WorldNepal floods ‘unprecedented’, requiring new engineering and urban-planning approaches

Basanta Raj Adhikari, director of the Center for Disaster Studies at Tribhuvan University’s Institute of Engineering, says the disaster highlights the limits of conventional prevention in the Himalayas. Flood speeds are estimated at 170 to 180 kilometres per hour, with threats including ice and snow avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods, requiring comprehensive monitoring and new planning approaches.