Nepal will begin a high-stakes effort this fiscal year to drain four dangerous glacial lakes, after an August disaster killed more than 1,400 people.

Rescuers are still searching for over 5,000 people missing in the border region with China after a glacier collapse triggered landslides and flash floods.

Design work and studies targeting Thulagi, Lower Barun, Lumding Tsho and Hongu II will start in the fiscal year ending mid-July 2027, officials said. The lakes sit between 4,050 and 5,483 metres.

The $50 million project will be funded by the Green Climate Fund, the UNDP and the Nepal government. Canals and gated structures will drain water into nearby rivers in a regulated way.

Officials say the draining work could take up to six years. The project also includes sensors and a flood forecasting and warning system.

UNDP and ICIMOD had ranked these lakes among Nepal’s most dangerous in a 2020 report. Workers face health risks from long high-altitude work, officials said.