Eleven youths from Samagaun in Chumnubri Rural Municipality-1 of Gorkha district began an indefinite hunger strike on Friday at 4,900 metres near the Manaslu base camp, demanding action to reduce climate-related risks and protect glacial lakes.

Led by Dhawa Norbu Lama, the youths said they would continue the hunger strike until their demands were addressed.

“We started the hunger strike today and will continue until our demands are met,” Lama said, adding that they had no personal interests behind the protest.

The youths announced the protest on September 13 after seeing the loss of lives and property caused by the Bhotekoshi flood in Rasuwa. Their eight-point demands include aerial monitoring and depth measurements of glacial lakes in the Manaslu region and Chum Valley, and assessment of the risk of glacial lake outburst floods.

They have also called for water-level monitoring systems and warning sirens in lakes and rivers, as well as joint Nepal-China monitoring of glacial lakes in Tibet that could threaten settlements on the Nepali side of the border.

The protesters want the government to regularly monitor all glacial lakes across Nepal and include climate-change impacts in the curricula of community schools in mountainous areas.