By Abdullahi Lukman
Nepal has estimated that rebuilding after last month’s devastating floods will cost $4.78 billion, as the Himalayan nation seeks long-term international support to recover from the disaster and address growing climate-related risks.
The Foreign Ministry said about $57.67 million would be needed for immediate recovery and reconstruction over the next six months, while a further $4.71 billion would be required for long-term rebuilding.
The August 26 disaster, triggered by a glacial mountain collapse near the China-Nepal border, unleashed a tsunami-like flood that killed more than 1,400 people and left more than 5,600 missing in Nepal and China.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah is expected to raise Nepal’s vulnerability to climate change and its need for international assistance when he addresses the UN General Assembly later this month. It will be his first foreign trip since becoming prime minister.
Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai said Shah would use the UN platform to highlight the repeated loss of lives and property caused by climate-related disasters in Nepal.
The government is conducting a comprehensive post-disaster assessment to determine the full scale of damage and the resources required for recovery and reconstruction. A preliminary UN assessment estimated damage to buildings at $158 million, while losses to roads, bridges, farmland and humanitarian services are expected to push the overall cost much higher.
Nepal contributes only a small share of global greenhouse gas emissions but is highly vulnerable to the effects of a warming climate. Scientists say rising temperatures are accelerating glacier melt across the Himalayas, increasing the risk of floods and other mountain disasters.
Rescue teams are continuing to search hydropower tunnels buried in freezing mud, where hundreds of workers remain missing.
The UN has appealed for $50 million to assist more than 84,000 people affected by the disaster, while relief operations increasingly shift towards recovery.
Nepal’s disaster agency reported that 1,385 bodies had been recovered and about 5,130 people remained missing. In China, 43 people were reported dead and 519 missing, bringing the combined toll to 1,428 deaths and more than 5,649 missing.
