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Workers shoveled thick mud from a flood-ravaged power station in central Nepal, trying to revive a key node that supplies electricity to more than 20,000 people. But as they cleared debris from equipment buried by last week\u2019s catastrophic floods, there was hope the plant would not simply be rebuilt in the same place, beside the river that destroyed it.<\/p>\n
In Nepal, up to\u00a0900 workers are unaccounted\u00a0for from a dozen hydropower projects, according to the Independent Power Producers\u2019 Association, Nepal, with hundreds believed trapped in tunnels. In Nepal and China combined, over 900 people have died and 4,700 are missing.<\/p>\n
The loss of hydropower infrastructure is estimated to have taken 700 megawatts offline \u2014 about 10% of the country\u2019s power capacity. Once the immediate aftermath of the disaster is dealt with, the question of how to restore power, roads, bridges, schools and health facilities quickly without rebuilding the same vulnerabilities should be on top of Nepalese authorities\u2019 minds. disaster experts said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAuthorities have to take a hard look in the mirror now and ask how they will be rebuilding in these places. They will also have to take a close look at other projects in Nepal that have not been built yet, whether they\u2019ll be approved after this event,\u201d said Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria, who is currently based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
Hydropower projects that were operating or under construction were fully or partly destroyed across Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading, among the worst-hit districts.<\/p>\n
Many of the workers had taken shelter in the tunnels but are stuck, waiting to be rescued, according to officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tunnels are built to access hydropower infrastructure and to divert water,\u201d Steiner said, describing the tunnels as big enough to drive trucks through.<\/p>\n
Apart from the hydropower projects, tens of kilometers (miles) of roads, multiple bridges and essential buildings like schools and hospitals have been destroyed.<\/p>\n
Ramraj Narasimhan, a senior director with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, said rebuilding should focus on continuity of services rather than trying to make every structure indestructible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it gets damaged, let it get damaged, but can we build in redundancy in the system?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That can mean choosing a better location for construction, alternate routes, backup power, improved early warning and financial tools such as insurance to speed recovery, Narasimhan said. Risk assessments should examine where a river bends, where slopes are unstable and where a single failure could cut off several communities.<\/p>\n
Narasimhan\u2019s organization estimates that\u00a0$124 billion worth of Nepal\u2019s infrastructure\u00a0is exposed to climate-driven disasters, creating the potential for hundreds of millions of dollars in losses each year. A report by the coalition earlier this year found that Nepal\u2019s average annual losses are nearly $760 million from various disasters, while the country\u2019s national disaster funds is only a fraction of this amount.<\/p>\n
Climate scientists said the Himalayan region \u2014 which is warming faster than many other parts of the world \u2014 is particularly at risk from increasing global warming as a result of human-caused climate change.<\/p>\n
Climate experts said the flooding adds to evidence that infrastructure planning in the Himalayas is being forced to account for disasters that are increasing as the climate warms.\u00a0Glaciers across the Hindu Kush Himalaya\u00a0are losing ice at an accelerating rate, while permafrost degradation, unstable slopes, glacial lakes and increasingly erratic rainfall are raising the risks of floods, landslides and debris flows, according to reports by Kathmandu-based climate research group International Center for Integrated Mountain Development.<\/p>\n
The stakes are particularly high for Nepal because hydropower is both a foundation of its electricity grid and an important source of economic growth and export revenue. Much of the country\u2019s potential is run-of-river hydropower, Narasimhan said, meaning facilities are closely tied to steep river corridors where land is limited and hazards can cascade quickly.<\/p>\n
Steiner said smaller floods can sometimes be managed with diversions that keep debris and high flows away from expensive infrastructure and tunnels. But for events as large as the latest flood, he said, physical defenses may be overwhelmed. In those cases, early warning becomes the critical protection for people.<\/p>\n
He said the flood was detected at the China-Nepal border after moving rapidly from its source, leaving little warning time upstream. But there was still time as the flood traveled downstream toward hydropower sites, raising questions about whether warnings could have reached workers sooner.<\/p>\n
The disaster is also likely to intensify scrutiny of where future projects are approved. Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, said environmental, social and disaster-risk assessments need to reflect the specific landscape and past hazards of each valley, backed by land-use rules and stronger accountability.<\/p>\n
Hydropower projects can themselves become \u201cforce multipliers\u201d when large structures, debris and altered river channels add to downstream damage, Thakkar said. He argued that Nepal should also consider more decentralized solar power as part of a broader energy mix.<\/p>\n
Thakkar said the question now is not only how fast Nepal can rebuild, but what it chooses to put back in the path of the next flood.<\/p>\n
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Sibi Arasu reported from Bengaluru and can be followed on X at\u00a0@sibi123<\/a>. Reach him at\u00a0sarasu@ap.org.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s\u00a0standards\u00a0for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at\u00a0AP.org.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n