New Delhi, Jan. 23 -- By 2050, most people on Earth will live downstream of tens of thousands of large dams built in the 20th century, many of them including Indias already operating at or beyond their design life, putting lives and property at risk, a UN University (UNU) analysis revealed.

Besides India, the analysis also includes dam decommissioning or ageing case studies from the US, France, Canada, Japan, and Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The report, "Ageing water infrastructure: An emerging global risk", by UNU's Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health, released on Friday said most of the 58,700 large dams worldwide were constructed between 1930 and 1970 with a design life of 50 to 100 years, adding that at 50 years, a la...