Nepal flash floods: Hanging glacier collapse in focus, NDMA for hard look to reduce future risks

Nepal flash floods: Hanging glacier collapse in focus, NDMA for hard look to reduce future risks India has had a number of major flash flood incidents over recent years, including the Kedarnath tragedy in 2013, the Chamoli disaster in 2021, the Sikkim.

Key points

• 5 min read New Delhi Aug 28, 2026 04: 30 AM IST.
• Nepal Flash Flood Live Updates: 290 Indians still missing, China raises fresh alarm.
• Nepal army personnel against the backdrop of a rescue and search operation after flash floods, at the Army Training Centre in Nuwakot, Nepal, Thursday, Aug.
• Individuals try to enter a safer place after flash floods, at the Devighat in Bidur, Nuwakot, Nepal, Thursday, Aug.
• Houses devastated in Devighat residential area by mud-laden floodwaters after a flash flood caused by an outburst in the Bhotekoshi River, in Nuwakot on Thursday.

Houses devastated in Devighat residential area by mud-laden floodwaters after a flash flood caused by an outburst in the Bhotekoshi River, in Nuwakot on Thursday. (ANI Video Grab).

With the spotlight now on the collapse of a hanging glacier as the probable trigger for the devastating flash flood in Nepal, the incident is being closely monitored by the disaster management set-up in India where similar disasters have happened in the recent past.

In practice, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) remarked Thursday it was planning to initiate a comprehensive study on the Nepal event.

"Plenty of areas in India are vulnerable to the kind of disaster we have just seen in Nepal. We have had such events previously. So it is significant for us to study this, and understand this. We do plan to look at it in detail, " Krishna Swaroop Vatsa, Member, NDMA, remarked.

Nepal races against time to look for survivors, 290 Indians still missing.

After the Chamoli incident in 2021, the NDMA had initiated an effort to mitigate the risks from such events through the installation of early warning systems on glacial lakes considered vulnerable to breaches.

Individuals try to enter a safer place after flash floods, at the Devighat in Bidur, Nuwakot, Nepal, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. The death toll from the devastating flash floods surged to 359 on Thursday. (PTI Photo) The National GLOF Risk Management Programme seeks to strengthen the boundaries of these glacial lakes in the four hilly states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and equip them with early warning systems. Meanwhile, the programme covers the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as well. In April 2024, ISRO has made public that of 2, 431 glacial lakes larger than 10 hectares in size in the Indian Himalayan River basins 676 had expanded notably between 1984 and 2023.

Express View on Nepal floods: Himalaya needs shared early-warning system.

"This programme is progressing well. It will take some time, but this will support in significantly reducing the risks from glacial outbursts. The Nepal incident just reinforces the importance of this programme. Simultaneous efforts to create capabilities in forecasting landslides, and develop a landslide early warning system, are additionally extremely crucial. Experimental landslide forecasts are already being done in some areas. These are particularly notable, " Vatsa noted.

While scientists are still trying to ascertain the exact trigger for the Nepal flash flood, glaciologist Anil Kulkarni of the Indian Institute of Science remarked the collapse of a substantial chunk of snow and rocks from a hanging glacier was the most probable cause. He likened the fall of this chunk to "a high-intensity bomb blast".

Notably, the National Remote Sensing Centre Thursday published satellite images of before and after the event, which, too, indicated the collapse of a glacier mass and the swollen channel of the Bhote Koshi river.

"From various satellite images and evidence available as on Thursday, it can be remarked that a hanging glacier collapsed vertically with a drop of between 1.5-2 km into a deglaciated valley. The drop was quite steep and the mass of ice that crashed must have generated immense energy. The force of the steep drop together with the debris, water available in the deglaciated valley is projected to have unleashed the flood, " Kulkarni informed The Indian Express.

He remarked he likened it to a high-intensity bomb blast as the substantial mass of ice dropped on a soft bed of moraine and debris in a deglaciated area. It means that it was once covered by ice.

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"The impact converts the ice into smaller pieces or flakes, " he remarked. The NRSC's preliminary satellite-based assessment indicated that an ice-avalanche may have temporarily blocked a river and then suddenly published the impounded water and debris.

On this, Kulkarni remarked it was challenging to say with certainty at this point whether the glacier collapse or ice avalanche created a temporary blocking of the river water which was eventually breached due to pressure.

Nepal army personnel against the backdrop of a rescue and search operation after flash floods, at the Army Training Centre in Nuwakot, Nepal, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. The death toll from the devastating flash floods surged to 359 on Thursday. (PTI Photo) On Wednesday, the US Geological Services documented an earthquake of 4.4 magnitude around the area just before the event. That was widely believed to have been the trigger. But on Thursday it revised its assessment and remarked "additional analysis of long period seismic waves indicate that the seismic energy was instead generated by a glacial collapse and debris flow". The revised assessment put the magnitude of the seismic signal to be of magnitude 5.2.

Kulkarni remarked the seismic activity was a clear indication that the glacier collapse or ice avalanche had occurred on the morning of August 26.

Taken together, the developments around nepal flash floods: Hanging glacier collapse in focus, NDMA for hard look point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.