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Catastrophic Landslide: Climate Change

by | 01-09-2014 01:37




President George Bush stated, "Climate change is the greatest hoax ever perpetuated by human being in the civilization." I wonder if it is really true. May be the statement is valid for developed nationality, well-equipped with modern technologies and invention for mitigation (rather than adaptation strategies) while the case is reverse for developing countries.


For developing countries like Nepal, climate change is not just an environmental phenomenon but also serious economic, social, and political issues. Let me defy his statement with a serious happening in Nepal. In the early hours of 2 August 2014, a landslide occurred above Jure village, about 1.4 km upstream from the Sun Koshi Hydropower project's intake site. Recent landslide incurred at this area blocked the massive Monsoon flow of perennial SunKoshi river, and created a dam of dimension 3km lake with deposition of 160 cubic meter velocity land. The death toll exceeds 156 people with heavy loss of property of around $3,000,000 (8 August, Annapurna Post). The massive landslide swept away an entire settlement of an estimated 60 households. And according to the Chief District Officer of Sindhupalchok Gopal Parajuli, more than 120 people are still missing in the landslide that destroyed 57 houses and the resulting dammed lake swamped 18.  Dozens of settlement areas, hydropower-dams and highways are cleared away. Scientists claimed that low rainfall and heavy rainfall due to Climate Change Phenomenon has caused this.  Around 252 families from 15 VDCs along the SunKoshi River banks in Sindhuli are slowly walking back to their settlements. But most of them have taken shelter at their relatives' places instead of relief camps, according to a local resident, Sharad Acharya.


It's a curse to population of developing countries that we can't mitigate nor can we adapt to theses natural disaster. Late Monsoon rain, led to this severe flood and thus, resulted to this serious damage. Effects on social life (gender issues), educational status, economic loss, political pressures, these ultimately escort to damage to country's progress.


To me, it had been the most terribly tragic incident in my life. Sindupalchowk is around at 3 hours distance by bus from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. I've been there at funeral of 100s of victims brought here at Pashupati Aaryaghat (Kathmandu, Nepal), seen people in tears where more than 100 corpses laid at side of holy Bagmati River. Isn't it a grief? Isn't this climate issue serious enough to grasp worldwide attention? This grief has dreadful reminiscences still on my mind. I can't feel of any issue other than this heart-throbbing unpleasant incident.