Destructive Dams in India, Water policy

1. Dams and Development
Shripad Dharmadhikary, Manthan Adhyayan Kendra,

2. Dams - Diversion and
Destruction
 Dams – biggest intervention in rivers and
water system
 India third largest dam builder in the
world, close to 5000 large dams
 Most major rivers dammed and diverted
 Rivers have dried and stopped flowing
 Millions have lost land and been
displaced
 Thousands affected by loss of fish, loss
of access to water
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

3. Dams = Development?
Claimed benefits:
Food Production
Power Generation
Drinking Water Supply
Flood Control
Drought Proofing
Navigation
Other Benefits
Shripad Dharmadhikary, Manthan Adhyayan Kendra,

4. Dams = Development?
Impacts
Displacement
Loss of Livelihoods
Loss of forests and bio-diversity
Downstream Impacts
Waterlogging and Salinisation
Reservoir Induced Seismicity
Shripad Dharmadhikary, Manthan Adhyayan Kendra

5. Dams = Development?
Impacts
High Financial Costs
Inequitable Distribution of Benefits
(and Costs)
Questioning the Benefits and the
Cost/ Benefit Balance
Alternatives Not Examined

6. Overview of Large Dams
in India
Upto 1900 81
1901-1950 300
1951-1970 732
1971-1990 2551
1991 - 2000 625
2001 - 333
Under Construction 371
Total 5187
(Source: NRLD 2012)
Third Largest Number of Dams With 9% of World's Dams
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

7. Large Dams in India
 Mostly for irrigation, some purely
hydro, some multi-purpose, some
water supply
 Mostly Public ownership till now
 Irrigation created - Major and
medium projects 41.64 m ha,
minor projects 60.01 m ha (mostly
ground water) (Year 2007)
 Installed Hydro Capacity – 36913
MW (May 2010)
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

8. New Dam Construction –
Himalayas
Total Claimed
Potential
(MW)
Capacity
Already
Developed
(MW)
% Capacity
Remainin
g to be
Develope
d
Bhutan 23,760 1,488 93.74 %
Nepal 44,000 561 98.73 %
Pakistan 41,722 6,444 84.55 %
India
(Himalayan)
118,210 26,376 77.69%
India (Rest) 30,491 19,641 35.58%
Reference: Mountains of Concrete
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

9. Hydropower Projects
Existing Under
Construction
Proposed
Nepal 545
(15 )
84
(2)
26,324
(37)
Pakistan 6,385
(6)
1,405
(7)
33,769
(35)
Bhutan 1,480
(5)
15,693
(16)
India 15,208
(74)
17,765
(37)
93,615
(318)
In MW (Number of Projects in brackets)
Reference: Mountains of Concrete
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

10. River Linking Project
 Massive Plans to build large dams,
long distance canals, dig tunnels
through mountains and so on to
link rivers across the country
 14 Himalayan Links and 16
Peninsular links
 Likely to involve 150-200 big dams
at least
 Budget Rs 560,000 crores - 25% of
GDP Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

11. Key Issues
 Displacement
 Loss of Livelihood (Economic
Displacement)
 Loss of forests
 Ecological Threats
 Downstream Impacts
 Waterlogging and Salinisation
 Cultural, Archeological Heritage
threatened
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

12. Key Issues
 High Financial Costs
 Inequitable Distribution of Benefits
(and Costs)
 Questioning the Benefits and the
Cost/ Benefit Balance
 Alternatives Not Examined
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

13. Other Issues
 154 major, 148 medium projects
carried over into the Twelfth Plan
from previous Plan periods
 11 m ha difference between
potential created and utilised
 Irrigation Potential from Major and
Medium Projects at end of 11th
Plan
– 47.41 mha
 From Minor – 65.12 mha (Ground
water 49.4)
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

14. From 12th Five Year Plan Document
Potential Created at end of Eleventh Plan - 47.41 mha
Potential Utilised - 35 mha
Gap - 11 mha
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

15. Cost Overruns
 Cost overruns: the major irrigation
projects worst offenders
 Average cost overrun is as high as
1,382 per cent
 28 out of the 151 major projects
analysed witnessed cost overruns
of over 1,000 per cent.
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

16. Unaddressed Social
Impacts –India
“Large dams in India displaced an
estimated 16-38 million people...
(Pg. 104)
“In the case of India, 75% of the
people displaced by dams have not
been rehabilitated and are
impoverished.” (Pg. 108)
WCD Report
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

17. Displacement and Rehabilitation
Absence of a Policy Regime
 No Policy for Development induced
Displacement
 Land Acquisition Act 1894 main
instrument till now
 No Policy at National Level till 2003 for
Resettlement and Rehabilitation
 Ad hoc approach with different policies
of different states, agencies
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

18. No Legally Binding
Right to Resettlement
 TILL NOW
 Only legal right is right to
compensation under the LAA
 No law requiring resettlement and
rehabilitation
 New Land Acquisition Act (Right to
Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement act
2013) – Some Plus Points, Many
Loopholes
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

19. Displacement in
Decision Making
 Displacement is not a criteria in
decision making about projects
 No participation of (potentially)
affected communities in planning
and decision making of
development projects and
programs
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

20. Failure of
Implementation
 Consistent failure to implement
even a weak legal and policy
regime
 No count or record of numbers
displaced
 Millions rendered destitute,
homeless
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

21. Unaddressed
Environmental Impacts
“Till 1978, there was no formal
requirement to assess the
environmental or social impacts of
large dams, ... Over 2 500 large dams
were initiated in India prior to 1978.
Consequently, for these 2 500 .....
(there was no) attempt to prevent or
minimise most of the adverse
impacts....
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

22. Waterlogged Land in
Bhakra Command
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

23. Salt Affected Land in
Bhakra Command
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

24. Houses Affected Due to
Waterlogging
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

25. 12th Plan Document on
Environmental Impacts
 Krishna and Kaveri have reached full or partial
closure.
 Evaporation of an additional 36 BCM of water
has changed the regional climate, increasing
humidity and changing temperature regime
 Aggravating saline ground water intrusion, and
putting at risk the delicate wetland and estuarine
ecology
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

26. Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

27. Identity Issues
 Local ethnic populations with
distinct customs, culture and
identities
 Small in number
 Dams likely to result in massive
influx of migrant workers
 Combined impact of influx of
settlers and destruction of rivers
and forests will have serious
impact on culture and identityManthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

28. Identity Issue
 3000 MW Dibang Project in
Arunachal in India
 Idu Mishmi main tribe, population
11,000
 Workers expected from outside
6000
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

29. Environmental
Regulation
 Environmental impact still not a part of
decision making criteria
 EIA late in the project cycle, considered
only an add on
 People not involved during EIA, and later
 Issues with EAC process
 Lack of cumulative, regional and
sectorial EIAs
 Post clearance monitoring virtually
absent
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

30. What 12th Five Year Plan Says –
Large Dam Projects
 Limits to the role they can play in
providing economically viable
additional large water storage
 The problems listed above provide
a clear indication that further large-
scale irrigation development in
India will not be an easy option
 In the Himalayas we confront one
of the most fragile ecosystems in
the world. Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

31. Some Agreed
Conclusions of WCD
India Study
 In the case of both irrigation and
hydropower projects, costs are often
underestimated and benefits
exaggerated so that the requisite BCR is
shown to have been arrived at.
 24.5% of the total increase in food grain
production came from areas irrigated by
large dams.
 One view is that excluding the effects of
the other inputs, 10% of the increase
can be attributed to dams.
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

32. Developmental Impacts
 Will dams perform as promised
-Independent studies in India show
actual generation well below
design
 SANDRP study: 184 projects
( 25214 MW) out of 208 projects
(30740 MW) underperforming
 Flows often improperly estimated
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

33. Real Solutions
Study by several experts in prestigious journal Economic
and Political Weekly, Dec 2009:
 Semi-arid Gujarat has clocked high and steady growth
at 9.6% per year in agricultural state domestic product
since 1999-2000. What has driven this growth?
 .... Canal-irrigated South and Central Gujarat should
have led Gujarat’s agricultural rally. Instead it is dry
Saurashtra and Kachchh, and North Gujarat that have
been at the forefront. These could not have performed
so well but for the improved availability of
groundwater for irrigation. Arguably, mass-based
water harvesting and farm power reforms have helped
energise Gujarats agriculture.

35. Unsustainable from Every
Angle
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014
Better Alternatives
Available

36. Strong Resistance
movements
 Many powerful struggles
challenging displacement and
destruction of environment,
livelihoods
 Resettlement achieved to some
degree only when projects
implementation threatened
 Movements challenging the
projects themselves and the
development model itselfManthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

37. Dams Struggles and
Campaigns
 1920s - Mulshi Dam
 1940 / 50s - Hirakud, Bhakra,
Others
 1960s - Rihand
 Nationalistic Rhetoric
 1970s, 1980s - The Struggles pick
up
 Silent Valley (1983), Narmada
 2000s – North, North east
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

38. A mass protest action in the
Narmada Valley
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014

39. Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, 20 Jan 2014