Archive · 3 Sep 2026
Environmentalists Link Nepal Flash Floods to Himalayan Development Practices
Nepal recently experienced very damaging flash floods.
Environmentalist Sunita Narain said these floods are connected to the way people have been developing the Himalayas.
She said many hydropower plants are being built close together.
In her view, people have acted as if rivers and mountains can always be changed safely.
She warned that nature is showing the limits of this approach.
Narain also said extreme weather happens in India about once a day.
She believes small changes will not be enough to solve the climate crisis.
For Delhi’s pollution, she recommended better public transport so people can walk, cycle, or use buses and trains instead of cars.
Environmentalist Sunita Narain linked Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods to decades of intensive engineering in the Himalayas.
Narain said hydropower plants are being built back to back across the Himalayan region.
She argued that development has been based on the assumption that rivers and mountains can be re-engineered at will.
A Centre for Science and Environment analysis of India Meteorological Department data found roughly one extreme weather event occurs in India each day.
Narain called for fundamentally rethinking climate solutions, including expanded public transport to address Delhi’s air pollution.
- Who
- Environmentalists led by Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for Science and Environment.
- What
- Narain linked Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods to decades of intensive development and engineering activities in the Himalayas.
- When
- The remarks were made on Wednesday at the inaugural session of the eighth International Conference on Sustainability Education.
- Where
- The conference was held in Delhi; the disaster discussed occurred in Nepal and the broader Himalayan region.
- Why
- Narain said hydropower construction and an engineering approach that seeks to re-engineer rivers and mountains have contributed to environmental risks.
- Speaker
- Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for Science and Environment
- Disaster
- Recent catastrophic flash floods in Nepal
- Main concern
- Continuous development and hydropower construction in the Himalayas
- Data cited
- Centre for Science and Environment analysis of India Meteorological Department data
- Extreme-weather frequency
- Approximately one extreme weather event occurs in India each day, according to the cited analysis
- Event
- Eighth International Conference on Sustainability Education
- Delhi solution proposed
- A major expansion of public transport alongside walking, cycling, paratransit, metro, and bus use