In recent decades there has been a dramatic rise in the number of dams being built, to keep pace with demand for water or to provide power. Concerns have been raised about increased landslide activity near new dams, and now a study has demonstrated a conclusive link in at least one incident.
In March 2019 a landslide tore apart Hoseynabad-e Kalpush village in north-central Iran, damaging 300 houses and severing the road to the nearby dam. Local authorities blamed the landslide on heavy rainfall and insisted that the dam did not play a role.
