Damming rivers in the tectonically resurgent Uttarakhand Himalaya

Abstract

In the fault-ridden, seismically and tectonically active belts recurrently ravaged by excessive rains and. resultant landslides in Uttarakhand a very large number of big and small dams are being constructed and planned. Quite many of these projects suffered crippling damages during the 2013 disaster as mountain slopes slid down and floodwater severely eroded stream banks and dumped huge volumes of sediments on critical facilities. If the idea is to have environment-friendly power projects, then the planners and dam builders must not ignore the geological reality of the geodynamically sensitive region. Better sites for dams can be explored far upstream of the Main Central Thrust Zone.