Candlelight Prayer Vigil in Jersey City for Nepal Flood Victims, Calls for Global Climate Justice

Elected officials, community leaders and Nepali diaspora organizations gather at Jersey City City Hall as Nepal confronts a mounting humanitarian catastrophe; speakers say Himalayan communities should not bear the greatest cost of a climate crisis they contributed least to creating

Photo by Rajan Kafle

Exclusive: JERSEY CITY, NJ: A solemn Candlelight Prayer Vigil was held at Jersey City City Hall on Saturday evening to remember the victims of Nepal’s devastating floods, pray for thousands still missing and stand in solidarity with survivors and grieving families, as the disaster’s mounting human toll brings renewed attention to the climate vulnerability of Nepal and the Himalayan region.

Community members, elected officials, civic leaders and representatives of Nepali diaspora organizations gathered on August 29 at City Hall, 280 Grove Street, carrying a common message of remembrance, compassion and hope:

“In Solidarity. In Prayer. In Hope. We stand together for Nepal.”

The vigil was hosted by the Jersey City Nepali Community (JCNC) with support from the City of Jersey City, Office of the Consulate General of Nepal in New York, and Women’s Advisory Board of the City of Jersey City.

Speakers paid homage to those who lost their lives, prayed for people who remain missing and expressed solidarity with survivors, displaced communities and the people of Nepal.

Nepal Flood Death Toll Rises to 939; 3,925 Remain Missing

As of August 31, the death toll from the devastating floods had risen to 939, while 3,925 people remained missing, according to figures attributed to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority and provided for this report.

The figures also showed the enormous scale of the ongoing rescue and humanitarian response: 11,379 people had been injured and rescued, while 21,008 security personnel had been mobilized.

The disaster has also affected foreign nationals. Approximately 90 U.S. citizens and as many as 540 foreigners from 31 countries were reported missing, according to information provided in connection with the disaster response.

With search, rescue and identification operations continuing, the numbers remain fluid and may change as authorities receive information from isolated and heavily damaged areas.

Behind those statistics are families waiting for news of loved ones, communities mourning their dead and survivors confronting the destruction of homes, livelihoods and places where generations of families had lived.

The candlelight gathering in Jersey City sought to ensure that those lives were remembered thousands of miles away.

Jersey City Stands With Nepal

The vigil brought Nepal’s tragedy into the heart of one of New Jersey’s most diverse cities.

Participants illuminated candles in remembrance of the dead and observed the gathering as a moment of prayer for those still missing, injured and displaced.

Former Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski offered prayers for the victims and people of Nepal.

Guest speakers included Hudson County Commissioner Yraida Aponte-Lipski; New Jersey Assemblywoman Katie Brennan; Jersey City Councilman Tom Zuppa; Jersey City Councilman Rolando Lavarro Jr.; Councilwoman Eleana Little; former Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski; Sherry Singh, founder of Whole Spectrum Autism and a member of the Jersey City Women’s Advisory Board; and Dr. Arjumand Juweria, pharmacist and community leader.

Speakers expressed condolences to families who lost loved ones and solidarity with survivors and the people of Nepal, emphasizing that the humanitarian consequences of the catastrophe reach far beyond Nepal’s borders.

The event also received endorsements from New Jersey Senator Raj Mukherji, New Jersey Assemblyman Ravi Bhalla, Jersey City Mayor James Solomon and Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli, according to information provided by organizers.

Nepali Diaspora Comes Together

The vigil demonstrated broad cooperation among Nepali diaspora and community organizations at a moment of national tragedy.

Co-hosting and participating organizations included Non-Resident Nepali Association NRNA ICC, UNDO International, NRNA New Jersey, Women for Cause (WFC), New Jersey Nepali Samaj, Friends of ADWAN Nepal, Nepali Diaspora Alliance (NDA), Nepali Jana Samparka Samiti America (NPRCA), UNDO USA, Prabas Nepali Samparka Samiti America (PNSSA), and ARC for Nepal.

Host committee speakers included Dr. Bishnu Maya Pariyar, co-founder of Jersey City Nepali Community and member of the Jersey City Women’s Advisory Board; Krishna Adhikari, President of NRNA New Jersey Chapter; Sanjeev Shrestha, NRNA ICC Member and Vice President of Nepali Jana Samparka Samiti America; Rajendra Shrestha, founder of ARC for Nepal; Salara Timalsena, former President of Women for Cause; and Nuku Sherpa, member of United Sherpa Kyidug, New York.

The program was moderated by Pradeep Pariyar Thapa, co-founder of Jersey City Nepali Community and Spokesperson of the United Nepali Diaspora Organization (UNDO) International.

Media and community representatives at the event included News 12 New Jersey and Rajan Kafle, House Photographer for New York Fashion Week.

Nepalism.com served as the media partner.

A Disaster That Raises a Larger Himalayan Question

While the vigil focused first on mourning the dead and supporting survivors, Nepal’s catastrophe also raises a much larger question: How can Himalayan communities survive an increasingly unstable climate?

Nepal sits beneath one of the world’s most climate-sensitive mountain systems. Figures provided for this report identify approximately 3,252 glaciers covering about 5,323 square kilometers across the Nepal Himalayas.

Of these, approximately 1,361 glaciers are in the Karnali River basin, 1,025 in the Gandaki basin, 779 in the Koshi basin and 87 in the Mahakali basin.

Approximately 2,323 glacial lakes are also associated with these Himalayan ice systems, according to the figures provided.

Beyond Nepal, the Tibetan Plateau and wider Hindu Kush-Himalayan region contain an immense concentration of snow and ice. China as a whole has tens of thousands of mapped glaciers, illustrating the enormous transboundary nature of the Himalayan cryosphere.

These glaciers are not simply spectacular landscapes. They are part of a vast natural water system supporting rivers, agriculture, ecosystems, hydropower and the lives of hundreds of millions of people downstream.

What happens to Himalayan ice therefore does not remain in the mountains.

A Warming Himalaya

Rising global temperatures are changing the Himalayan environment.

Glaciers across much of the region are retreating and losing mass, while changing precipitation, snowmelt and ice conditions can interact with glacial lakes, steep terrain and extreme weather to create dangerous cascading hazards.

For mountain settlements, these hazards can include glacial lake outburst floods, flash floods, landslides, debris flows, erosion and sudden destruction downstream.

Climate change should not automatically be described as the sole cause of every individual flood, glacier collapse or landslide. Each disaster requires scientific investigation of its immediate causes and contributing conditions.

But the broader trend is unmistakable: a warming climate is changing the physical environment in which Himalayan hazards occur and is increasing concern about the future security of communities living beneath glaciers and unstable mountain terrain.

Nepal’s tragedy therefore carries a warning that extends far beyond a single disaster.

Mountain Communities Contributed Least — Yet Face Enormous Risks

That reality makes the disaster not only an environmental and humanitarian issue, but also a question of climate justice.

Remote Himalayan communities have historically contributed only a tiny share of the greenhouse-gas emissions accumulated through industrialization and global fossil-fuel consumption.

Yet these communities can find themselves on the front lines of the consequences.

A family living beside a Himalayan river did not create the global industrial system responsible for the overwhelming share of historic greenhouse-gas emissions. A farmer in a remote Nepali mountain village did not determine the energy policies of the world’s largest economies.

Industrialized and High-Emitting Nations Have a Responsibility

Climate justice therefore requires more than sympathy after catastrophe.

Historically high-emitting and industrialized countries have a responsibility to rapidly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions while helping vulnerable countries such as Nepal prepare for risks that are already becoming unavoidable.

From Jersey City, a Message to Nepal—and the World

The candles illuminated in Jersey City carried several meanings.

They honored 939 lives reported lost.

They represented hope for 3,925 people still reported missing.

They expressed compassion for thousands of rescued, injured and displaced people and for families whose homes and communities have been devastated.

But collectively, they also illuminated a larger responsibility.

The suffering of Himalayan communities cannot be viewed only when catastrophe makes headlines. Nepal needs solidarity during rescue and reconstruction, but it also needs international partnership before the next disaster—through prevention, preparedness, climate adaptation and equitable climate financing.

The Jersey City vigil showed how a tragedy thousands of miles away can bring together Nepalis, elected officials, community organizations and friends of Nepal around a shared human concern.

As participants remembered the dead and prayed for survivors, the message from Jersey City was both deeply Nepali and universal:

“In Solidarity. In Prayer. In Hope.

We are always together.”

And amid a rapidly warming Himalayan region, another message deserves to be heard internationally:

Mountain people should not have to pay the highest price for a climate crisis they contributed least to creating.

For Nepal, remembrance must be followed by recovery. Recovery must be accompanied by preparedness. And preparedness must be supported by climate equity and justice.

From Jersey City to the Himalayas, the candles carried one enduring message:

We stand together for Nepal.