UN Resident Coordinator, Ms. Valerie Julliand pointed out that this study can prove very useful to the new National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority which is expected to be inaugurated soon following the adoption of a new National Disaster Risk Reduction Policy in 2018 and a National Action Plan 2018-2030 aligned with the global plan to reduce disaster losses, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Earthquake risk will not be the only focus of the new Authority. The country is also vulnerable to extreme weather events including floods, storms and drought.

Nepal’s Minister for Communication and Technology, Mr. Gokul Prasad Bask highlighted that the country experienced an unprecedented tornado in March which killed 28 people and expressed fears that climate change is exposing the country to risk of more extreme weather events. He was speaking at the opening on Thursday of the Asia Broadcasting Union (ABU) 5th Media Summit on Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness.

Ms. Julliand highlighted also the threat of glacial lake outbursts which is a threat to many human settlements at the foot of the Himalayas.

One of UNDP’s most high profile projects in the country is the Community Based Flood and Glacial Lake Outburst Risk Reduction Project to control the water level in Lake Imja, one of the fastest growing lakes in the Himalayan range due to glacial melt caused by global warming.

The water levels in the lake, 5,000 metres above sea-level, triggered a crisis in 2016 which was brought under control by the Nepali Army who put in a drainage system thereby removing the threat to the population downstream. The situation is now monitored by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.

Date:

26 Apr 2019

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (UNDRR AP)

Themes:

Advocacy & Media

Hazards:

Earthquake

Regions:

Asia