Nepal’s mountainous terrain is vulnerable to flash floods. Disasters have gotten deadlier in recent years in part because of changing climate patterns. Erratic rainfall, floods, landslides, avalanches and glacial lake outbursts are becoming more serious.

KATHMANDU, July 12: The Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN), the umbrella organization of mountain tourism operators, has said that pilgrims heading to Kailash Mansarovar are facing severe difficulties after the Nepal–China Friendship Bridge was washed away.

The floods hit early Tuesday and caused extensive damage to the Nepal-China Friendship Bridge and the surrounding infrastructure, including the customs yard where hundreds of vehicles and cargo contai