San Francisco Frontiers - Nepal flood reconstruction bill to be $4.78 bn: foreign ministry

Prime Minister Balendra Shah has vowed to "strongly raise" with the international community the disasters that Nepal has experienced as a result of climate change.

The August 26 catastrophe, a tsunami-like flood that began on the China-Nepal border, killed more than 1,400 people and left some 5,600 missing.

Shah will take his first foreign trip as leader to address the UN General Assembly on the urgent issue later this month, the foreign ministry said.

Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai told reporters on Friday Shah will address the UN to "draw the attention of the international community to the repeated loss of life and property Nepal has had to face, due to climate change and disasters created by it".

Nepal's leaders say the Himalayan country needs long-term international support to adapt to a rapidly changing mountain environment.

"The total estimated requirement for reconstruction is approximately $4.78 billion," Nepali foreign ministry spokesman Lok Bahadur Chhetri told reporters.

"Of this, approximately $57.67 million is estimated to be required for short-term reconstruction and recovery over the next six months, while approximately $4.71 billion is required for longer-term reconstruction."

- Damage assessments -

Nepal, a largely rural nation of 30 million people, contributes a fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions compared to industrialised nations.

While the exact cause of the glacial collapse is unclear, climate change is causing glaciers to melt worldwide, increasing the risk of such disasters.

Scientists say glaciers in the Himalayas, the world's highest mountain range, are melting faster as global temperatures rise.

"Given the scale and extent of the damage, the government is also undertaking a comprehensive post-disaster needs assessment to determine the full extent of loss and damage and the requirement for recovery, rebuilding and reconstruction," Chhetri said.

A UN preliminary assessment estimated building damage from Nepal's floods at $158 million alone, warning that total losses -- including damage to roads and bridges, agricultural land and humanitarian costs -- would be far higher.

Nepal rescuers are still excavating hydropower tunnels swamped by freezing mud, with hundreds of workers among the missing.

Three people were rescued from deep inside tunnels days after the disaster, but there has been no confirmation of further survivors since a Chinese man was pulled out alive nearly a week ago.

The United Nations, which has launched a $50 million appeal to help more than 84,000 people, has said that "operations are shifting from search and rescue to relief and recovery, though rescues continue".

Rescuers in Nepal have retrieved 1,385 bodies, while around 5,130 people are missing, according to the disaster agency on Friday. In China, the toll is 43 dead and 519 missing, according to state media.

The combined toll is 1,428 people dead and more than 5,649 missing, including around 800 foreigners, among them tourists and pilgrims.

M.Powell--SFF