Several glacier lakes, large and small, lie scattered over High Himalaya and further in Tibet. It also caused heavy damage to 30m of the Kodari Highway in Nepal. The 1985 Bhote Koshi River GLOF, caused by the collapse of the Dig Tso lake moraine, resulted in a catastrophic flood for 40 km downward with 10 to 15 meter-surges. Forest land had been so extensively cultivated and forests are conserved only in limited areas. The situation is worsening due to population pressure and the inevitable increase in cattle.
Soil erosion is a serious problem in Nepa.
It reduces soil pro-ductivity and, without effective measures, may lead to desertification. It also causes problems of heavy sedimentation in the downstream. Terai rivers tend to change course as the riverbed rises due to sediment from upstream. This problem is not limited within Nepal but extends further to India and Bangladesh. The exact figure is not available now, but it is roughly estimated that 200-300 million tons of soil move from Nepal to the Bay of Bengal every year.