Why Nepal floods should worry India - BBC News BBC Homepage Skip to content Accessibility Help Your account Home News Sport Earth Reel Worklife Travel Culture Future Music TV Weather Sounds More menu More menu Search BBC Home News Sport Earth Reel Worklife Travel Culture Future Music TV Weather Sounds Close menu BBC News Menu Home Climate World UK Business Tech Science Entertainment & Arts Health In Pictures More BBC Verify Newsbeat Asia China India Why Nepal floods should worry India Image source, AFP via Getty Image Image caption, The death toll in Nepal from devastating floods on the border with Tibet has crossed 1,000 By Soutik Biswas India correspondent Published 3 September 2026 Nepal's devastating floods have exposed a risk that does not stop at its borders. India and Nepal share the rivers that rise in the Himalayas, but the relationship between a flood in Nepal and a disaster in India is more complicated than a simple story of water flowing downstream, say experts. Some floods can race out of the mountains carrying enormous quantities of mud, rock and debris. Others may lose much of their force as they reach the plains, leaving behind a more conventional flood. And whether that water becomes a disaster in India depends not only on how much rain has fallen in Nepal, but also on rainfall, river levels, embankments, drainage and development on the Indian side. Nepal's floods are a warning for India - not simply because water flows south across the border, but because the two countries share a vast and increasingly volatile Himalayan river system. How many Nepal rivers flow into India? Image source, Universal Images Group via Getty Images Image caption, Nepal has more than 6,000 rivers and streams, most draining south into India and the Ganges Nepal has more than 6,000 rivers and streams, most draining south into India and the Ganges. Three major systems dominate: the Kosi in the east, the Gandaki (Gandak in India) in the centre and the Karnali (Ghaghara in Ind