KATHMANDU, July 13: A total of 4,610 incidents of flood and landslide took place across the country in the past 12 years (from 2068 BS to 2079 BS). Of them, 1,816 incidents are flood-related, and 2,794 landslide-related.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), the total 2,360 people lost their lives to the disasters (876 died from floods and 1,484 from landslides). Another 563 people have gone missing in flood-related incidents. A total of 15,769 houses were destroyed completely (11,878 by floods, and 3,891 by landslides) damaging properties worth over Rs 35.2 billion.

Lately, the incidents of landslide and human losses caused by them have gone higher as compared to that of floods. In the past three months (from 14 April to 10 July 2023), nine people were killed due to 89 incidents of flood while 19 people lost their lives to 248 incidents of landslides.

When the data of the recent past five years is analyzed, the incidents of landslides and human losses have increased as opposed to that caused by floods, said the NDRRMA.

A total of 1,929 landslides took place in the past five years (334 in 2075, 434 in 2076, 489 in 2077, 344 in 2078 and 328 in 2079 BS), and 579 people were killed in landslip related incidents in the past three years (301 in 2077, 182 in 2078 and 96 in 2079 BS).

In the past five years, a total of 214 people were killed in flood incidents (17 in 2075, 73 in 2076, 42 in 2077, 63 in 2078 and 19 in 2079 BS).

Digging roads rampantly is a major factor behind the increasing landslide incidents, said disaster management expert Dr Krishna Chandra Devkota, vice chairperson of the Provincial Policy and Planning Commission, Gandaki Province. This would continue in the days to come if digging roads without carrying out a proper study continues, he warned. "Factors like dug road walls being left bare without proper management, road infrastructures constructed without carrying out a geological and environmental impact assessment (EIA), and failure to focus on making arrangements after identifying risky areas are blamed for landslides," he said.

Managing landslides requires substantial suggestions from technical, and the construction of infrastructures as per guidelines set by the Sustainable Development Goals, he suggested. Today's nature of flooding was different from the ones in the past, and flood related incidents have been also decreasing, said the NDRRMA Executive Chief Anil Pokharel.

Lately, incidents of flood have been shifting from the Tarai towards the hilly and mountainous regions. Devastating flooding occurred in Melamchi two years ago, and floods are taking place in Manang and Mustang. Factors like embankment constructions, the construction of disaster resilient houses and structures, and pre-warning system for floods have helped a lot to save the Tarai from floods to some extent, he said.

"We have invested in the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology for six years. We have almost been on a par with India in terms of the pre-warning system. As a result of the whole thing, incidents of flood have been decreasing," he claimed, adding, "Increasing incidents of landslides have taken place due to increasing human settlements. There have been unmanaged settlements. Private houses have been constructed without taking into account disaster risks. The core parts of the soil are absorbing the large amount of rainwater, thus weakening underground rocks resulting in landslides." Besides, some unmanaged development activities have also contributed to growing incidents of landslide, he said.

Pre-warning system, management and identification of risk area required

Lack of substantial identification of risky areas has been a major concern when it comes to containing landslides, according to experts. Although rain estimation is effective, estimation of its results and landslide risks is yet to be effective, they said, adding that in some cases, the lack of estimations in some risky areas and risk management have hit the matter.

Some local governments lacking the technology, skills, resources and research and uniformity in research and results have added to the problem, they said.  

Incidents of landslides have occurred in Nepal due to the lack of real time data about the disaster and substantial research and studies, said geologist Dr Ananta Man Singh Pradhan, senior divisional engineer for the Water Resources Research and Development Center.

"The exact identification and estimation of risky areas are required," he said. In the context of the soil getting hotter every year, precautions should be adopted, and alternatives sought to digging roads, said Dr Sanjaya Devkota, executive director for the Forum for Energy and Environment Development. Proper EIA is required to construct roads, he added.

"Identification of the causes of landslides and its gravity, and risks should be assessed. After analyzing all these things, preventive measures should be sought," suggested Dr Ranjan Kumar Dahal, associate professor for the Central Department of Geology, Tribhuvan University. The NDRRMA admitted to a lack of substantial work and programs taking place to reduce landslides.

There is a need to identify problems in the scaling, resolution and aim in the course of estimating landslide-prone areas, and for this, experts' assistants are required, said the NDRRMA's Undersecretary Rajendra Sharma.

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