Question: which agency has released report on ageing dams across the world titled, “Ageing water infrastructure: An emerging global risk”?
a) United Nation (UN)
b) US government
c) IPCC
d) None of the above
Answer: a
Context
- United Nations have released its report titled ‘Ageing water infrastructure: An emerging global risk’ on the ageing of the dams across the globe.
Facts
- Report is compiled by United Nations University’s Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health.
- Report was compiled by analyzing the dam decommissioning or ageing from the USA, Canada, France, Japan, India, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Key finding of report
- It says most of the 58,700 large dams worldwide were constructed between 1930 and 1970 with a design life of 50 to 100 years.
- Over a thousand large dams in India will be roughly 50 years old in 2025 and thus posses a major infrastructural risk.
- By 2050, most people on Earth will live downstream of tens of thousands of dams built in the 20th century, many of them already operating at or beyond their design life .
- As per the report, 58700 large dams worldwide were constructed in between 1930 and 1970. Those dams have the design life of 50 to 100 years.
- In the US, the average age of 90,580 dams is 56 years. More than 85% of US dams in 2020 were operating at or beyond their life expectancy and 75% of US dam failures occurred after 50 years of age.
- Report highlights, 32,716 large dams which accounts for 55 percent of the world’s total are found in four Asian countries namely China, India, Japan, and South Korea.
- Approximately 3.5 million people are at risk if India’s Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala will fail. The dam was built over 100 years ago. It is constructed with concrete ‘surkhi’ which is a combination of limestone and burnt brick powder.
By – Kameshwar Shukla