Shimla, Sept. 11 -- Amid growing concerns over extreme weather events, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and rapidly changing climatic and geological risks in the Himalayan region, environmentalist and member of the Himalayan Executive Committee (HEC) on Urbanisation in the Indian Himalayan Region, Tikender Singh Panwar, has called for the decommissioning of hydropower projects located in highly vulnerable areas before nature itself forces their closure.

Panwar, a former Deputy Mayor of Shimla, said the devastation witnessed in Nepal should be treated as a serious warning for the entire Himalayan region, arguing that the frequency and scale of disasters are likely to increase as temperatures rise, glaciers and permafrost melt, and tho...