Wednesday, January 09, 2013 - WashingtonThe Indian government plans constructing 292 dams throughout the Indian Himalayas, roughly a dam every 20 miles by 2050 that would reduce the flow of water by 8 percent in Indus and 20 percent in Brahamputra.
A report in the New York Times said that when completed, the 7,000 to 11,000 megawatt dams would double the countrys hydropower capacity and meet about 6 percent of the national energy needs projected for 2030. Scientists and citizens alike are crying foul, however, pointing out that the dams will probably displace millions and wreck ecosystems throughout the Himalayas.
For starters, impacts on species and ecosystems are likely to be significant. The dams are proposed in areas of the Himalayas that are rich in biodiversity. And their creation threatens to submerge over 130,000 acres of forest, which would probably push 22 plants and seven vertebrate groups into extinction by 2025, according to an estimate by Dr. Grumbine and Dr. Pandit that was published earlier this year in Conservation Biology.
Estimates of the number of people already displaced by dams in past decades range from 16.4 million to 40 million.
India to build 292 dams in Himalayas by 2050; reduce water in Indus by 8pc
A report in the New York Times said that when completed, the 7,000 to 11,000 megawatt dams would double the countrys hydropower capacity and meet about 6 percent of the national energy needs projected for 2030. Scientists and citizens alike are crying foul, however, pointing out that the dams will probably displace millions and wreck ecosystems throughout the Himalayas.
For starters, impacts on species and ecosystems are likely to be significant. The dams are proposed in areas of the Himalayas that are rich in biodiversity. And their creation threatens to submerge over 130,000 acres of forest, which would probably push 22 plants and seven vertebrate groups into extinction by 2025, according to an estimate by Dr. Grumbine and Dr. Pandit that was published earlier this year in Conservation Biology.
Estimates of the number of people already displaced by dams in past decades range from 16.4 million to 40 million.
India to build 292 dams in Himalayas by 2050; reduce water in Indus by 8pc
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