Back to news
29 Jul 2015 | News

Early warning systems for Mahottari

1 min Read

70% Complete

Three community-based flood early warning systems (CB-FEWS) were installed at different sites along the Ratu River in Mahottari District in southern Nepal. The systems would alert locals to rising floodwater during the monsoon season and give them time to evacuate if necessary.

The installation took place from 26 June to 2 July under ICIMOD’s Koshi Basin Programme. ICIMOD partnered with Sustainable Eco Engineering (SEE) and Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM)/Community Based Flood and Glacial Lake Outburst Risk Reduction Project (CFGORRP) to select two installation sites in upstream locations along the river: Kalapani at Bahunmara and the Ratu River Bridge along the East-West Highway, 12 kilometers downstream from Kalapani. The third site is approximately 50 kilometers downstream from Kalapani at Auusi Khola in Sarpallo VDC.

At each site, the installation team worked with the local community members to assemble, calibrate, and test the three sensor rods in Ratu River and receivers in the houses of selected caretakers, individuals who are in charge of monitoring the devices. When floodwaters rise, the sensors send a message to the receiver on shore. The caretaker then informs downstream communities and relevant government institutions of the flood danger. During the installation, caretakers were requested to record flood event data. This data will be used to better understand flooding cycles in the district.

On 30 June, heavy rains caused water levels in Ratu River to rise. The systems successfully transmitted the message to the receivers, and warnings were relayed to downstream caretakers. The system will be field tested for at least two flood events to ensure its efficacy and accuracy. With successful operation, the information relayed will be able to provide downstream communities lead time to save lives and livelihoods from future flood disasters.

The installation of CB-FEWS in Mahottari District followed a five-day CB-FEWS training at ICIMOD’s Knowledge Park in early June. While ICIMOD and its partners are involved in the initial stages of CB-FEWS, the goal is to make CB-FEWS primarily community-operated. To this end, ICIMOD and DHM/CFGORRP are in the process of planning an awareness workshop in Mahottari District. The workshop, set to take place in the coming month, will train individuals on what to do in the event of a flood.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related Contents

Continue exploring this topic

6 Feb 2015 Cryosphere
Master Programme Thesis

Florencia Matina Tuladhar completed her thesis on “Determination of factors influencing recession ...

23 Nov 2015 News
Multi-stakeholder Consultation Meeting for AdaptHimal Initiative in Khagrachari, Bangladesh

  The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) organised a multi-stakeholder consultation meeting in collaboration with the Khagrachari Hill Development Council ...

11 Dec 2015 News
Linking to Markets Key to Livelihoods

Consultation meetings on Agriculture Marketing Policy (AMP) of Bhutan in Gelephu for Central Bhutan were completed on October 16, 2015 ...

6 Feb 2015 News
Workshop on Glaciological Applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

A total of 50 participants from 15 institutions participated in the workshop, which focused on the scientific/natural hazard applications of ...

31 Aug 2017 News
ICIMOD and UCAS Symposium on Resilience in the HKH at International Congress of Ecology

Eklabya Sharma, the Deputy Director General of ICIMOD, delivered a keynote speech at the conference. Sharma talked about the importance ...

25 Sep 2017 Atmosphere Initiative
Signing of an agreement between ICIMOD and SIDA

As part of its mission to reduce poverty in the world through development cooperation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ...

7 Feb 2016 News
Disaster Risk Reduction Training

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) in Mozambique, and the Danida Fellowship Centre (DFC) held a running a ...

21 Jun 2016 News
ICIMOD Supports the Celebration of the World Environment Day in Afghanistan

ICIMOD, together with the Wildlife Conservation Society,United Nations Environment Programme, and UK Department for International Development, supported the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA ...