Haphazard and unscientific development pattern, including expansion of human settlements and infrastructure, along one of the geographically unstable regions is believed to have triggered the massive landslide in Jure in Sindupalchowk district in the early morning of Saturday, killing at least 33 people and leaving over 150 missing.

A report prepared by the experts associated with the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (Icimod) on the Jure landslide mentions that like many places in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, weak geological formation and steep topography combined with frequent intense rainfall make the area prone to various water-induced hazards, including landslide.

The landslide created a high dam across the Sun Koshi River and led to the formation of an artificial lake, thus threatening the downstream villages. Within few hours of the landslide dam formation in the river, a gauging station of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology at Pachuwarghat downstream had registered a rapid decline in water flow. The flow of water had completely stopped for approximately 12 hours.

According to the Icimod report, an inflow of about 160 m3/sec of water quickly created a large lake behind the dam and within 13 hours the newly formed lake— which rapidly grew to a volume of an estimated 7 million cubic metres— extended about 3 km upstream.

The Saturday’s event is not the first of its kind to occur in the region. In 1982, a similar disaster had hit Balefi village, along the Sun Koshi river, killing 97 persons.  Similarly, the landslides that struck in the region in 1987  and 1996 had killed at least 152 people.

The Icimod report says: “If there had been an appropriate monitoring mechanism in place, measures could have been taken to raise awareness about the potential of a larger land slip that fell off on Saturday following intense rainfall.”