Nepal and China Raise Alert Over Potential New Flood Risk

Nepal and China are on high alert following the formation of a natural dam composed of debris from a recent devastating flood. This dam, situated at an altitude of 2,900 meters, holds an estimated two million cubic meters of water and shows signs of leakage, raising fears of a potential overflow. The situation prompted Chinese authorities to temporarily suspend rescue operations in the area.

Amidst these concerns, rescue teams in Nepal successfully extracted about a hundred workers, engineers, and cooks who were trapped in a tunnel at a hydroelectric power plant. Found alive but exhausted, the individuals had to be carried to helicopters. The Nepalese disaster authority has raised the death toll to 538, with 937 people still missing within its territory.

In response to the dam's instability, Nepalese police observed a slight increase in the muddy river's water level. Operations were halted for ninety minutes, and the local population was urged to remain vigilant and take extreme precautions, leading to some panic and people fleeing uphill. Nepal is closely monitoring two potentially threatening lakes, while China focuses its surveillance drones on the specific dam.

The potential consequences of a sudden dam collapse are severe. A drop of over a thousand meters to the Gyirong crossing could replicate the unstoppable wall of water and mud that previously devastated 20 kilometers of riverbank and carried bodies downstream for hundreds of kilometers. Beijing has suspended entry permits to the affected Gyirong county, evacuating 499 residents and 555 tourists, primarily Chinese but also including Indians.