Himalayan Water Resources: Ecological and Political Aspects of Management

Bandyopadhyay, Jayanta; Gyawali, Dipak

doi:10.2307/3673735

Cited by 56 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…And, according to a recent study from the Ganga basin, even the assumed social benefits of dams may have little scientific basis (Sadoff et al ). Our results lend support to these claims, but in India, so far, there remains little attention paid to ecological evaluation of large‐scale development (Bandyopadhyay & Gyawali ; Agrawal ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Potential Effects of Ongoing and Proposed Hydropower Development on Terrestrial Biological Diversity in the Indian Himalaya

Pandit

Grumbine

2012

Conservation Biology

136

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Indian Himalayan basins are earmarked for widespread dam building, but aggregate effects of these dams on terrestrial ecosystems are unknown. We mapped distribution of 292 dams (under construction and proposed) and projected effects of these dams on terrestrial ecosystems under different scenarios of land-cover loss. We analyzed land-cover data of the Himalayan valleys, where dams are located. We estimated dam density on fifth- through seventh-order rivers and compared these estimates with current global figures. We used a species-area relation model (SAR) to predict short- and long-term species extinctions driven by deforestation. We used scatter plots and correlation studies to analyze distribution patterns of species and dams and to reveal potential overlap between species-rich areas and dam sites. We investigated effects of disturbance on community structure of undisturbed forests. Nearly 90% of Indian Himalayan valleys would be affected by dam building and 27% of these dams would affect dense forests. Our model projected that 54,117 ha of forests would be submerged and 114,361 ha would be damaged by dam-related activities. A dam density of 0.3247/1000 km(2) would be nearly 62 times greater than current average global figures; the average of 1 dam for every 32 km of river channel would be 1.5 times higher than figures reported for U.S. rivers. Our results show that most dams would be located in species-rich areas of the Himalaya. The SAR model projected that by 2025, deforestation due to dam building would likely result in extinction of 22 angiosperm and 7 vertebrate taxa. Disturbance due to dam building would likely reduce tree species richness by 35%, tree density by 42%, and tree basal cover by 30% in dense forests. These results, combined with relatively weak national environmental impact assessment and implementation, point toward significant loss of species if all proposed dams in the Indian Himalaya are constructed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Potential Effects of Ongoing and Proposed Hydropower Development on Terrestrial Biological Diversity in the Indian Himalaya

Pandit

Grumbine

2012

Conservation Biology

136

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“…(1997); Rao (2006); Sharma (2004). See also Bandyopadhyay & Gyawali (1994); Sankosh data from THDC India Ltd, http://thdc.gov.in/Projects/english/Scripts/ Prj_Introduction.aspx?vid=171 (accessed 11 April 2011).…”

Section: Hydropower and Clean Energymentioning

confidence: 97%

Why Eastern Himalayan countries should cooperate in transboundary water resource management

Rasul

2013

Water Policy

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Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal in the Eastern Himalayas are interconnected by the common river systems of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna (GBM). The GBM basin is home to approximately 700 million people, comprising over 10% of the world's population. The economy and environment of the region depend on water, but while the need for water is increasing, poor management and climate-related effects are making water supplies erratic. Upstream-downstream interdependencies necessitate developing a shared river system in an integrated manner through collaboration of the riparian countries. This paper examines the opportunities for, and potential benefits of, regional cooperation in water resource management. It suggests that the benefits can increase considerably when a regional (river basin) perspective is adopted that promotes optimum use of water resources for consumptive and non-consumptive use. Regional cooperation can bring additional economic, environmental, social, and political benefits through multi-purpose river projects, which help by storing monsoon water, mitigating the effects of floods and droughts, augmenting dry season river flows, expanding irrigation and navigation facilities, generating hydropower, and enhancing energy and environmental security. A broader framework to facilitate regional cooperation in transboundary rivers in the Eastern Himalayan region is suggested.

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“…This is of special signi cance because of the unconsolidated nature of the mountain landmass and the very high intensity of the monsoon rainfall. Bandyopadhyay & Gyawali (1994) have reported the high sediment load carried by the Himalayan rivers. The scienti c understanding of the processes of sediment formation, transportation and deposition in the Himalayan rivers is quite inadequate.…”

Section: Addressing Existing Damsmentioning

confidence: 98%

A Critical Look at the Report of the World Commission on Dams in the Context of the Debate on Large Dams on the Himalayan Rivers

Bandyopadhyay¹

2002

International Journal of Water Resources Development

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In the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin in south Asia, the Himalayan rivers offer a large number of sites suitable for the construction of storage dams to collect part of their very large monsoon run-off and generate a good amount of hydropower. A series of large dams proposed by the governments are facing strong opposition on social and environmental grounds. Additional water and hydropower supplies are needed badly to ensure economic development in this basin, where poverty is a widespread problem. The report of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) has been analysed in this paper to explore how much it can provide a new framework for decision making for these dams. It has been found that there are some important technical gaps in the WCD report, as a result of which it cannot help in answering some crucial technical questions raised by the debate on dams on the Himalayan rivers of the GBM basin.

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Himalayan Water Resources: Ecological and Political Aspects of Management

Cited by 56 publications

References 20 publications

Potential Effects of Ongoing and Proposed Hydropower Development on Terrestrial Biological Diversity in the Indian Himalaya

Potential Effects of Ongoing and Proposed Hydropower Development on Terrestrial Biological Diversity in the Indian Himalaya

Why Eastern Himalayan countries should cooperate in transboundary water resource management

A Critical Look at the Report of the World Commission on Dams in the Context of the Debate on Large Dams on the Himalayan Rivers

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