Why in news? The wall of a major Nova Kakhovka dam located  in southern Ukraine was destroyed.

Highlights:

• The destruction of dam triggered floods, endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies with humanitarian crisis .

Where is the dam?

• The dam was built in as part of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.
• Dam construction : Dam was built in the Soviet era and along the Dnipro river, stretches from the very north of the country into the Black Sea.
• Purpose of the dam: Reservoir that supplied water to Crimean peninsula, communities upstream, and provided cooling water to the nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia, under Russian control.

What is the human impact?

• Settlements across the southern Kherson region are at risk of flooding
• There is a risk that water levels in the North Crimea Canal, carries fresh water to the peninsula from the Dnipro river, could fall after rupture of the dam.
• Vital channel carrying water from the river to Russian-occupied Crimea, meaning water supplies there are likely to be affected.