Affected People

Affected people with their houses plunged under the flood waters Shahid Ali Panhwer Only a few days ago, in the wake of the severe deluge upstream of Kotri Barrage, children swimming and women sponging down clothes on a partially dry passage of the Indus River (Sindhu Daryah) downstream, close to Sehrish Nagar embankment, doled out the delusion that the flood, which had flattened the upper parts of the country and engulfed vast stretches of the province's upstream areas, inflicting huge losses in terms of life and property, was centuries away from their lands. They used to live in a squatter

Rivers [said 6th century BC Taoist engineer Chia Jang] were like the mouths of infants - if one tried to stop them up they only yelled the louder or were suffocated.- Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, 1971 The devastating floods in Pakistan have once again ignited public debate on the necessity of new water reservoirs in the country. The proponents of Kalabagh Dam, including some prominent politicians, TV anchorpersons, and Punjab water engineers, hold that if Kalabagh Dam had been built, we would not be facing the present disaster wreaked upon millions of people in the Indus

Exodus in Punjab. Action Aid The floods that are currently ravaging Pakistan have created a human tragedy beyond imagination. At least 1,600 people have lost their lives, 20 million people have been affected, and 4 million people have been left homeless. Many families have lost their whole existence – their homes, fields, crops and cattle – overnight, with no safety net to fall back on. The floods have also washed away schools, health centers, roads and bridges. Pakistan's civil society and international aid agencies are doing their utmost to bring relief to the victims of this traged

An article has been published in Science Magazine about the mega-hydroelectric development threat to Chile's Patagonia. This article is particularly noteworthy because of the analysis that considers the potential impacts of both the massive HidroAysén project, as well as the proposal by Xstrata subsidiary Energía Austral to build another series of large dams in the region of Aysén. The article is worth the read, and is available for download below. Science July23 2010 DamsforPatagonia

Publicado en Eco-Américas Julio 2010 El gobierno de centroderecha del nuevo presidente chileno Sebastián Piñera está acercándose a su primera gran decisión ambiental: si debe aprobar HidroAysén, un controvertido proyecto de US$7,000 millones para construir cinco represas hidroeléctricas sobre dos ríos de la Patagonia chilena. HidroAysén, patrocinada conjuntamente por dos empresas energéticas, la italiana Endesa y la chilena Colbún, debe presentar un segundo adéndum a su declaración de impacto ambiental antes de que se expida una resolución final. La presentación del adéndum, p

La Comisión Mundial de Represas independiente (CMR) fue creada en mayo de 1998, con el apoyo del Banco Mundial y la Unión Mundial para la Naturaleza (UICN). Su mandato fue examinar la efectividad de desarrollo de las represas, y crear normas y directrices para futuros proyectos. La Comisión estuvo inte- grada por 12 representantes de los sectores gubernamental, industrial, académico y de la sociedad civil, y fue presidida por Kader Asmal, entonces Ministro de Recursos Hídricos de Sudáfrica. ACERCA DE ESTA GUIA INFORMATIVA Esta guía informativa se centra en las principales catego

Pronunciamiento de las Comunidades Ashaninka de la Cuenca del Rio Ene Frente al Proyecto de la Represa Hidroelectrica en el Lugar de PaquitzapangoLas comunidades Ashaninka de la Cuenca del Río Ene de la Provincia de Satipo, Región de Junín, Perú reunidos en su XIV Congreso Ordinario de la Central Ashaninka del Río Ene, en la Comunidad Nativa de Pamakiari, anexo de Cutivireni (distrito de Río Tambo), los días 07 y 08 de mayo del 2010, para debatir sobre el Proyecto de la construcción de la Represa Hidroeléctrica Pakitzapango, manifestamos lo siguiente. Considerando que: Nuestra histo