To avert flood disasters, Nepal needs more giant dams
Some dams can provide on-demand, zero-carbon electricity and help to control the flood waters that can do grievous damage to downstream communities.
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A rescue operation near the tunnel of the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project in Rasuwa, Nepal, following deadly flash floods and mudslides.
PHOTO: REUTERS
David Fickling
In the popular imagination, there’s only one threat to picturesque mountain landscapes that can compete with the destruction wrought by flood disasters like the torrent that swept through valleys on the Nepalese-Chinese border: dams.
These concrete behemoths replace the occasional catastrophic natural inundation of such regions with one that’s permanent and artificial. Pristine river valleys disappear beneath reservoirs. Communities are forcibly relocated, their lives uprooted.
