In as much as you have done it to one of the least, you have
done it unto me. -- Jesus Christ.
Baby stonefly, Kennebec River, Augusta, Maine. April 15, 2005.
1/3" long.
BEWARE, DAM MAKERS.
By Zubaida Birwani
Karachi, Pakistan
(Ms. Zubaida Birwani is Senior Program Officer for Shirkatgah, an advocacy
organization for women, people who fish and rural people of the Indus River
valley. Shirkatgah is based in Karachi, Pakistan where Ms. Birwani resides.
She holds an M.A. in Literature and a B.A. in Sociology from Karachi University.
Ms. Birwani has graciously allowed Friends of the Kennebec Salmon to reprint
her recent essay regarding the impacts of dam building on the people of
the Indus River. Because the impacts of dams and legal asymmetry she describes
in Pakistan today are much like what we face in Maine today and at Messalonskee
Stream today, Ms. Birwani's observations merit our close attention.)
Dams are built to control floods, to store water for hydropower, agriculture,
industry, and drinking purposes. In the second half of the last century,
social and environmental impact large dams have also unfolded and many questions
have come to surface regarding their performance. In the past half century,
large reservoirs and dams have displaced at least 40-80 million people
in different parts of world.
People worldwide are committed to caring for their rivers; believe in finding
the best ways to produce and distribute electricity; understand that access
to water is a basic human right; and know respect for human rights must
be core principle for a decision-making process.
The World Commission on Dams (WCD) has recommended transparent and democratic
decision-making about large dam projects. The WCD asserts alternatives to
dams exist and there is a need to define the objective clearly and explore
alternatives.
According to WCD, five values govern the entire process and are based on
the concerns raised through the evidence presented in the Global Review
of dams conducted by WCD.
* Equity
* Efficiency
* Participatory decision making
* Sustainability
* Accountability
Worldwide, large dams have not provided the benefits which were promoted
and predicted by their builders. At the same time, negative impacts of large
dams have been far greater than imagined. The outstanding social and environmental
problems associated with existing dams need to be addressed; and that the
rights of all people, especially indigenous people, must be respected and
risk must be fairly analysed and publicly discussed for the thousand of
peoples who are expected to lose their fisheries and other livelihoods especially
because they have never been consulted to assess potential risks they would
be subjected to in short and long-term due to dam construction.
Peoples' lives and rights at risk (Pakistan context)
In the context of Pakistan, the affected people are involuntary risk takers
who have been provided no opportunity to participate in decisions affecting
their lives. Case studies of the Indus River delta and Chashma Right Bank
Canal may be referred:
Indus Delta
Indus Delta is the home to centuries old indigenous communities. These people
have globally recognised rights on the Indus River. According to the law
of the land, they also possess a constitutional right to be consulted before
starting any water project on Indus River. (National Resettlement Policy
of Pakistan aims to ensure full consultation and participant with indigenous
people). Fisher folk of Indus Delta have historical and traditional rights
on Indus River but are not even recognized as affectees of large dams. Indigenous
communities are totally ignored in the consultations and decision-making
process regarding dam development. People have suffered due to dam construction
as they are paying the huge cost of ecological damage. This situation will
become more alarming owing to further dam building on Indus River. The community
will be exposed to further risks due to such projects. The decrease in the
water flow to the Indus delta and increased displacement of communities
from Indus delta is aggravating the situation in the delta.
Chashma Right Bank Canal
In the specific case of Chashma Right Bank Canal, project proponents have
completely ignored the communities. Communities' traditional rights were
trespassed and no compensation was paid to them.
There is a range of communities' rights which come under risk due to indifferent
attitude of project proponents. Rights of not only present generations but
of future generations to land, water flow and fisheries are at risk due
to poorly designed and inefficiently executed water projects. The compensation
process has been in total violation of national laws. In case of Chashma
Right Bank Canal, while land acquisition for construction of the project
began in 1995, the formal process of notification was initiated in December
2001. Construction of the project resulted in various forms of disruptions
in the lives of the local communities, including disintegration of existing
community support networks, disabling of Rowed-kohi (traditional irrigation)
system.
In the Pakistani context, our experience is that the review process for
large reservoirs and dams has been against the guidelines and proposed values
of the WCD. Public sector projects have been designed and executed in complete
isolation without even the ceremonial participation of stakeholders. Empty
of consultation with potential affectees, these projects have benefited
privileged corridors at the cost of marginalized and voiceless communities
by putting their historical and constitutional rights at risk.
Women: the Most Affected.
Though imprudent development has affected almost all segments of communities,
the worst hit are women. Women, as the world's most important food producers,
are directly dependent on a healthy environment which is often lost in non-consultative
development projects.
Women play a very significant role in managing our natural resources. As
food providers, they daily interact with the natural resources. Therefore
any negative impact on environment directly affects women. In the Pakistani
context, women are actively involved in water sector related activities
such as agriculture, fishing and livestock such as, agriculture harvesting,
net making, shrimp peeling, net cleaning, cattle grazing etc. which is the
major contribution towards their house incomes. However women have never
been part of any pre-project consultation and decision making in this regard.
Although women are paying equal cost economically, socially and environmentally
due to large reservoirs and dams but they are the least heard segment among
affectees. Women have the right to fully participate in the entire process
as defined in policies and laws (e.g. according to National Resettlement
Policy affected women should be ensured equal access to all income restoration
program by maximum involvement of women). In typical Pakistani society where
women are often times socially secluded, social assets and relations take
decades to frame. With displacement women lose their social relations and
cannot regain them in their life cycle.
Though the list of rights of communities' at risk could be unending, the
most important of them are given below considering the Pakistani experience:
* Downstream people have historically recognised rights on natural flows
such as Indus River and Roewd-Kohi, which become increasingly at risk with
every new reservoir constructed at upstream.
* People have constitutional right of consultation with them before starting
any water project on Indus River. (This has also been recognized in National
Resettlement Policy).
* Fisher folk have historical fishing rights which are directly dependent
on the flow of the Indus River.
* People possess property rights such as no one can forcibly deprive them
from their land against their will. However in a large reservoir projects
this right is often violated.
* People have historical rights on natural endowment in their areas such
as lakes, ponds, and pastures. These natural resources are often
inundated or left dry due to new reservoirs. Resettlement and money cannot
compensate for this loss.
* People have a legislative right to participate in decision-making. But
there is no provision to include potential affectees in decision-making
process.
* Women have the right to fully participate in the entire process (e.g.
according to National Resettlement Policy affected women should be ensured
equal access to all income restoration program by maximum involvement of
women).
Risk
The following risks are most frequently observed in large reservoir
projects.
* Water projects are designed and executed without proper consultation and
thus become non-participatory.
* New reservoirs further decrease fresh water flow to downstream areas such
as the delta.
* More increased displacement from project sites and downstream areas.
* Additional communities loose their natural means of livelihood.
* New developments unfold new conflicts among communities due to dwindling
resources.
* Indigenous community face specific cultural and social risk (inflow of
new cultural groups from affectees or beneficiaries) due to large scale
development projects.
* Fragile eco-systems are exposed to variety of risks such as inundation
and desertification.
* Beneficiaries' lobbies temper laws and rules in their favour to execute
large projects thus leaving communities politically deprived from right
of participation in decision making. In broader context it pushes society
to political chaos and creates long-term risks for socio-political integrity
of the society.
What to do?
* All viable options should be properly explored before opting for large
reservoirs and dams. Energy and irrigation development should not be carried
out at the expense of the livelihood and natural endowment of communities.
* Lower riparian communities, particularly women, should be considered as
major affectees of the large reservoirs and dams.
* WCD guidelines should be adopted as a framework for working out feasibility
of any water sector development project, particularly large reservoirs and
dams.
* A comprehensive study should be initiated to assess socio-economic and
environmental impacts of large reservoirs and
dams already implemented in the country.
* A comprehensive baseline of natural resources should be conducted in downstream
areas (e.g. Indus delta) before
initiating any new water development project.
About the Author:
Curriculum Vitae
Zubeda Birwani
Senior Program Officer
Shirkatgah
Karachi, Sindh
021-5861319, 0333-2112198
zbirwani@yahoo.com
Ms. Zubeda Birwani is a development professional, with almost 10 years experience
of working as a development professional in Shirkatgah, a high profile national
NGO. She has acquired Bachelors Degree in Social Sciences from the University
of Karachi.
For eight years, Ms. Birwani has worked for the Womens Resource Centre (Shirkatgah).
She is Senior Program Officer in Shirkatgah's Karachi office. Her responsibilities
include conducting trainings on gender issues, organizing national level
advocacy campaigns on issues pertaining to indigenous peoples rights, natural
resources and environment. She is also responsible for providing technical
support to NGO Federations in Sindh and Balochistan and works closely with
rural organizations.
Ms. Birwani is a well-known trainer on gender. She has organized several
women groups in Sindh to create awareness and understanding of gender issues.
She has also developed a training manual for Gender training in Urdu language.
The manual has received rich acclaims from gender experts. She is also a
coordinator of Peoples Network for Rivers, Dams and People (PNRDP) to advocate
on irrigation and drainage projects of the country. She has organized a
number of advocacy seminars, workshops and discussion forums to discuss
various dimensions of water related conflicting issues in the country.
She has also organized a campaign on the rights of the fishing communities
of Sindh coast. In this regard she has developed and implemented a policy
advocacy campaign, which involves organization of fishermen groups in coastal
areas and creating awareness on deep-sea fishing policy of the government.
She has also developed and implemented a comprehensive advocacy campaign
for the rehabilitation of the affectees of Chotiari Reservoir in Sindh.
She is well versed with the issues and institutions of rural communities
and has in-depth understanding of livelihood related implications of rural
economy, with emphasis on coastal resources. She has actively worked with
coastal communities on conservation of Mangroves forests at Sindh coast.
Ms. Birwani is also actively involved with number of national and international
networks. She has also developed strong linkage with media organizations
research institutions to effectively design and implement advocacy campaigns
in Sindh province. She has actively worked with communities, NGOs and networks
in all provinces of Pakistan.