A decade of innovation in disaster risk reduction and building resilience in Nepal

Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate hazards, and this vulnerability is increasing as a result of climate change. It is a largely mountainous country with a high variation of altitude from north to south. Nepal’s mountain ecosystem has been made more fragile by the consequences of climate change: the Himalayas are now seeing more rainfall at elevations where it has mostly snowed in the past. The change has made the mountains more dangerous, as the rainwater loosens the soil, resulting in landslides and floods laden with debris. Similarly, the rise in temperature and changed nature of monsoon rains have altered the glacier landscapes, creating large numbers of lakes. These lakes, coupled with frequent cloudbursts in the Himalayan region, create unprecedented runoff, thus making the entire downstream area vulnerable to landslide and flood disasters.

Currently, Nepal observes destructive floods and landslides every year. In the mountains, the landslides sweep away the houses and communities resulting in huge loss of life, assets and infrastructures. In the lowland plain areas (the Terai), the rivers swell during the monsoon and destroy fertile lands and crops, as well as causing loss of lives, assets and infrastructure.

In August 2014, a rainfall-induced massive landslide hit Jure village in Sindhupalchok district, killing more than 150 people. The landslide blocked the Sunkoshi River, forming a huge lake upstream, 3 kilometres in length and 350 metres wide, threatening the safety of several villages, road and other infrastructures in the downstream side.

In June 2021, Melamchi basin observed heavy rainfall causing disastrous flooding in the downstream area, with 17 deaths and at least 23 missing due to landslides and floods. Due to massive debris flow, several trout fish farms, houses and schools were either swept away or filled with debris. It also damaged the headworks of the Melamchi Water Supply Project that had recently started to supply water in Kathmandu Valley.

In August 2023, a riverine flash flood in Mustang district swept houses and damaged infrastructure like bridges and roads throughout Kagbeni village. The disaster also destroyed crops and apple orchards in the area. Around 1 billion Nepalese rupees’ (around $7.4 million) worth of properties was damaged in the flood according to media reports.

The above examples are just a few representative cases. Flash floods after heavy downpour, huge landslides forming temporary dams, and bigger floods when these temporary dams burst, have become common incidents in the past few years in the entire Himalayan region. The extent of damage goes beyond the border and equally affects the neighbouring states of India, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Flood early warning saves lives

In Nepal, the early-warning system for flood disaster has worked well. Loss of life has significantly reduced in recent years with a series of preparedness activities and flood alerts. Since 2008, Practical Action has been the pioneer organisation working in flood early warning in Nepal. The approach is not only about the introduction of technology, but also a series of community-level mobilisation and social actions. It is about bringing together technology, human dynamics, collaboration and learning from the ground. It is about preparedness, response and recovery. Communities have their memories refreshed through mock exercises before the monsoon every year.

The Community Disaster Management Committees (CDMCs) are responsible for the annual mock flood exercise. This tests the effectiveness of interrelated flood warning system components, particularly monitoring, communication and response, and the capacity of different actors and community members to take coordinated action to avoid losses by using early-warning information during real flood events.

The mock flood scenarios entail displaying mock flood information online on a government page, which is coordinated and communicated to the National Emergency Operation Centre, District

Emergency Operation Center and security forces. The mobile network service disseminates the mock flood information via SMS to communities and local government representatives. CDMC task force members also blow sirens, use hand speakers and spread warnings and preparation advice to every affected household, particularly those who are most vulnerable. If needed, they can escalate the warning to an evacuation notice. Updates are then relayed to the community via phone calls and SMS. This combination of technology and guided community actions has been instrumental in saving lives during even the worst floods in Nepal.

These preparedness and early-warning activities have been demonstrated to be effective. In 2014, Zurich Insurance Company Limited commissioned a review of post-flood activities in the Karnali and Babai rivers. In August of that year, the basin had observed nearly 500 millimetres of rainfall in 24 hours. The rivers in the basin rose rapidly and exceeded the previous largest flood by nearly a metre. The study revealed that Practical Action’s early-warning work on those rivers with local, regional and national stakeholders was instrumental in saving lives and assets during this flood. CDMCs were instrumental in disseminating early-warning messages, organising evacuation and movement to safer areas, responding to community needs, assisting district security personnel with search and rescue, and numerous other activities.

In addition to these preparedness and early-warning technologies, Practical Action has also supported communities to engage effectively in planning processes in order to decrease the risks they face and increase their resilience. This has been done through the Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities (FRMC) process, which allows users to generate evidence about the ways in which a given area or community is already resilient to floods, as well as providing a guide to further develop this resilience. The results from the FRMC process have been used by communities when negotiating in local government planning processes, and putting forward their resilience needs to other government agencies. This tool is owned by the local governments in the Karnali river basin and other donor-assisted projects have also adopted this approach.

Recent activities to prepare for climate change

Practical Action aims for ‘resilience that protects’. In the resilience space, it has been collaborating with key partners to reduce the risk of climate hazards faced by communities in Nepal. While continuing to work on flood early warning, the work is being gradually advanced to newer concepts and technologies.

One key approach is index-based insurance for the farming communities in the basin who are affected by recurrent riverine floods (which is when intense rainfall causes the water level in the river to rise, and spill onto the land). Index-based insurance provides an agreed level of compensation when the threshold for pre-agreed parameters, such as levels of flooding or a certain amount of rainfall in a certain period, are surpassed. Payments are therefore made based on the intensity of the event, rather than on an accounting of the specific losses incurred. The claims process is much simpler and more transparent, meaning communities can move from disaster to recovery at a faster pace. Farmers understand the process and appreciate the limited administration and bureaucracy. They are also able to engage and build their skills in digital finance more generally.

Practical Action received a grant from the InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF) to develop index-based flood insurance (IBFI), targeting floods as the peril and standing paddies as the asset to be protected. The major objective of the pilot was to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable populations against floods in Karnali and some of its subsidiary rivers. Selected cooperatives in the flood-prone area hold a group insurance policy on behalf of individual farmers who choose to enrol in the scheme. The success of the pilot scheme launched in Lower Karnali has led to replication in the Kutia River and Kailali areas, and is being scaled up thanks to further donor interest.

The IBFI is the first of its kind in Nepal and the initial lessons have been very encouraging. Many farmers have accepted the product, and insurance companies have proved willing to use this innovative approach.

While there are many positives, there are some challenges too. The IBFI can’t be generalised for all the river systems at once. As every river is different, it requires a mechanism to be established for a single river based on flood data and agreement on different flood levels to determine the basis for the payback system – this can be a cost- and time-intensive process, engaging multiple stakeholders. Communities often have a negative perception of indemnity insurance, as their previous experiences have been with more traditional insurance systems that involve long processes calculating losses and late payment. It will take some time – and abundant evidence of payouts once the flood hits the set trigger – to convince people that this system is different. Finally, the government has not yet adapted disaster risk financing policies to allow for the subsidising of premiums for IBFI, in the way that traditional insurance already receives subsidies. As a result, IBFI practice in Nepal remains at the micro level. Practical Action is helping the approach develop by working with cooperatives as the aggregators and group policyholders on behalf of farmers. The challenge that remains is to take this innovative approach to the macro level through new government policies.

Many people living by the river depend on subsistence farming to survive, meaning a flood can have disastrous consequences on them and their livelihood. In addition to this work on insurance, Practical Action has been helping communities become more resilient by diversifying their livelihood options. The introduction of on- and off-farm training enables communities to diversify their livelihood options in case of floods and loss of crops. Focus group discussions and a survey showed that their newly learned skills (alongside the income from the IBFI) also: supported improved food security; improved health access; improved access to education; reduced forced migration; and reduced negative coping mechanisms (forced selling of assets, taking out unaffordable loans, etc.). The strengthening of financial capital has also helped communities adopt and invest in other mechanisms that can transfer their flood risk in relation to extreme climate events.

We cannot change unprecedented precipitation leading to flash floods and landslides. With an understanding of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction and management, it is possible to work towards a common objective of resilience-building. We can reduce the potential risks and scale of damage by understanding ecological and other factors, and applying mitigation measures. Practical Action in Nepal has been working exactly according to these principles. Additionally, it tries to address systemic issues, for more impactful and longer-term risk mitigation. It works closely with the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology as well as the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority and provides inputs for improving policies. It collaborates with like-minded organisations and partners to change their practices. By addressing systemic lapses, improving policies and changing practices, change for a better world is possible.

Achyut Luitel is a member of the Steering Committee at Duryog Nivaran, a research, training and advocacy network dedicated to strengthening disaster risk reduction and disaster risk mitigation across South Asia. Achyut was previously a regional director at Practical Action.