LOCAL NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Renowned anti-big dam campaigners to meet on Sunday

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Dec 5: Water experts and anti-big dams campaigners across the continents will meet at a international Consultation on Water Resource Development in South Asia and the Report of the World Commission on Dam, which will be held in Lalitpur on December 8 (Sunday).

The meet will chiefly attempt to comb up the hurdles which have posed obstacles to the development of water resource between Nepal and India, said Gopal Siwakoti 'Chintan,' coordinator of the Water and Energy Users' Federation Nepal (WAFED), a organiser of the conference. He said that it would discuss on a report titled the Dam and Development of the Commission through the Asian perspective.

We will clearly put forth our concerns to the Indian people through the conference, he said.
For countries like Nepal, small and mid-level dams are appropriate, he added. "Although the big dams have significantly contributed to the human development, they, in many cases, caused big social and environmental loss," says the report, which was released by former South African president Nelson Mandela in London last November.

The Commission studied 1,000 big dams, consulted with 14,00 people from 59 countries, and received 947 written materials from 80 nations while preparing the report. Local people have been displaced and taxpayers have had to pay heavily for the loans incurred due to the big dams, it says.
Dams have often raised ethical questions to their success when there is an absence of a proper system to distribute the fruits of development, and when alternatives to them are ignored, it says.
"By constructing dams, water is not utilised, targets are not met and projects are not completed on time," it says.

The United Nations has recognised the report as a new framework for decision-making while constructing big dams. "It is like a code of conduct for the nations," Siwakoti said to the media people Thursday while highlighting the objective of the international meet. He informed that big Asian nations- India and China- had expressed their reservation on the report while the position of Nepal is yet to be cleared.

Thirty international environmentalists including India's renowned anti-Narmada dam campaigners Sundarlal Bahuguna and Medha Patkar, also a member of the Commission and Jeremy Bird, coordinator Dams and Development Programme, United Nation Development Programme will address the meet.

People affected by the big dams such as Koshi, Gandaki and Laxmanpur will share their problems with the water experts at the meeting. The recommendations of the meet will be presented in the Asia Social Forum conference to be held in India next year and in the Third World Water Forum to be held in Japan.

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