Water-induced hazards are quite common in the Koshi River basin and often have transboundary impacts – upstream hazards lead to disasters in downstream areas, affecting millions of people. Moreover, extreme weather events have cascading impacts and are expected to magnify in frequency and intensity because of climate change and environmental degradation. Although there have been efforts to improve disaster risk reduction (DRR) mechanisms in the Koshi basin, related policies and practices need to be strengthened using a multi-hazard approach. The Koshi Basin Initiative (KBI) at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) works with its partners to increase the understanding about the impacts of disasters on the basin and to enhance preparedness towards DRR.
