Ageing, unsafe dams growing threat in India too: UN report
Besides India, the analysis also includes dam decommissioning or ageing case studies from the US, France, Canada, Japan, and Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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By 2050, most people on Earth will live downstream of tens of thousands of large dams built in the 20th century, many of them including Indiaâs already operating at or beyond their design life, putting lives and property at risk, a UN University (UNU) analysis revealed.
Besides India, the analysis also includes dam decommissioning or ageing case studies from the US, France, Canada, Japan, and Zambia and Zimbabwe.
By News ReportNEW YORK: From the Hoover Dam in Arizona to the Inguri Dam in Georgia, many of the world s most famous dams are risk of collapsing, a worrying new report has warned.Most of the 58,700.
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Aging dams are an emerging risk, according to scientists. They project that most people globally will live downstream of large dams by 2050, which were built in the 20th century and many of them are already operating at or beyond their design life, say scientists. In the US, for example, over 85% of the dams (over 90,000 of all sizes) in 2020 were operating at or beyond their life expectancy. Dam failure risks the lives of people living downstream, and aging dams should be investigated to assess the threat, recommend investigators.
Water storage infrastructure, particularly large dams in the last 100 years, has traditionally been used to regulate river flow worldwide. Large dams are defined by the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) as having a height of 15 meters or greater from lowest foundation to crest, or a dam between 5 meters and 15 meters impounding more than 3 million cubic meters.
In India, there are over 1,115 large dams that will be roughly 50 years old in 2025, more than 4,250 large dams in the country will be over 50 years old in 2050 and 64 large dams will be more than 150 years old in 2050, the report said.
Thousands Of Ageing Dams In India A Growing Threat: UN Report The UN report said that approximately 3.5 million people are at risk if India s Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala, built over 100 years ago, were to fail .
Updated: January 23, 2021 9:13 pm IST
In India, there are over 1,115 large dams that will be roughly 50 years old in 2025. (Representational)
New York:
Over a thousand large dams in India will be roughly 50 years old in 2025 and such aging embankments across the world pose a growing threat, according to a United Nations (UN) report which notes that by 2050, most people on Earth will live downstream of tens of thousands of dams built in the 20th century.