Flood disasters and integrated flood management especially from citizens’ perspectives in Nepal

Nepal is a mountainous country and it lies at the center and the southern edge of the Hindu-Kush Himalayan Region (HKH), which is the youngest geological formation in the world. So, floods and landslides are common in this region.

This study has considered the technical as well as societal aspects in order to manage water for its optimum beneficial use in one of the least developed countries, Nepal. This study has emphasized the importance of citizens’ perspectives in order to implement integrated flood management (IFM) for sustainable use of water resources.

In Nepal, from the records of 1971-2018, flood is the biggest cause for affecting more number of families including house damage. Studies have shown that there were severe flood induced disasters (FIDs) many times. In 1993, FIDs were the major reason for the casualties of 1,336 people in a single year.

It is identified that the local citizens/communities near by the flood originated areas have to face the severe effects of flood induced disasters. However, in many cases, local citizens/communities may not be capable of flood management works. Therefore, a holistic approach is required for the implementation of IFM to reduce casualties and losses from the yearly occurring FIDs. It is also necessary to adopt best strategies as structural or non-structural or a combination of both for flood management works. Therefore, active participation and cooperation among local citizens, communities and concerned agencies should be promoted in order to implement IFM works to reduce flood induced disasters in Nepal.