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Environmental Challenges and Impacts

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Himalayan Mobilities

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science ((BRIEFSENVIRONMENTAL))

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Abstract

Road construction involves a profound alteration of the earth’s surface, which leads to many negative impacts on the environment. These impacts are frequently not just localized events restricted to the particular road location and often have far reaching effects in other areas. While some effects are immediate others evolve over a period of time and involve an interconnected chain of events. Consequently these effects can be categorized as direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts. To assess the overall environmental impact of road construction projects, activities associated with the project that do not take place at the main site should be considered also. For example, the materials used for the project may actually be excavated from a site some distance from the project area. The impacts can be grouped into several categories including land and water effects, biodiversity and habitat loss, pollution, and road kill. In Nepal one of the most common environmental disasters are landslides. In many places landslides are the direct result of road cuts and improper cut and fill techniques. This combined with intense seasonal monsoonal rains every year results in loss of life, livestock, valuable agricultural land, and homes and blocks mobility corridors. Many of these effects can be seen along the Marsyangdi Highway in Lamjung and Manang Districts. This road (recently completed in 2016) has had acute impacts on local communities and on the most popular trekking route in Nepal, the Annapurna Circuit Trail.

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  1. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Robert E. Beazley & James P. Lassoie

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  1. Robert E. Beazley
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  2. James P. Lassoie
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Beazley, R.E., Lassoie, J.P. (2017). Environmental Challenges and Impacts. In: Himalayan Mobilities. SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55757-1_3

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