A multi-million dollar early flood warning system designed to protect thousands of people in Nepal’s Everest region may no longer be working, according to officials who have admitted to the BBC that it has fallen into disrepair.

Glacial Lake Monitoring Failing

Villagers in the local Sherpa communities have told the BBC that no inspection of the United Nations-supported project has been carried out for many years since the dangerous Imja glacial lake was last drained in 2016.

Since that time, no maintenance has been undertaken, leaving siren towers rusting and some with their batteries stolen, according to locals.

According to officials at Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), the satellite data reception system, which sends out mobile phone alerts to locals based on the lake’s water level, has also been unreliable.

Glaciers and Rising Risks

The Imja lake. Located at a little over 5. 000 meters above sea level. Has not burst since it was drained a decade ago, when it was almost 150 meters deep in places. At that time. The depth of the lake was reduced by about 3.5 meters as part of a $3.5 million risk reduction project, which included the early warning system.

Scientists warn that global warming-induced fast melting glaciers are causing many Himalayan glacial lakes to expand dangerously, potentially bursting and sweeping downstream settlements, trekking routes, and bridges.

Ice loss rates have doubled in the Hindu Khush Himalaya region since 2000, according to a recent assessment by the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. Experts say rising temperatures have also left mountains less stable, unleashing rockfalls and glacial collapse, which can trigger catastrophic floods.

In the Everest region alone, there have been at least five floods from glacial lakes in the last five decades, leaving those living in Imja lake’s path fearing for the future.

Community Concerns and Government Response

Ang Nuru Sherpa, chairman of the Chaurikharka buffer zone area adjoining the Sagarmatha national park in the Everest region, said that the siren towers were in such a state that they could not expect any flood warning from them, even if Imja lake were to burst.

“The siren tower in our village is rusting and leaning and is set to fall any time because there has never been any maintenance,” he said.

Jangbu Sherpa from Chhukung. Which would be the first village hit if Lake Imja burst, said officials had promised annual inspections but had not followed through. He added that they visited the DHM in Kathmandu every year to request repairs and maintenance but to no avail.

Tshering Sherpa, chief executive officer of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, a local NGO, echoed these concerns, noting that more than 60,000 tourists who visit the region annually are also at risk, along with six vulnerable villages.

Niraj Pradhananga, a senior meteorologist in the DHM, said the central government had failed to allocate a budget for maintenance, and suggestions that hydro-power providers could cover the costs had not come to fruition. “As a result, we cannot say for sure if the early warning sirens work or they don’t,” he said.

Archana Shrestha, the DHM’s acting director general, acknowledged that funds had been redirected to upgrade the early warning system for another glacial lake. “That took all our resources and time, now we will move our attention to Imja lake,” she said.

She added that changes were being made to rules and regulations to ensure staff had enough time, budget, and resources to perform maintenance and repair works in the remote location of Imja lake.

Compounding these issues, the hydro-met station, which is supposed to transfer real-time water-level data to officials in Kathmandu, has been plagued with problems. Pradhananga said they had not been receiving the data regularly and were unable to issue mobile phone alerts in the event of a flood. They had raised these issues with the satellite company and its local service provider, but the provider had not responded.

Meanwhile, the UNDP has received a $36 million grant to repeat the process from Imja lake at four other locations in Nepal. Monica Upadhyay, head of communication with UNDP Nepal, said that lessons from Imja had informed the design of other schemes, placing stronger emphasis on long-term sustainability through clearer institutional arrangements and partnerships.

Nawang Thome Sherpa, head of a local body in Phakding, one of the vulnerable villages downstream of Imja lake, said that the community had no choice but to live with the risks. “They spent millions of dollars in the name of protecting us from potential disaster, but we are having to live with fear of loss of lives and property every day,” he said.