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This article provides information about the socio-economic implication of big dams in India:
One of the most obvious and visible unwarranted outcomes of dam projects is the displacement of people from their habitat. This means that not only are persons living in and around dam sites asked to vacate their homes and settle in other places, but also that they are expected to give up their land, their homes that they have nurtured all their lives and surroundings they have been familiar with so that the dam could be built for the anonymous beneficiaries.
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It is difficult for the ousted to comprehend the benefits of dams, as to how it can possibly bring prosperity and well-being. Large numbers migrate to the already overcrowded and overburdened towns and cities in search of work and live in dismal urban conditions. Many subsist by working at the dam site. They labour under severe work conditions. The construction site is especially susceptible to infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and influenza.
Once the work at the dam is over, very often the locals have to be physically forced to leave the site. In the late 1950s, when Mexico’s Maztec Indians refused to vacate their homes from the site of the Miguel Aleman Dam, their houses were set on fire and the army was called in to quell the unrest. Similarly, in erstwhile USSR, the displaced population were often forced to take part in bringing down their homes, churches, and orchards and disinter the coffins of their dead relatives.
Besides the number of people that dam projects displace, it is noteworthy that majority of the persons who are displaced belong to the category of tribes or constitute the rural poor, with marginal or no land. A document brought out by the Ministry of Rural Development of India Government, in 1996, suggests that over one crore sixty lakh persons have been displaced due to mining, dams and canals, industries, sanctuaries and national parks. Of these, about thirty- nine lakh have been rehabilitated.
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According to Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste Commission report, almost forty per cent of the displaced population belongs to the scheduled tribe category. The Sardar Sarovar Dam project in Gujarat, Koel-Karo Dam project, Suvarnarekha and the Kuju Dam project in Jharkhand, Balimela project and the Machkunda Dam in Orissa are some of the better-known instances where tribal rights to land and forests have been disregarded to fulfill the larger interests of the State and the general population.
Dams have entailed huge financial investments, which to its critics are most uneconomical investments by far. The Sardar Sarovar Dam’s total final cost as per official estimates (1987-88) is Rs. 11,154/- crores and this estimate does not include other expenses and recurring costs to be incurred on account of treatment of catchment area, delays caused in completing the project, compensatory afforestation among many others over the eight years within which the project has to be completed. Even this ‘modest’ estimate was more than the centre and state’s Plan expenditure in the entire Seventh Five-Year Plan period.
As per the Government of India, Department of Environment and Forest note to the Prime Minister, the total environmental loss due to the project was a colossal 40,000 crores. Almost all large dam projects the world over has been financed by the World Bank at a heavy interest rate of 10.75% per annum. The Bank agreed to extend a maximum loan of Rs. 700 crores. The rest of the finances were being sought from Japan; ONGC agreed to extend a loan of Rs. 200 crores at the interest rate of 14.5% per annum.
The Gujarat government even issued tax-free bonds to raise the required money and managed to raise about a paltry sum from the public. The key question is as to how will the Gujarat Government raise this money and how does it propose to pay up the interests on the loans. What about its other development commitments as well as social welfare responsibilities of providing health care, education and employment?