Back to news
2 Jan 2015 | News

Promoting regional efforts to reduce flood vulnerabilities

1 min Read

70% Complete

ICIMOD, in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), organized the eighth Regional Steering Committee (RSC) meeting for the HKH-HYCOS project. This final SRC meeting of the current phase was held from 22 to 24 September 2014 at the ICIMOD headquarters in Kathmandu. Participants from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan as well as the WMO, Government of Finland, Finnish Meteorological Institute, ICIMOD, and international experts reviewed the project progress and endorsed a project proposal for the next phase, focusing on delivering lifesaving flood warning messages to vulnerable communities.

The HKH-HYCOS project is working to establish a regional flood information system in the HKH region in close collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the six regional partner countries namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. More specifically, the project seeks to reduce flood vulnerability in the Indus and Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basins by minimizing loss of lives and livelihoods. To that end, it works to strengthen regional cooperation for sharing flood data and information among the member countries. The project is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Finland

The project has upgraded 37 hydromet stations in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. These stations can now automatically observe rainfall and water level measurements. The project has established web-based regional and national flood information systems for sharing real-time data and information for reducing risks. The project is also piloting a regional flood outlook model using Mike 11 hydrological software. Apart from real-time hydromet data from the 37 stations upgraded by the project, freely available rainfall forecast data is being inputted into the flood outlook model to add value and improve accuracy of the model. In order to sustain the initiative, the project has focused heavily on enhancing partner organizations’ technical capacity in flood forecasting and communication, and sought public private partnerships, especially with telecom operators, for disaster risk reduction.
In view of the imminent funding shortage between the end of the current phase and the next phase, RSC members have committed to supporting some of the project activities through their national budget.

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

17 May 2017 News
Using Geospatial tools Towards Effective Preparation of LAPAs

ICIMOD provides technical guidance and support on using geographic information system (GIS) tools in planning at the sub-watershed level to ...

15 Nov 2017 News
Regional Hands-on Training on Community Based Flood Early Warning System (CBFEWS)

A five-day course in September 2017 was designed to enhance the capacity of participants to install and use community-based flood ...

1 Jan 2016 News
Linking Gender and Social Inclusion to Value Chain Development

Two gender and social inclusion experts from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) participated in a value chain ...

Brick Entrepreneurs in Pakistan Learn to Construct and Operate Zig-zag Brick Kilns

The events created awareness and trained brick entrepreneurs and workers in operating zig-zag kilns and precise brick stacking practices, and ...

6 Jul 2016 News
Improving Sediment Knowledge

A training for readers of sediment measurement in selected gauging stations of the Koshi River basin in Nepal was organised ...

17 Jul 2017 SANDEE
SANDEE Joins ICIMOD

SANDEE brings together researchers and practitioners from South Asian countries to address the region’s environmental development challenges. For 16 years, ...

27 Jul 2018 DFAT Brahmaputra
Hydrogeological Model of Godavari Landscape to Support Spring Revival and Springshed Management

Springs are the source of water for millions of people in the mid-hills of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), but ...

28 Feb 2016 Himalica
Beekeeping Makes for Better Lives Nepal

Beekeeping is an income generating option in several areas across HKH region. A group of experts from the Initiative International ...