KATHMANDU: Fears of a second wave of flash floods loomed large in Nepal after authorities issued a fresh warning on Friday following an increase in the water level in the Bhotekoshi River area, as the death toll from the flood-related devastation neared 550.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said the rise in the water level at the same site raised the risk of another flood in the area.
The warning comes after a massive flash flood swept through Rasuwa and other parts of central Nepal on Wednesday, killing hundreds and causing widespread damage to settlements, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure.
“The water level mixed with mud has increased at the same place where the flash flood occurred on Wednesday, and there is a risk of more flooding in the area,” the authority said in a fresh notice.
The NDRRMA urged people involved in search and rescue operations, as well as those staying in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli areas for various reasons, to remain highly alert and immediately move to safer places if they face any risk.
Earlier, Nepal Police issued an alert after receiving information that a water dam on the Tibetan side had burst again. “Information has been received that the water dam on the Tibetan side has burst again,” Nepal Police said in a post on X.
However, the Nepal government clarified there was no information about any dam bursting. Government spokesperson and Education Minister Sasmita Pokharel said this while speaking to journalists following Friday's Cabinet meeting, according to the Onlinekhabar news portal.
"There is no information that a dam has burst anywhere. Since glaciers have broken off, water mixed with mud has overflowed in several places," Pokharel said. "No major immediate risk has been observed, but it is necessary to remain alert."
Pokharel said the government was maintaining continuous communication with the Chinese government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had been informed that there was no major risk.
Chinese authorities have also said water flow in the Bhotekoshi River area of Nepal's Rasuwa district has increased, but maintained that a lake formed upstream was stable and had not burst, the Rising Nepal Daily newspaper reported.
According to officials at Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese side said the increase in water flow in the upper reaches was due to an avalanche, but the lake formed after the river was blocked had not burst, the report said.
The Chinese side said the size of the lake was increasing, and water was continuously overflowing, but there had been no major outburst or rupture of the lake. It said there was no immediate risk of major flooding and that the situation was being continuously monitored, according to the report.
On Thursday, Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology had warned of a fresh flood risk downstream of the Bhote Koshi River following the formation of a new barrier lake near the Nepal-China border.
Earlier, Chinese authorities had informed Nepal that around 2 million cubic metres of water had accumulated in the lake, with another 3 million cubic metres potentially entering it over three days, raising concerns about a possible breach.
The lake had formed near the confluence of the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo rivers, which originate in Tibet and flow into Nepal as part of the Bhote Koshi river system.