Late learning

How many settlements must be swept away, and how many must die before we take climate risks seriously?

Last month’s flash flood in Tibet’s Lhende River resulted in unfathomable destruction downstream, particularly in Nepal’s Rasuwa district. Besides killing nine people, it swept away the Miteri bridge, a vital trade route along the Nepal-China border, as well as loaded trucks and vehicles. It also ravaged an under-construction container depot inland, the barrage of the 111-megawatt Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project and several other hydropower projects. That is not all. It cut off the entire section of the Rasuwagadhi-Timure area and also disrupted electricity, telephone and internet services. Even in 2024, as per preliminary estimates, Nepal lost $32 billion due to unprecedented rainfall during the monsoon.