Climate Talk

300,000 people in the path of Himalayan disasters: who decides where to build?

This one really got me! The GONOM post says a building boom in parts of Nepal and Uttarakhand has put about 300,000 people in the path of potential disasters, and the flat land by rivers is the easiest place to build but also where floods run!

I work in municipal planning (well, adjacent to it) and this is the classic problem! The cheapest land for developers is often the most dangerous, and once a hotel is there, nobody wants to move it!

Interesting that the Spanish Science Media Centre framed it more cautiously, 'could be' living in flood-prone areas. I think that kind of care matters. But even 'could be' 300,000 people is a lot!

Do these regions have hazard maps that actually block construction, or are they just advisory?