Nepal forms expert panel to probe deadly floods and climate change link

Kathmandu,UPDATED: Sep 19, 2026 18:46 IST

Nepal has formed a seven-member expert panel to investigate what triggered last month’s devastating floods, which killed more than 1,400 people and left over 6,000 missing, an official said on Saturday. The panel will also examine whether climate change played a role in the disaster.

The flash floods began near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26 and went on to devastate towns and villages in northern and central Nepal. The Bhotekoshi River, which flows south from the Himalayan border region, carried the floodwaters downstream, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.

The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has set up the panel with experts in hydrology, glaciology, remote sensing, geology, hydropower infrastructure and disaster risk reduction, according to Tika Ram Baral, a joint secretary-rank officer at the ministry. The panel is headed by water policy and governance expert Debesh Belbase and includes hydrologist Narendra Man Shakya, glaciologist Rijan Bhakta Kayastha, remote-sensing expert Uttam Babu Shrestha, hydropower infrastructure expert Hari Pandit, geologist Meghraj Dhital and disaster-risk reduction specialist Anil Pokhrel.

Baral said the panel will try to determine what exactly caused the flash flood in the Bhotekoshi river on August 26, how the disaster unfolded and whether climate change played a part. There had been speculation that the flood was triggered by a collapse of ice and rock in the high Himalayas, followed by an avalanche. However, a preliminary assessment has found insufficient scientific evidence to conclusively establish the origin and sequence of the disaster. The panel will carry out a detailed scientific investigation to establish the cause and sequence of events and examine possible links among glacial, geological and hydrological hazards. It has been asked to submit a preliminary report within a month, and, if needed, it may recommend a more detailed scientific study of the disaster, Baral said.

Days after the floods, the US Geological Survey said they had been triggered by a glacial collapse. It said additional analysis of long-period seismic waves showed that the tremors were generated by a glacial collapse and debris flow. Earlier this month, Chinese authorities also said the flash floods along the Tibet-Nepal border were triggered by a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal. Nepal’s new expert panel will now investigate the cause of the disaster and assess whether climate change was linked to it.

With PTI Inputs

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