Nepal floods: Ex-minister flags delayed info sharing with China, says toll may rise 'unbelievably'

NEW DELHI: Nepal's former Forest and Environment Minister Madhav Prasad Chaulagain on Thursday flagged a lack of timely information exchange between Nepal and China ahead of the devastating floods in the country as "concerning" and said the scale of the disaster was so huge that the toll could rise "unbelievably".

A glacier collapse in Tibet caused catastrophic flash floods on Wednesday morning in border areas of China and Nepal. Nepal itself has reported 270 deaths, while the overall toll, including Tibet, is said to be more than 500, while thousands, including nearly 300 Indian tourists, are missing.

Chaulagain, who also handled physical infrastructure portfolio in the earlier government, said Nepal faced a similar but smaller-scale glacier collapse incident in 2025, when the need for timely sharing of early-warning information between the two countries had been recognised.

"It has become a quite concerning state because it was early in the morning. So we observed that there is some lack of the timely information exchange between the two countries," he said.

Talking to PTI over phone, Chaulagain said Nepal and Chinese authorities have now agreed to share information more promptly, but suggested that the lack of preparedness may have affected both sides.

"Apparently, yesterday, the Meteorological Department and Chinese authorities realised this, and from now onwards they have agreed to share timely information," he said.

"From China side... there is some lack of information sharing," Chaulagain said, adding that the Chinese side has also suffered extensive damage and "probably that side also was not fully prepared".

"Otherwise, they might have provided the information, because the border-crossing points and the nearby downstream areas were also badly affected," he said.

On the cause of the disaster, Chaulagain said it was now clear that the floods were not triggered by the earthquake as reported earlier, but by an ice and landslide-related blockage of the river that resulted in an outburst.

"As far as we know, it's not because of the earthquake thing, but it's because of the river blocked by the landslide and ice fall," he said.

He said there was still a lack of clarity on the precise trigger behind the landslide, with climate change and rising temperatures being among the possible explanations.

"So far, we have received a generic kind of explanation only, like now we know this climate change things, temperature rising, glacier melting," he said.

Chaulagain said Nepal needed greater access to information and satellite imagery from the Tibetan side to understand what exactly happened.

"We are hoping that we'll get more clarity in the days to come," he said.

He also said the number of missing people, including Indian tourists, could increase as many travellers visiting the area may not be covered by official records.

The affected area is not only a Nepal-China border crossing but also a pilgrimage route, with people travelling towards Kailash Mansarovar as well as other pilgrimage sites, he said.

"There are many people crossing from the Indian border. So they also visit that site," Chaulagain said, adding that many people also travel as trekkers and domestic pilgrims without formal records.

"This gives a picture that the death toll would rise unbelievably," he said.

On coordination with India, Chaulagain said New Delhi had been the first neighbouring country to respond quickly, with the Indian embassy initiating coordination and joint search efforts.

He said authorities were collecting more information from the ground to ascertain the actual number of tourists present in the affected areas and trace their whereabouts.

Chaulagain said the Nepal government has declared a state of emergency in the affected area and was mobilising all available resources for rescue and recovery.

He said Nepal has disaster-management mechanisms and early-warning systems for smaller and medium-scale disasters, including systems to monitor high-risk glacial lakes and send alerts through mobile networks.

However, the scale of the latest disaster was beyond what authorities could have anticipated, he said.

"This scale of disaster is beyond anyone's, like, comparison... Nobody was prepared," he added.

Chaulagain said Nepal was particularly vulnerable to climate-related disasters despite contributing relatively little to global greenhouse gas emissions.

"We are mountain countries, and we have not done any wrong against our environment... But we are facing the challenge," he said.

"Because of the global warming thing, the mountains are suffering, mountain people are suffering, and this is a very sad story that we have witnessed here," he said.

Chaulagain also pointed to the extensive damage to infrastructure, saying around 40 kilometres of road and nearly 18 bridges had been swept away.

He said authorities were now working to rebuild and construct emergency passages to reconnect affected communities.

On international assistance, he said India had already sent a flight carrying relief materials, while China had offered funds for relief efforts. The World Bank, the US and volunteer organisations were also providing support, he said.

"We actually need that in the time like this," Chaulagain said.