LHASA?An international conference in Lhasa last week warned that flash-floods are a growing threat to mountain dwellers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region and called for better preparedness and crossborder cooperation to deal with these disasters.

Experts from eight countries in the Himalaya as well as international organisations took part in the week-long meeting in Lhasa organised by the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and the World Meterological Organisation (WMO).

There is a real threat of Himalayan tsunamis in the region, said ICIMOD Director General J Gabriel Campbell. Often flash floods can have impacts hundreds of kilometres downstream and warning time is counted in minutes.

The Lhasa Declaration called for greater transboundary cooperation in early warning and data-sharing since many rivers flow across national borders. There is an urgent need to improve the cooperation between, and within, the forecasting and warning agencies, the document urged.