5 min readNew DelhiAug 28, 2026 12:13 PM IST
First published on: Aug 28, 2026 at 04:30 AM IST
With the spotlight now on the collapse of a hanging glacier as the likely 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.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said Thursday it was planning to initiate a comprehensive study on the Nepal event.
“Many areas in India are vulnerable to the kind of disaster we have just seen in Nepal. We have had such events in the past. So it is important for us to study this, and understand this. We do plan to look at it in detail,” Krishna Swaroop Vatsa, Member, NDMA, said.
India has had several major flash flood incidents in recent years, including the Kedarnath tragedy in 2013, the Chamoli disaster in 2021, the Sikkim lake burst in 2023 and in Dharali last year. These incidents claimed hundreds of lives and caused large-scale damage.
Following 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.
People 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. The programme covers the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as well. In April 2024, ISRO has revealed 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.
“This programme is progressing well. It will take some time, but this will help 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 also extremely crucial. Experimental landslide forecasts are already being done in some areas. These are very important,” Vatsa said.
While scientists are still trying to ascertain the exact trigger for the Nepal flash flood, glaciologist Anil Kulkarni of the Indian Institute of Science said the collapse of a large chunk of snow and rocks from a hanging glacier was the most likely cause. He likened the fall of this chunk to “a high-intensity bomb blast”.
The National Remote Sensing Centre Thursday released 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 said 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 likely to have unleashed the flood,” Kulkarni told The Indian Express.
He said he likened it to a high-intensity bomb blast as the large mass of ice dropped on a soft bed of moraine and debris in a deglaciated area, which means that it was once covered by ice.
“The impact converts the ice into smaller pieces or flakes,” he said. The NRSC’s preliminary satellite-based assessment indicated that an ice-avalanche may have temporarily blocked a river and then suddenly released the impounded water and debris.
On this, Kulkarni said it was difficult 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 amid 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 reported 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 said “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 said the seismic activity was a clear indication that the glacier collapse or ice avalanche had occurred on the morning of August 26.
Houses devastated in Devighat residential area by mud-laden floodwaters following a flash flood caused by an outburst in the Bhotekoshi River, in Nuwakot on Thursday. (ANI Video Grab) 
People 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)
Nepal army personnel amid 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)
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