Nepal Estimates $4.78bn Reconstruction Cost After Deadly Floods

Nepal has estimated that about $4.78 billion will be required to rebuild communities and infrastructure devastated by last month’s deadly floods triggered by a glacial mountain collapse, the country’s foreign ministry has said.

The disaster, which struck on August 26 near the China-Nepal border, unleashed a tsunami-like surge of water and debris, leaving more than 1,400 people dead and thousands missing.

Nepal’s Prime Minister, Balendra Shah, is expected to use his first overseas trip in office to seek international support for the country’s recovery and highlight the growing impact of climate change on the Himalayan nation.

Shah is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly later this month, according to the foreign ministry.

Nepal’s Foreign Secretary, Amrit Bahadur Rai, said the prime minister would use the UN platform to draw global attention to the repeated loss of lives and property caused by climate-related disasters.

Rai told reporters on Friday that Shah would seek to “draw the attention of the international community to the repeated loss of life and property Nepal has had to face, due to climate change and disasters created by it.”

Foreign ministry spokesman Lok Bahadur Chhetri said the government’s preliminary estimate put the overall reconstruction requirement at approximately $4.78 billion.

“The total estimated requirement for reconstruction is approximately $4.78 billion,” Chhetri said.

He explained that about $57.67 million would be needed for immediate recovery and reconstruction over the next six months, while approximately $4.71 billion would be required for longer-term rebuilding.

Nepal, a predominantly rural country with a population of about 30 million, contributes only a small share of global greenhouse gas emissions compared with industrialised countries.

Although the precise cause of the glacial collapse remains unclear, scientists have warned that rising global temperatures are accelerating glacier melt and increasing the risks associated with disasters in the Himalayas.

The Himalayas, which contain some of the world’s highest peaks and glaciers, have experienced rapid changes linked to warming temperatures.

Chhetri said the government was carrying out a broader assessment to establish the full scale of the disaster.

“Given the scale and extent of the damage, the government is also undertaking a comprehensive post-disaster needs assessment to determine the full extent of loss and damage and the requirement for recovery, rebuilding and reconstruction,” he said.

A preliminary United Nations assessment estimated damage to buildings alone at $158 million. The UN warned that the overall economic impact would be substantially higher after accounting for destroyed roads and bridges, agricultural losses and humanitarian needs.

Search and rescue efforts have continued in Nepal, particularly at hydropower facilities where tunnels were flooded with freezing mud.

Hundreds of workers are among those still missing.

Three people were rescued from deep inside the tunnels in the days immediately following the disaster. However, there has been no confirmed rescue of additional survivors since a Chinese national was pulled alive from the debris nearly a week after the floods.

The United Nations has launched a $50 million appeal to support more than 84,000 people affected by the disaster.

The organisation said rescue operations were increasingly transitioning towards relief and recovery, although search efforts remained ongoing.

According to Nepal’s disaster management agency, rescuers had recovered 1,385 bodies as of Friday, while approximately 5,130 people remained missing.

In neighbouring China, state media reported 43 deaths and 519 people missing.

The combined death toll in Nepal and China stood at 1,428, while more than 5,649 people were reported missing, including about 800 foreign nationals, among them tourists and pilgrims.

Nepal’s government has said the scale of the disaster reinforces the need for sustained international assistance as the Himalayan country confronts the growing risks posed by climate change and environmental changes in its mountainous regions.

AFP