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

The most comprehensive guidelines for large dams that protect the rights of river-dependent communities were outlined by the World Commission on Dams (WCD) in 2000. Ten years later, International Rivers is happy to announce a new briefing kit for activists and allies, "Protecting Rivers and Rights: The World Commission on Dams Recommendations in Action," as part of our WCD+10 activities to move the dams debate forward. The purpose of this publication is to provide activists with concrete examples of where and how the WCD principles have been applied, and what happened when they were ignored.

Pronunciamento das Comunidades Ashaninka da Bacia do Rio Ene Frente ao Projeto de Barragem hidroeletrica no lugar de Pakitzapango As comunidades Ashaninka da Bacia do Rio Ene da Província de Satipo, Região de Junín, Peru reunidos no seu XIV Congresso Ordinário da Central Ashaninka do Rio Ene, na Comunidade Nativa do Pamakiari, anexo do Cutivereni (distrito do Rio Tambo), nos dias 07 e 08 de maio de 2010, para debater o Projeto da construção da Represa Hidroelétrica Pakitzapango, manifestamos o seguinte: Considerando que: Nossa história está cheia de constantes abusos: fomos escravi