprojects in Nepal is over.

The floods and debris flow in Melamchi on July 31, the second such event in just six weeks—after the devastating debris flow in June that killed five and buried parts of the town and surrounding farms—swept away the remaining bridges and several houses and huts. The flood survivors who had started to salvage what they could to rebuild their lives after the June event were once again let down as the second flood nipped what little hope and confidence they had mustered to re-establish themselves. For many in Melamchi, these have been unimaginable circumstances. The loss in monetary terms is assumed to be in the tens of billions of rupees.