KATHMANDU: Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah told Parliament on Wednesday that the catastrophic Bhotekoshi River flood of August 26, which has left nearly 4,000 people missing, stands as a stark warning of escalating climate risks in the Himalayan region and called on the international community to share responsibility for mitigating its impacts.
In a detailed address to the House, the prime minister said experts have identified the disaster- one of the largest in the region- as resulting from an avalanche of snow and rock in the high Himalayas.
"This is a serious signal that, alongside climate change, the risks we must bear in the Himalayan region are increasing. We must be aware of this, and the time has also come for us to present, forcefully, before the international community, the disasters we are suffering because of climate change. Climate change is a product of the whole world's contribution; mitigating and managing its effects is the shared responsibility of the global community," Prime Minister Shah said.
The flood struck riverside settlements in Rasuwa district on the morning of August 26 (Bhadra 10, 2083), rapidly affecting neighbouring areas including Nuwakot and Dhading. (ANI)
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