• ‘For us water is like nectar,’ says Nanga Bahadur Ale, resident of Bhadaure village

• Glacial lake outbursts pose another serious threat to communities

KATHMANDU, Nepal

In a drought-stricken village in mid-eastern Nepal, rainwater collected from a rooftop has become a lifeline.

At a typical three-story house in Bhadaure, pipes channel runoff into two artificial ponds built below the courtyard. One is used for household needs, the other for crops and cattle. The ponds serve as a last-resort water source for families struggling through prolonged dry spells.

At an altitude of 1,300 meters (4,265 feet), such improvised systems are a necessity for many residents amid the deepening water crisis.

“For us water is like nectar,” said Nanga Bahadur Ale, 62, pointing towards the rainwater harvesting system installed at his house. “It’s not sure how long these measures will keep us alive.”

Like many others in this remote corner of Okhaldhunga district, Ale installed the system after years of worsening drought. Scores of households and towns have followed suit, turning to rainwater harvesting, trenches and small irrigation ponds to keep the soil moist and sustain crops.

In some villages, solar-powered pumps lift water from nearby rivers to higher ground. Even so, many communities say the measures are only temporary fixes as water sources continue to evaporate.

While nature-based solutions have eased the crisis, the situation remains worrying.

Wealthy locals from Ale’s village and the surrounding area have already left, migrating to lowland areas where water is more accessible. Those who can afford to rebuild their lives elsewhere are departing the hills, leaving behind the poorest residents and those tied to traditional farming.

Villages are emptying faster than expected.

When the rains stop, women spend two to three hours collecting a vessel of water from the nearest water source. Some spend day and night around water sources during the dry season, as quenching the thirst of humans or cattle becomes the most urgent task.

Locals say the crisis has deep roots. Decades ago, natural ponds once dotted the hills above the settlements. Over time, forests were cleared and ponds were filled in to build houses, while farmland expanded to cultivate millet and maize in the rainy season.

Rising temperatures in recent years have compounded the damage, drying up springs, reducing crop yields and threatening the livelihood of people reliant on traditional farming.

Looming climate crisis goes beyond drought

Bhadaure is just one example.

Drought is affecting nearly every part of Nepal, from the high Himalayas to the southern plains bordering India. At the height of the 2025 monsoon season, the government declared a drought emergency in Madhesh, the country’s agricultural heartland known as the grain basket.

At the same time, other climate-driven disasters are intensifying across the region. Glacial lake outbursts, landslides, floods and wildfires are becoming more frequent, reshaping life in the mountainous nation of about 30 million people.

Nepal lies within the Hindu Kush Himalayan range, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions. Scientists say warming temperatures are also accelerating glacier melt and increasing the risk of sudden floods.

A glacial lake outburst flood is a sudden and often catastrophic release of water from a lake held back by ice, rock or loose sediment near a glacier. The natural dam can fail due to avalanches, heavy rainfall, rapid glacier melt or earthquakes. When it collapses, a powerful surge of water and debris can race downstream, sometimes traveling more than 100 kilometers (62 miles), destroying settlements, roads and infrastructure along the way.

Between August 2024 and July 2025, Nepal experienced at least three supra-glacial lake outbursts in the Everest region, Humla and Rasuwa. One flood swept through the village of Thame in the Khumbu region, destroying homes in a community known for producing many of the world’s leading mountaineers.

The ancient village of Til in Humla is facing an existential crisis ever since the glacial lake outburst swept away the surrounding area. In Rasuwa, a flood triggered by a supra-glacial lake destroyed Nepal-China friendship bridges, customs offices and local markets. Some Chinese nationals were reportedly swept downstream into Indian territory.

When a risk mapping exercise was conducted in 2020, these lakes were not categorized as potentially dangerous. Still, the outbursts caused heavy losses downstream, claimed lives and disrupted links with China for months.

Scientists say the devastation caused by the outburst of a previously overlooked glacial lake points to even greater risks ahead. A joint assessment by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development and the United Nations identified 47 glacial lakes in the Hindu Kush Himalayas as potentially dangerous. Of those, 21 are in Nepal, 25 in China and one in India.

Researchers are now calling for updated risk mapping across the Himalayan region.

Nepal has already lowered water levels in two glacial lakes – Imja and Tsho Rolpa – and plans to do the same at four others: Thulagi, Hongu 2, Lower Barun and Lumding Tsho. Officials say each project requires millions of dollars.

But Nepal is struggling to secure the funds.

Meanwhile, potential outbursts have left downstream communities living under constant threat. The government and its partners are seeking financing from the Green Climate Fund to reduce water levels in high-altitude lakes and prevent future disasters.

“It’s hard to estimate the loss in downstream areas. So, we are preparing to lower down four glacial lakes after securing the fund from GCF,” said Deepak KC, a climate scientist working in lake lowering projects. “Keeping the Himalayan region safe from climate catastrophe is a huge challenge.”

Impact at ground zero

Across South Asia, communities are on the front line of climate-driven disasters.

In Nepal, at least 250 people die in climate-related disasters each year, with more than 70,000 directly affected, according to the Climate Risk Index. Annual economic losses are estimated at $221.3 million.

Pakistan faced even heavier losses during last year’s monsoon season. According to Plan International, climate-related disasters killed more than 1,000 people, injured 1,100, damaged over 12,500 homes and destroyed nearly 240 bridges.

Rising temperatures are accelerating ice melt across the Himalayas, increasing risks for downstream countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

In India, more than 4,000 deaths were linked to extreme weather in the first nine months of 2025 – a 48% increase over the previous four years – according to a report by the Centre for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based think-tank.

For communities already struggling with water shortages, the growing frequency of disasters is making daily life even harder.

“Getting water, especially in the dry season, is too difficult. We have to wait for hours and carry water even for cattle,” said local resident Balram Katwal. “How can locals do that when one has to spend the whole day collecting a vessel of water from far-flung water resources?”