For wild rivers like the Karnali, Nepal’s disaster is a warning and an answer (commentary)

A glacial collapse on the Tibetan Plateau sent floodwater and debris across the Nepal-China border, killing more than 1,000 people with over 4,000 still missing, and damaging 11 operating and 15 under-construction hydropower plants. The disaster knocked out roughly a tenth of Nepal's generating capacity, forcing the country to halt electricity exports to India and begin importing power instead.

The authors, longtime river advocates, argue the flood exposes the risk of Nepal's aggressive hydropower expansion in unstable Himalayan corridors, warning that international financiers have pledged to more than triple the country's hydropower capacity over the next decade. They point to the Karnali as the country's last undammed river, home to endangered species and Indigenous communities, and call for it to be permanently protected, including through a pending Nepali Supreme Court case and a bid for UNESCO World Heritage status.

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