Nepal government estimates recovery at $4-5 billion

Figure expected to fall short of $9 billion cost after 2015 earthquake

A man searches through debris left by flooding in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, Nepal, on Thursday (local time). [Reuters]
A man searches through debris left by flooding in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, Nepal, on Thursday (local time). [Reuters]

Recovery costs from the massive floods that struck the Himalayan region along the Nepal-China border could reach as much as $5 billion, according to new estimates.

According to Reuters on Saturday (local time), Nepal's Finance Minister Swarneem Wagle said that restoring areas hit by the floods that struck northern Bagmati Province on Wednesday would require between $4 billion and $5 billion.

The upper estimate of $5 billion represents roughly 10 percent of Nepal's GDP. Wagle cautioned that the figures are preliminary, as damage assessments are still ongoing.

He said the recovery bill is expected to be lower than what Nepal faced after the 2015 earthquake, while adding that work to calculate the precise scale of losses is continuing.

The 2015 earthquake, which measured magnitude 7.8, killed about 9,000 people and damaged around 1 million homes. Recovery costs at the time were estimated at about $9 billion.

The floods have killed 626 people and left 2,426 missing in Nepal as of Saturday. In Gyirong County, Shigatse, in China's Tibet Autonomous Region, flood-linked landslides killed seven people and left 554 missing.

Combined, the death toll across the two countries stands at 633, with 2,980 people unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, nine South Koreans working at the Rasuwagadhi hydropower plant construction site in Nepal have lost contact since the floods struck — six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three from Korea South-East Power (KOEN). The South Korean government has deployed helicopters carrying fire department, police and Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel to search areas where the missing workers are believed to have taken shelter, based on their last known coordinates.


rim@heraldcorp.com