The disaster triggered by a glacial mountain collapse on the China-Nepal border killed more than 1,400 people and left thousands missing — while knocking 410 megawatts (MW), or about 10 per cent of the generation capacity, out of Nepal’s power system.

More than 90pc of Nepal’s electricity comes from hydropower, but extensive damage to its river projects has prompted questions about its energy security as climate and geological risks intensify.

“Hydropower has been a major driving force in growth of the country… generating jobs and income,” Uttam Bhlon Lama, senior vice president of the Independent Power Producers’ Association (IPPAN), told AFP.

“It was bringing huge hope and future prospects to the people,” he said, adding that the country would now have to rethink its dam-building spree.

“We have to prepare… This is our new normal.”

Over the past decade, the Himalayan nation has increased hydropower output more than fourfold to about 4,120 megawatts, according to government figures, helping connect nearly all its 30 million people to the grid.

The country had previously moved to export surplus electricity to neighbouring India and Bangladesh, seeking to turn its glacier-fed rivers into a source of revenue. Authorities suspended electricity exports after the disaster.

The major destruction of hydropower infrastructure underscored the risks of that strategy in a region where glaciers are retreating, permafrost is thawing and extreme hazards are becoming harder to predict.

‘Serious lessons’

Nepal’s energy sector accounted for about half of the infrastructure damage from the disaster, according to government assessments.

Seven hydropower projects were directly hit while generation was halted at others, removing 410 MW from the national grid.

Six hydropower projects under construction, with a combined capacity of 508 MW, were also damaged.

Rescuers have continued searching hydropower tunnels for hundreds of missing workers, engineers and other personnel, weeks after the disaster.

The scale of the damage has prompted calls for a rethink of how projects are designed and built.

The disaster has “taught us serious lessons for the future”, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha told parliament on Wednesday.

“We must not only take stock of the damage but also learn from it and develop systems to reduce future risks,” he said.

The World Bank warned that Nepal needs to build a hydropower system capable of anticipating, absorbing and recovering from increasingly complex Himalayan hazards.

Scientists say the August disaster was caused by a complex chain of geological and climatic factors rather than a single extreme weather event.

According to the World Weather Attribution group, the massive rock-and-ice collapse was shaped by long-term warming, glacier retreat and geological instability.

‘Existential threat’

Much of Nepal’s hydropower infrastructure lies along steep river valleys fed by glaciers — terrain exposed to floods, landslides and cascading geological hazards.

“Powerhouses need to be moved higher up from the riverbeds to protect them against floods, we need better evacuation plans and stocked safehouses,” IPPAN’s Lama said.

“We should explore remotely operated systems so people are not stuck inside in case anything happens.”

The flooding has also renewed calls for diversifying the power mix in Nepal, which lacks coal or gas-fired generation capacity.

“Nepal’s electricity system, currently strained and heavily dependent on hydropower, could be made more robust through well-planned additions of solar electricity,” Germany’s development agency GIZ said in a 2024 report.

The challenge extends beyond Nepal.

Glaciers in the wider Himalayan and Hindu Kush ranges are a crucial water source for around 240 million people in the mountainous regions, as well as for another 1.65 billion people in the South Asian and Southeast Asian river valleys below.

Basanta Raj Adhikari, director at the Centre for Disaster Studies at Tribhuvan University, said the Himalayas must be monitored regionally for hotspots to develop early warning systems.

“I call it the fate of the Himalayan people,” he told AFP.

“It can happen anywhere in the world but the Himalayas are experiencing adverse impacts due to climate change and anthropogenic activity,” he said.

“We have to design climate-resilient infrastructures. That is our top priority because we are (facing) existential threat.”

Header image: An aerial view taken from inside a commercial aircraft shows Trishuli river in Nepal’s Dhading district on September 1, 2026 in the aftermath of flash floods. —AFP/File

The British government gave authorisation to the US to use RAF Fairford to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

A Reuters eyewitness said armed police were blocking access to the main gate of the base. Around 30 emergency vehicles, including police cars, ambulances and fire engines, were stationed in the village of Fairford near the base.

“A number of properties are currently being evacuated in the Whelford area following the declaration of a major incident. It follows the arrest of several men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act,” Gloucestershire police said in a statement, referring to a village near the airbase.

“The Army’s specialist explosive ordnance disposal team are currently examining a number of vehicles.”

A spokesperson for the US Air Force said they would not discuss specific force protection measures.

“The 501st Combat Support Wing and our fellow UK-based Wings remain vigilant and will take appropriate actions to ensure the safety and security of our US service members, civilians, contractors, and their families,” the spokesperson said.

“We constantly assess a variety of factors that determine what measures we institute or modify to protect our installations, our people and their families.”

Britain said in July its armed forces were ready to protect the country from any attack after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issued a warning not to allow US bombers to fly from Fairford.

British ministers have also briefed providers of critical infrastructure of the threat posed by Russia, with the government increasingly concerned about possible sabotage operations and cyberattacks. Russia denies mounting hybrid attacks on Western nations.

The Hangor-class submarine arrived at Karachi Port in June, underscoring the deepening strategic defence cooperation between Pakistan and China.

Terming it a “major demonstration of operational readiness”, ISPR said the newly inducted PNS/M HANGOR accurately engaged a “designated long-range target with an anti-ship cruise missile” during the weapon firing exercise.

​Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf witnessed the firing, praising the submarine’s combat power and emphasising the “strategic importance of enhancing subsurface capabilities for credible maritime deterrence”.

“The milestone underscores the Pakistan Navy’s commitment to maintaining a modern, combat-ready force to safeguard national maritime frontiers and regional peace,” ISPR highlighted.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the Pakistan Navy and its leadership on the first live weapons firing by the newly inducted submarine, according to a statement issued by his office.

“The submarine successfully struck a long-range target with an anti-ship cruise missile, demonstrating the operational readiness, professional expertise and combat capability of Pakistan Navy’s submarine force,” the premier was quoted as saying.

PM Shehbaz reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring the armed forces’ readiness to tackle national security challenges, the statement added. He also commended the Naval chief and the personnel involved in the induction and operationalisation of the submarine.

The navy is set to induct a total of eight Hangor-class submarines.

The Hangor-class submarine is equipped with advanced combat systems, modern sensors, Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology and enhanced stealth features, which will significantly enhance the navy’s combat capability.

The name Hangor holds a significant place in Pakistan’s naval history, referring to the 1971 Pakistan-India war, during which then-PNS Hangor became the first submarine since World War II to sink a warship when it sank the Indian frigate INS Khukri.

The first of the new submarines was launched in China in April 2024, while the second, third and fourth were launched on March 15, Aug 15 and Dec 17 in 2025, respectively.

On April 21, the Pakistan Navy conducted a successful test of an indigenously developed Anti-Ship Weapon System — Taimoor, the military’s media wing said.

In the same month, the Pakistan Navy fired a locally developed anti-ship ballistic missile to engage targets at an extended range.

“In a resolute display of preparedness and precision-strike capability, Pakistan Navy successfully conducted a live weapon firing of an indigenously developed ship-launched anti-ship missile, accurately engaging its target with high speed at extended range,” the ISPR had said at the time.