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

12 Apr 2018 News
AGORA Workshop in Nepal (29 -30 March, 2018)

Introduction The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United ...

27 Jan 2020 KSL
Prakriti Ahwaan 2019 brings local communities together to conserve biodiversity in the transboundary Kailash Landscape

Nature recognizes no political boundaries. The Mahakali River forms a part of the boundary between India and Nepal and areas ...

16 Jan 2017 Gender in Koshi
ICIMOD Initiative Helping Watershed Communities in the Koshi Basin Come Together

In the floodplain Bakdhuwa village development committee of Saptari district, eastern Nepal, local communities often face challenges related to water ...

27 Mar 2017 Himalica
Bhutan’s Minister of Agriculture and Forests visits Himalica Pilot Sites in Barshong, Tsirang

The Bhutanese Minister of Agriculture and Forests, Lyonpo Yeshey Dorji, visited Himalica pilot project sites in ...

6 Jun 2016 KSL
Springshed Management Training at Godavari

Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL), HI-AWARE and Water Land and Ecosystem (WLE) initiatives of ICIMOD jointly with Advanced Center for Water Resouces ...

27 Jul 2015 HKPL
National Technical Consultation Meeting in Pakistan

ICIMOD, in collaboration with thegovernment of Kyber Pakhtunkhawa, hosted a National Technical Consultation meeting — Karakoram-Pamir-Wakhan Transboundary Conservation and Development ...

How a cross-border exchange helped revive a traditional craft

Himalayan nettle is aptly named. The tough plant grows abundantly in most Himalayan forests above 1,500 masl. A hardy fibre ...

9 Nov 2016 News
REDD+ Initiative and Partners Conduct Ecotourism Trail Mapping in and around Ludhi Khola Watershed of Gorkha, Nepal

Ecotourism has the potential to compliment Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) finance for landscape level conservation and ...