Nepal Disaster: A Himalayan warning for J&K’s hydropower expansion

The useful part

The catastrophe that struck Nepal should not be viewed in Jammu and Kashmir merely as another tragedy in another country. Lirung sent a massive mass of ice, rock and debris into the valley, triggering a devastating flood through the Trishuli river system. The disaster caused extensive loss of life and severely damaged hydropower projects and other infrastructure, with rescue teams searching for workers believed to be trapped inside project tunnels.

How it works

• The catastrophe has highlighted another vulnerability: when powerhouses, tunnels, dams, roads, construction camps and large workforces are concentrated in narrow and fragile Himalayan valleys, their...
• Nobody can responsibly claim that hydropower projects caused the Nepal disaster.
• Experts in Himalayan geology, hydrology and disaster management say the changing climate is making conventional assumptions about mountain hazards increasingly unreliable.
• They point to glacier retreat, expansion of glacial lakes, changing precipitation patterns, unstable slopes and the growing possibility of compound events involving landslides, avalanches and extreme floods.
• In February 2021, an avalanche of rock and ice in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district generated a devastating flash flood down the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga valleys.

Details worth keeping

They caution that the issue is not simply whether an individual dam or tunnel can withstand a known level of hazard, but whether the cumulative concentration of infrastructure in a fragile basin remains safe when several hazards occur simultaneously. The 13.2-MW Rishiganga hydropower project was washed away and...