Building boom puts 300,000 people in the path of potential Himalayan disasters

The construction of tourism facilities, housing, and infrastructure has surged in parts of Nepal and India's Uttarakhand. Construction of tourism and housing facilities has surged in parts of Nepal and India's Uttarakhand At least 300,000 people in parts of the Himalayan region could now be living in the path of potential disasters, a new study suggests. Researchers found that the amount of built-up land in high-risk zones in northern Nepal, parts of south-eastern Tibet and a corner of India's Uttarakhand had grown by about 45% between 2016 and 2023. In areas particularly threatened by flooding from glacial lakes, development increased even faster, rising by almost 78% over the same period, according to the peer-reviewed study published in Scientific Reports.

The team of scientists behind it said the true number of people under threat could be much higher, as they only analysed a specific territory and not neighbouring areas which face similar risks. The study was carried out before August's devastating mass floods which left more than 1,400 dead and thousands missing in Nepal. More recently there have been several smaller incidents, including flooding along the Budhi Gandaki river on 11 October that damaged 200 houses, swept away five bridges and left five people missing. The major tourist hub of Pokhara has seen major development in recent years Nine researchers from