Infrastructure

KEY POINTS

Good

·         Provides water for irrigation

·         Helps in power generation

·         Prevents uncontrolled flooding

Harm

·         Displacement – Dams store millions of tonnes of fresh water in large reservoirs, submerging prime forests, villages, farms and livelihoods.

·         For example, 4,700 large dams built since 1947 have cumulatively displaced 4.4 million people.

·         This makes dams the single largest cause for displacement post-Partition.

·         Affecting the poor – Over 85% of them are used in agriculture for producing cash crops such as sugarcane.

·         Dams have displaced the poorest of India’s people in favour of richer farmers and urban residents, often with little or no compensation.

·         Hazardous – Dams are far more hazardous than any other infrastructure project, except nuclear plants.

·         For example, according to the India Water Portal, over 100 dams in India which are over a century old, and more than 500 large dams which are 50-100 years old, many of which have major defects and need urgent repair.

·         Seismic events – It is also accepted today that dams can trigger seismic events.

·         The reservoir-induced seismicity (RIS) from the weight of the reservoir has resulted in earthquakes in various parts of the country: of the 75 cases of RIS reported worldwide, 17 have been reported from India.

Way ahead

·         The scale and frequency of natural disasters is growing.

·         The immediate task is to critically review every dam in the country, decommission those that are at end-of-life, stop building new ones and establish sound safety protocols. 

Please review