New Delhi: In the aftermath of the tragic flash floods in Nepal, that has so far claimed 734 lives, the Himalayan nation’s former Forest and Environment Minister Madhav Prasad Chaulagain claimed that China had not issued any warning before the disaster struck the country.
The former Minister told NDTV that Nepal did not receive any timely alert from the Chinese side before a wall of ice, rock and mud tore through the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday morning, calling the withholding of data, “against humanity”.
Rejecting Beijing’s assertion that the collapse began on the territory of the Himalayan nation, the former Minister insisted that the disaster, originated in Tibet.
“Things are not so clear,” he said while calling for greater transparency.
Chaulagain added that the disaster exposed a deeper planning failure.
Nepal’s early-warning systems and environmental impact assessments for hydropower projects concentrated on glacial lakes. This tragedy involved ice-rock falls and the collapse of a glacier-fed river system that “was never envisioned”, he said.
Meanwhile, a report by a noted international daily claimed that China is deleting videos showing the devastation caused by catastrophic flash floods and mudslides in Tibet.
A report by The Times of Israel claimed that the glacier collapse triggered a massive surge of mud, rock and water through the Lhende Khola and into the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems, causing extensive destruction along the Nepal-Tibet frontier.
According to the report, videos of the disaster began circulating on Chinese social media platforms within hours of the floods.
Security footage showed a huge wall of mud and debris crashing over buildings at Gyirong Port as people ran for their lives.
The report said the location and footage were subsequently verified by international media.
The report also cited Bhutanese journalist, who highlighted the removal of flood footage from Chinese platforms and stressed that the material was disaster footage rather than political protest or anti-government activity.
The August 26 tragedy has so far claimed 734 lives, while 2,498 people remain out of contact, including 589 foreigners, Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said.
(IANS)
