Text :
10.05.99 : Chile / BIO BIO:
700 people March to Opposse Ralco Dam
Source: Women with the Strength of the Earth ("Mapu Domuche
Nehuen")
Beyond Words
On April 16 and 17, hundreds of people marched in defense
of the Pehuenche of the Upper Bio-Bio, and specifically, in defense of
the women's group "Mapu Domuche Nehuen" (Women with the Strength of the
Earth) who oppose the proposed Ralco dam.
Some 700 people marched for 35 kilometers, singing and
shouting, demonstrating their opposition to the enormous project that threatens
to destroy their ancestral homes, something that the government and involved
corporations are forgetting in the pursuit of "development."
Opponents of the dam arrived from cities and regions throughout
Chile, such as Temuco, Puerto Montt, Chiloe, Valdivia, Chillan, Valparaiso
and Santiago, to join in a day full of so much energy that the women of
the Upper Bio Bio won't soon forget.
Unfortunately, there was little press coverage of the
event, an important medium in these times, since it is through the media
that we can send our message. The struggle continues and the Pehuenche
women of the Upper Bio Bio are not alone.
Here's why we believe the press didn't cover this event:
1) They don't want to show that there is still resistance
to the dam.
2) They don't want to show that there are men, women
and children opposed to the dam who are willing to give their lives to
defend their ancestral lands.
3) They don't want to show that many people support these
men, women and children, and that this battle won't be over soon.
4) They would like to forget that, even in government
polls, the Pehuenche cause is supported by 80% of Chilean citizens, while
the companies involved in the construction of the dam and the government
continue to lose credibility among the people.
It is easy for the government to justify the means it
is using against the Pehuenches under the pretext that it is trying to
stop the growth of a "terrorist group" that is slowing the advance of a
project and a company that support and contribute to the economic development
of Chile.
The Bio-Bio has become more than a battlefield against
the dam. It is also the center of a struggle against the injustices of
our system, such as judicial backing for those who least need it and the
use of violence against the rest. There, the dispossesed fight against
a corrupt government, against the huge corporations that enrich themselves
at the expense of others, against a corporation that uses "development"
to justify its selfish cause. There, too, the struggle continues against
the power that is willing to exterminate those who have always lived there:
the Pehuenches and 3,500 hectares of forest and nature that will never
recuperate from the damage the dam would cause.
It is because of all this that the Bio-Bio brings together
many different kinds of people, and they are not terrorists, nor infiltrators
(as they are sometimes called). They are people, groups, organizations
and communities, all of whom disagree with this abuse that the government
justifies with a "development" model that is neither real nor effective
for those who are exploited.
The defense of human rights and the environment
is a subject that is often manipulated by corporations, political parties
and the government. For them, the greatest problem is those who interfere,
those who understand the value of a life, land, and culture, and
won't exchange it for money, television, or fancy new shops.
We, the defenders of the Earth, are the major problem
of this so-called development. We are supposedly dangerous people, rebels
who oppose the progress, growth and development of Chile. But if we look
around and think...
What else is there to say, when we feel helpless upon
seeing the fallen forests, the rivers converted into lakes and flooding
kilometers of virgin lands to give life to monstrous dams? What is left
to say, when the legal system is blind and influenced by money? And that
the president of Chile speaks in favor of all this "progress"?
How do we react in the face of this abuse of power? How
can we react? Collecting signatures? Protesting publicly? And allowing
ourselves to be repressed for actions that later will be forgotten?
Our thoughts in the face of all this do not turn toward
violence, they do not turn toward death, or forgetting all that remains
to be done. Instead, we think about being present, making it known that
we are still alive, that we are still resisting, that there is still time
to say "enough," time to ask for responsibility, justice and recognition.
Our hope does not die...
The struggle continues, and the Bio-Bio awaits us...
Kita
Fuerza y Cultura
***
Translation: Kora McNaughton
***The End
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Monti Aguirre
Latin American Campaigns
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA. 94703 USA
Phone: 510 . 848.11.55 and 707 . 591 .91.49
Fax: 510 . 848.10.08
e-mail: monti @irn.org
http://www.irn.org
30.04.99 : UK farmers lose EU nitrate
pollution case
ENDS Daily
A group of British farmers has failed in the European
Court
of Justice in an attempt to overturn classification of
their
land as vulnerable to nitrate pollution and therefore
requiring restrictions on farming practices. The
court
rejected their principal argument that the UK authorities'
decision to impose the classification misinterpreted
EU law
since farms were not the only source of nitrate pollution
in
the area.
Under the EU directive on nitrate pollution of water from
agricultural sources (91/676), member states must identify
areas where levels of nitrate in water are above 50
milligrams per litre or threaten to breach this limit,
and
to classify them as "nitrate vulnerable" zones.
States must
then require nitrate reduction measures, such as limiting
the nitrate content of fertilisers and carefully timing
their application.
In 1996, the UK agriculture ministry designated agricultural
areas along the rivers Waveney, Blackwater and Chelmer
in
southern England as nitrate vulnerable zones and began
to
enforce nitrate reduction plans. A group of farmers
objected to the move in the English High Court, claiming
that farming was not the sole source of nitrate pollution
in
the region. The case was referred to the European
court in
1997.
Yesterday, the court ruled that, according to the terms
of
the directive, farmland can be deemed nitrate vulnerable
if
national authorities consider that agricultural discharges
of nitrogen compounds make a "significant contribution"
to
he overall nitrate concentration. The directive
does not
oblige member states to identify precisely what proportion
of the pollution comes from agriculture, it stated.
The
court ruled that if the farmers' interpretation of the
directive were accepted, it would cause numerous cases
of
agricultural land contributing significantly to nitrate
pollution to fall outside the directive's scope.
This would
be "contrary to the directive's spirit and purpose,"
it
stated.
The farmers also claimed that the UK authorities had acted
against the polluter pays principle, as they were actually
paying for other people's pollution through the costs
borne
y having to adopt new farming methods. They also
said that
the enforcement of the nitrate-reducing farming practices
on
their land was an infringement of private property rights.
Neither of these claims was upheld.
Contacts: European Court of Justice/
(http://www.curia.eu.int),
tel: +353 43031.
ENDS Environment Daily. ISSN 1463-1776
Published by Environmental Data Services (ENDS)
Also on the web, at http://www.ends.co.uk/envdaily
E-mail: envdaily@ends.co.uk
Fax: +44 171 415 0106
Subscriptions, Tel: +44 171 814 5353
Editorial, Tel: +44 171 814 5320
Post: 40 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0NE, UK
26.04.99 : Legal battle marks
Doñana spill anniversary
(ENDS Daily )
The legal and verbal dispute over who should foot the
bill
for last year's mine tailing dam spill in southern Spain
intensified last week coinciding with the first anniversary
of the accident.which contaminated 4,000 hectares of
farmland with arsenic. On Thursday, the Spanish
environment
ministry announced an extension of its claim for damages
against mine operator Boliden Apirsa to include the
Swedish-Canadian parent company Boliden and its directors.
A ministry spokesman said the move was designed to ensure
payment of any eventual damages in the event of the Spanish
subsidiary going into liquidation. Boliden spokesperson
Alejandro de Antonio confirmed to ENDS Daily that a letter
from Spanish government lawyers advising of legal action
had
been received at company headquarters in Toronto. He
described the ministry's action as "precipitate".
He added:
"Boliden does not accept responsibility for the disaster,
and until the conclusion of the court case taking place
in
Seville it seems unwise to apportion blame". Environment
minister Isabel Tocino said that it was Spanish government
policy to ensure that "the polluter pays" and suggested
that
future legal action against the company might also include
a
claim for damage to wildlife.
Contacts: Spanish environment ministry (http://www.mma.es),
tel: +34 91 597 6030; Boliden Apirsa
(http://www.bolidenltd.com),
tel: +34 954 133 006;
Greenpeace Spain (http://www.greenpeace.es),
tel: +34 91 444
1400.
21.04.99 : India : Narmada : German
utilities quit controversial Indian Dam community leaders on indefinte
hunger strike
India's controversial Maheshwar Dam is once more
in crisis as two major
partners in the project, German utilities Bayernwerk
and Vereinigte
Elektrizitätswerke Westfalen (VEW), stated this
week they will no longer
invest in the dam. The utilities together would have
aquired 49% of the
equity in the dam which is being built across the Narmada
River in the
central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
The utilities' withdrawal comes as seven community leaders
- five from
villages to be drowned by Maheshwar - enter the eleventh
day of an
indefinite hunger strike in protest against dams in the
Narmada Valley. The
hunger strikers are among 500 farmers and fishers who
have been camped out
since April 7 in front of the residence of Digvijay Singh,
Chief Minister
of Madhya Pradesh. [1]
In 1993 the Madhya Pradesh government gave the concession
for Maheshwar Dam
to an Indian textile company, S. Kumars, which then formed
the Shree
Maheshwar Hydropower Corporation (SMHPC) to build and
operate the project.
Oregon-based utility PacifiCorp was the original foreign
equity holder in
SMHPC but withdrew in May 1988 stating concerns over
social impacts and
local opposition. PacifiCorp's stake in SMHPC was then
taken over by
Bayernwerk and VEW.
Dr. Joachim Adams, President of VEW's Board, has stated
that "VEW is no
longer involved in Maheshwar and is not planning to become
involved in the
future". A spokesperson for Bayernwerk noted, "Our contracts
with the SMHPC
have run out. We would only be willing to consider involvement
in the
project anew if the authorities are able to provide land-for-land
resettlement, with land of sufficient quality as per
the conditions of the
Madhya Pradesh State rehabilitation policy for the Narmada
Projects".
Although no reliable surveys exist it is believed that
Maheshwar Dam would
displace over 20,000 people in one of India's most prosperous
agricultural
egions. No credible plan exists for providing these people
with
replacement land or livelihoods. Fierce local opposition
to the project has
resulted in a number of dam site occupations and numerous
beatings and
arrests at the hands of the police.
A broad coalition of 120 German non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) had
urged German companies involved to respect the wishes
of project-affected
people and withdraw. In December 1998, a German environment
and
human-rights organisation, Urgewald, undertook an on-site
investigation of
the project. An English summary of its report has just
been released. [2]
During its investigation, Urgewald visited ten villages
in the submergence
zone of the dam and met with the project promoter, S.
Kumars, and the state
gency responsible for resettlement.
"What we found was a total lack of credible resettlement
planning, a
shocking disregard for the truth in project documents,
and systematic
violations of the rights of affected people. In effect,
there is no land
available for rehabilitation. The lands being offered
either lie in the
submergence zone of the dam or already belong to other
communities," says
s Heffa Schücking of Urgewald.
Urgewald's report also questions the economic viability
of the Maheshwar
project. It describes in detail the thriving economy
of the project area
and concludes: "If a cost-benefit analysis were based
on the true costs of
replacing the assets and livelihoods of these communities,
it is our firm
conviction that this project could no longer be considered
economically
viable".
"We are pleased to note that our investigation helped
convince German
tility companies to withdraw" adds Ms Schücking.
The withdrawal of VEW and Bayernwerk still leaves a number
of foreign
companies involved in Maheshwar. German engineering multinational
Siemens
is still committed to contributing a non-voting share
of 17% of project
equity in return for a contract to provide turbines and
generators.
Swiss-Swedish firm ABB is also to provide generating
equipment.
Almost half of the financing for Maheshwar was to be
provided by the German
HypoVereinsbank through a $257 million export loan. The
Siemens and
HypoVereinsbank participation has been thrown into question
by the
utilities' withdrawal and the fact that preliminary commitments
from the
German government to provide export credit and investment
guarantees for
Maheshwar have become void.
"In view of the severe negative impacts of the project,
we think it is
unlikely that the German government would grant a new
guarantee", explains
Ms. Schücking. In its coalition agreement the new
German government has
ade a commitment to introduce environmental, social and
developmental
criteria for the approval of export credit guarantees.
Mr Alok Agarwal of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the
Narmada Movement)
says: "Large dams are very risky ventures and rightfully
have trouble
attracting foreign investors. In the case of the Narmada
Valley this is
even more true, because of the strength of people's resistance
to these
projects. The ongoing fast in Bhopal is thus not only
a signal to the
Government of Madhya Pradesh, but also a warning to foreign
companies to
stay away from destructive projects in the Narmada Valley".
"The withdrawal of PacifiCorp, VEW and Bayernwerk and
the ongoing protests
in India should provide a clear warning to Siemens, ABB,
HypoVereinsbank
and any other potential foreign investors to stay well
clear of the
Maheshwar Dam", says Mr Patrick McCully, Campaigns Director
of the
Berkeley-International Rivers Network (IRN).
"Any foreign investor which gets involved in dams in the
Narmada Valley is
going to risk international censure as well as lose money,"
adds McCully.
Maheshwar is part of the Narmada Valley Development Project
which envisages
the construction of 30 large and 135 medium-sized dams
in the Narmada
Valley. The most notorious of these projects has been
the mammoth Sardar
Sarovar Dam under construction downstream from Maheshwar
in Gujarat state.
ue to massive protests in the Valley, the World Bank
and bilateral aid
donors stopped financial support for large dams on the
Narmada in the early
1990s. Maheshwar is the first attempt to finance one
of these projects
through the private sector.
-- ends --
Notes
[1] The protesters are demanding that the Madhya Pradesh
government halt
construction on Maheshwar until the completion of a comprehensive
and
participatory review of the costs, benefits and alternatives
to the
project. These actions have been recommended by a task
force established by
the Madhya Pradesh government in early 1998 to review
the Narmada Valley
Projects and prepare a framework of alternatives for
the development of
water and energy resources in the valley. The Task Force
submitted an
overall report in January 1999 and a separate report
on Maheshwar in
October 1998. The reports acknowledge the grave resettlement
situation and
recommend a completely different approach to the development
of water and
energy resources. They also recommend that no projects
should be carried
out in which resettlement and environmental protection
cannot be ensured.
[2] 'The Maheshwar Dam in India: A Travel Report', Heffa
Schücking,
Urgewald, March 1999.
For more information contact:
Heffa Schücking, Urgewald:
Tel: (49)-2583-1031
Fax: (49)-2583-4220
Email: c urgewald@koeln.netsurf.de
Patrick McCully, International Rivers Network
Tel. +1 510 848 1155
Fax. +1 510 848 1008
Email: patrick@irn.org
http://www.irn.org/programs/narmada/index.html
19.04.99 :Narmada : Indefinite Fast
At Bhopal Enters 7th Day : No Meaningful Response From
State Government : People Determined to Fight Till the End
The indefinite fast by the people of the Narmada Valley
entered the
seventh day today even as the discussions with the Chief
Minister held
on 15.4.99 ended without any meaningful assurances
by the Government.
The people have decided to intensify the dharna on the
struggle in
anticipation of long drawn out struggle.
It may be recollected that the Narmada Bachao Andolan
had launched an
indefinite program of dharna from 7 April 1999 at Bhopal,
focusing on
the issues raised by the large dams under construction
in the Valley.
The Narmada Valley Development Project (NVDP) consists
of 30 large dams,
135 medium and over 3000 small dams to be built on the
Narmada and its
tributaries. All except one (Sardar Sarovar ) are
in Madhya Pradesh.
Over 500 people - affected by the large dams like Maheshwar,
Lower Goi,
Upper Veda, Maan, Bargi, Sardar Sarovar, Narmada
Sagar etc. have been
sitting on an indefinite dharna at Roshanpura in Bhopal.
Getting no
response from the State to the long pending demands,
while the work
proceeds on the dam leading to large scale displacement
and destruction
in the Valley, the people decided to intensify the agitation
and seven
people have started an indefinite fast from 12 April
1999. These are:
Gopibai Patidar, Village Pathrad, Resham bai Village
Behgaon, Gitabai
Village Nagawa, Reshambai Village Bhatyan, Daulat
bhai Village Behgaon
(all from Mahehswar dam area), Barsingh Barela Village
Sonud (Veda Dam
area) and NBA activist Chitaroopa Palit.
The demands of the people are simple : stop the massive
ecologcal
destruction and social disruption in the Valley which
is being carried
out under the name of development, and implement the
alternatives. The
Government of M.P. itself had constituted a Task Force
early last year
to review the Narmada Valley Projects and prepare a framework
of
alternatives for the development of water and energy
resources of the
valley. The Task Force submitted two reports - one overall
report in
January 1999 and another separate report on Maheshwar
Project in
November 1998. The reports clearly acknowledge the grave
situation of
the displacement and recommend a completely different
and alternative
approach of the development of the water and energy resources
in the
Valley. They also explicitly recommended that no projects
should be
carried out in which the rehabilitation and environmental
protection
cannot be ensured. The situation today is that none of
the projects in
the Valley have been able to ensure even some semblance
of
rehabilitation of the affected people, and thousands
of people are
likely to be affected in this monsoon without any rehabilitation.
Against this background, the NBA demanded that the State
Government
follow the recommendations of the Task Force and suspend
all the
projects, carry out comprehensive reviews of the same
and take up the
implementations of the alternatives as recommended by
the Task Force. A
meeting was held on 14 January 1999 with the Chief Minister,
but while
he agreed to take up the alternatives in the case of
some of the new
projects like Veda and Goi, he refused to accept the
recommendation of
the Task Force to carry out a economic viability review
of the Mahehwar
project.
After waiting for almost three months (because of,
among other things,
the Sardar Sarovar case in the Court) with
a series of smaller
demonstrations in the meanwhile, the people realised
that the Government
was not willing to implement the recommendations of its
own Task Force
and there was no recourse left except for launching an
indefinite
agitation. This was becoming even more necessary as thousands
of people
in Maan, Jobat, Sardar Sarovar and Narmada Sagar
areas are likely to
face submergence losing lands, houses and property
- and may be even
lives to the waters rising behind the dams in this very
monsoon, even as
construction continues on these. With all these factor
in mind the
indefinite agitation was launched from 7 April 1999.
On 15.4.99, the Chief Minister of M.P. called the NBA
for discussions,
but refused to concede the major demands saying that
the dams in Narmada
Valley are in an advanced state and now nothing can be
done.
With this, the people have decided to intensify their
agitation and
continue the fight. It is imperative that the struggle
of the people is
supported by concerned citizens, organisations, eminent
people all over
the country. The people of the Valley appeal to you to
support and
participate in this critical phase of the struggle. In
particular, you
can help by the following.
Participate in the Struggle by visiting the dharna at
Bhopal and
expressing your solidarity in person
Write letters of protest to the Chief Minister of M.P.
calling on him to
accept the logical demands of the people of the Narmada
Valley that the
work on the projects should be immediately stopped, the
projects
reviewed comprehensively and the alternatives implemented.
The
recommendations of the Task Force constituted by his
own Government
should be implemented.
It has been decided that organisations all over M.P.
will on 20 April
hold demonstrations at Taluka / District places and give
statements of
support / protest letter to CM through the local
administration. You
can either do the same in your area, or write letters
to the CM on the
same date to coincide with this.
Disseminate the information about the dharna, fast and
the struggle to
other organisations, media, eminent people
Collect signatures in large numbers and issue statements
/ protest
letters to the CM, and give this in the media also
Talk to eminent people in your area and request them
to issue public
statements and to write to Digvijay Singh.
Important Documents
The following important documents are available and if
you do not have
them, we can send them to you.
1. Report of the Task Force on Maheshwar Project
2. Report of the Task Fore - Overall
3. Report of the Evaluation Mission of the Ministry of
Environment on
Narmada Sagar
4.phlI 5gI ivS9apn, dUsrI punvaRs (Pahli Thagi Visthapan,
Doosari
Punarvas - collection of articles realted to recent Supreme
Court Order
in SSP case, Hindi Booklet)
5. Detailed Presentations to the Task Force on various
dams,
alterantives by NBA, other Experts (Maan, Goi, NSP, Mahehswar)
Important Addresses /Contacts
1. NBA Contacts in Bhopal
Dharna at Roshanpura Naka, Narmada. New Market, Bhopal.
Phone (Nearby
STD PCO, Someone can be called for the Dharna ) 0755-570
568
Other Contacts : c/o Eklavya Phone & Fax : 0755-56
33 80
c/o Ekta Parishad 0755-54 38 00
2. Digvijay Singh, Chief Minister, Shyamala Hills,
Bhopal.
Phone : 0755-540 500 /503/504
Fax : 0755 - 540 501
Brief Notes On Each Of The Dams
1. Narmada Sagar Project : The biggest and most destructive
project in
the Valley. Its submergence area is over 90,000 ha. 40,000
ha of
pristine forest will be submerged in this project. It
is supposed to
irrigate 125,000 ha of land - as against the submergence
of 90,000! In
this 125,000 also, it is estimated that over 40% would
be ultimately
affected by waterlogging and salinisation. It is also
to have an
installed capacity of 1000 MW, however, the firm power
generation in the
final stages is supposed to be only about 118 MW. The
amount of energy
produced as electricity will be lesser than the energy
being produced
today (in form of biomass) by only the forests which
will be submerged
in the project !
It is significant that the project is close to Pandhana
which has over
the last few months been subjected to over 2000 seismic
shocks.
Scientists have predicted that the area could be subjected
to a massive
earthquake in the enar future.
There is virtually no rehabilitation process, and the
Government has
taken recourse to blatant and wide spread use of cash
compensation
instead of "land-for-land". In this monsoon itself, it
is expected that
about 39 villages will be affected by submegence - most
of the people
without any resettlement whatsoever.
The Task Force has recommended that the project should
be reviewed.
2. Mahehswar Project : This is a 400 MW, Rs. 1760 crore
hydel power
project. This is India's first privatised power project
- being promoted
by the textile company S.Kumars, other share holders
being the German
companies Bayernwerk, VEW Energie and Siemens. Equipment
is being
supplied by ABB and Siemens. The project is getting a
huge loan from
German bank Hypovereinsbank. The German Government was
to extend
guarantees to the project.
However, due to the intense campaign, the social and environment
impacts
of the project, including the total lack of any planning
for
rehabilitation and not a single inch of land being available
for the
same has been exposed. As a result, German Government
has decided not to
give the guarantees, and the German companies have withdrawn
from the
project. (Both these decisions are not made public by
the respective
agencies. Today, we have this information from "reliable
sources".)
While there is no possibility of the rehabilitation of
affected, the
power from the project itself is expected to be prohibitively
expensive.
Of course, with a very one sided Power Purchase Agreement
signed with
the company, the M.P. Government has virtually agreed
to purchase all
the power produced at the very high rate Rs. 5-8
per unit, 16% assured
rate of return to the company - with all the risks being
transferred to
the Government and all profits being taken by the company.
The Task Force recommended that the whole economic / financial
cost
benefit of the project needs to be re-examined, and that
the feasibility
of the rehabilitation would need to be proved. The Government
refuses to
implement this recommendation. In the meeting with
NBA of 15.4.99, the
C.M. said that the Maheshwar Project is now in an "advanced
stage". This
is laughable, as hardly any work has been done on this
project, and
indeed is the least advanced of all the ongoing projects
in the Valley.
Latest information indicates that the cost of the project
has gone up by
50% and hence the power will be even costlier.
Independent experts have given a series of alternative
for this project
that are cheaper, with far less social and environmental
impacts and
much higher local employment potential.
>3. Maan Project : The project is on the tributary of
Narmada called
Maan. The project has been under construction and the
affected area is
largely tribal. Some years ago, the tribals, being kept
in dark about
the land for land policy of rehabilitation were given
cash compensation
and were declared "resettled". These families are
now demanding their
rights now - but are expected to be affected by submergence
this year,
and have nowhere to go.
Large portions of the command area are lands which are
not irrigable at
all, but were included in the command just to show higher
benefits. On
the other hand, as the project has been in planning for
20 years, the
ground reality in the proposed command area has totally
changed. Over
54% of the command area is now already irrigated by the
efforts of the
people. Now, the remaining area can easily
be irrigated through
alternatives.
4. Jobat Project : Similar situation exist as in Maan
project. In
Jobat, all the irrigable area has been irrigated by people
using their
own resources.
5. Upper Veda & Lower Goi : These large dams are proposed
to be built on
the tributaries Veda and Goi. In significant proportion
of the command
areas of these projects also, irrigation development
has taken place.
For example, this area is over 84 % in Goi project! These
projects have
not started at all and hence it is necessary that they
be abandoned and
alternatives be taken up.
(Details of Bargi, and Sardar Sarovar dam
are not given as these are
mostly known).
19.04.99 : WWF calls for action against a
second Doñana
(ENDS Daily) 19/04/99
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has called
for EU
action to stop pollution from metal mines and ensure
there
is no repeat of last year's Doñana national park
disaster in
Spain (ENDS Daily 27 April 1998) In a report launched
on
the anniversary of the disaster, WWF claims that every
EU
country is at risk from pollution from mining waste,
and
says there is evidence of significant pollution from
acid
mine water leaking from similar "tailings lagoons" in
Sweden, Spain, Italy and Portugal. It called on the European
Commission to compile a centralised database of such
information, as a first step towards regulating mining
more
tightly, and then work with industry and environmental
NGOs
to create an action programme to analyse the risks and
draw
up emergency plan guidelines. The programme should
also
contain technical standards on safe waste storage, a
spokesperson said. WWF was highly critical of the
current
EU legislative framework which it said had failed to
prevent
the Doñana disaster. The waste framework
directive
(91/156/EEC) should be amended to explicitly include
mining
waste which should also be added to the EU hazardous
waste
list, making it subject to stricter regulations, the
spokesperson added. Another EU law which proved
inadequate,
according to WWF, was the directive on environmental
impact
assessments (85/337/EEC). It believes the impact
assessment
carried out at the mine responsible for the Doñana
incident
was not good enough and says there should be EU-wide
standards for tailings management.
Contacts: WWF (http://www.panda.org/home.htm),
tel: + 32 2
743 8806. References: "Toxic waste storage sites in EU
countries - a preliminary risk inventory", WWF &
Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam.
13.04.99 : River Rhine Gets
Broader Protected Status
BERNE, Switzerland, April 13, 1999 (ENS)
Environment [ENS --Environment News Service]
Headlines
The River Rhine is to enjoy more comprehensive protection
under a new international convention signed by five countries
in
Berne, Switzerland, yesterday.
The third international convention on the protection of
the Rhine
aims to achieve sustainable development in the entire
river system, whereas
previous versions of the convention signed in 1963 and
1976 were
limited to controlling water pollution.
The Rhine flows from the Swiss mountains through Austria,
Germany,
France and Luxembourg to the Netherlands. With an area
of 185,000 square
kilometers and mean annual discharge of 2,200 cubic meters
per second, the
Rhine basin is one of the most important river basins
in Europe.
The existing convention has proved "perhaps the most impressive
environmental achievement in the world," according to
Othmar Bühler of the
Swiss foreign ministry.
But parties to the convention now believe that
a more wide-ranging
approach is needed, including measures on flood
management and habitat
protection in the alluvial
Representatives of Switzerland, France, Germany,
Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed the new convention
yesterday.
At the most recent ministerial level meeting of the
international commission that administers the convention,
signatories acknowledged that the river needs more "room
to flood."
The Rhine, seen in the background, flows through
[river]
steep hills (Photo courtesy Emory University)
The redrafting of the convention was given further impetus
when areas of Germany and the Netherlands bordering the
Rhine suffered major floods last autumn. The convention
now seeks to re-establish "as far as possible" the natural
course of the river.
To this end, said Bühler, the commission has been
given
much more power to be "strict" with the five states over
implementation of its decisions and recommendations.
The convention also formally extends observer status
to
environmental groups for the first time and incorporates
the precautionary principle in its text.
One of the commission's aims is to reintroduce salmon
as
far upriver as Basle in Switzerland by 2000. The species
disappeared in the 1950s, though water quality
improvements have led to a comeback. Salmon ladders are
being built to allow the fish to progress past industrial
installations which dam the river at various points.
So
far the salmon have reached the French region of Alsace.
{Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily,
Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental
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13.04.99 : Ghana : dam would destroy
species/LS
THE ENVIRONMENT REPORTER
Writing in Defense of the Environment
COURTING MEGADISASTER
BUI DAM TO CAUSE HAVOC
Stories by Mike Anane
The largest of the only two populations of Hippopotamus
Amphibious
left in Ghana would soon be wiped off the surface of the earth, if the
government goes ahead with its plan of constructing the country's third
hydroelectricity dam on the Black Volta river at the Bui gorge located
in the Bui National park.
Meandering through some of the last shreds of pristine
intact forests that the country can boast of, the Black Volta also flows
through the magnificent Bui national park in the Brong Ahafo region of
Ghana. It is a protected area of the Guinea Savannah which is home to a
stunning collection of many globally endangered amphibious, lions and various
primates.
According to a study conducted by this writer, the 400
megawatts Bui dam if constructed "very soon" as disclosed recently by Ghana's
Vice-president, Prof. Atta Mills, a greater part of the 1800km national
park with all its spectacular landscape, treasures and diversity of species
will be submerged underwater forever.
Most disturbing is the fate of the only two populations
of black hippopotamus who according to local residents and park wardens
number about 140-150 in the whole park.
Contrary to widely held beliefs by the dam backers that
the hippos and the other endangered species will be relocated when construction
of the dam begins, zoologist interviewed contend that the hippos in particular
cannot survive anywhere outside the Bui national park due to its unique
nature. Moreover the country's game and wildlife department is even too
broke to afford the cost involved in rescuing the animals
at Bui and sending them to the supposed "safe havens."
"We don't even have the men and funds to capture the crocodile
that has strayed into part of the Odaw river that flows under the bridge
at "circle" in Accra, how can we ever capture and transport hippos and
lions from the Bui game reserve" an official of the game and wildlife department
told me in an interview.
Besides ringing the death knell for the black hippos,
the Bui dam project will also set in motion other serious environmental
impacts such as changing the natural flow regime of the river, banks and
further reduce downstream habitat adversely.
A survey of the diverse species found at the Bui National
park and the black volta river in the northwestern part of Ghana, conducted
by scientists from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland recently, also
reveal that the black volta river abounds with forty six species of fish
from seventeen families all of economic importance. They reveal that with
the damming of the river these native fish communities would also be destroyed
over long distances downstream as a result of physical barriers that will
block fish migration routes along the Black Volta and
destroy forests used as spawning grounds for fish. Many
fish populations are likely to be heavily reduced and some species may
disappear from the river entirely, this would be compounded by increased
pollution and hanges to water temperature from the project which would
damage the Black Volta fisheries.
The Bui national park also contains diverse communities
of many animals groups characteristic of both grassland and forests. Since
all the forested areas are within the flood plain of the river, the hydroelectricity
project that aims to dam the rivers at Bui will completely, destroy all
the riverine, forest habitat within the park thus drowning the diverse
animal groups.
What's more, the Bui dam when constructed is expected
to alter the health and welfare of hundreds of people to be resettled for
the project. These people who will still be relying on the reservoir waters
for their daily activities will be at increased risk from a number of dangerous
diseases which are expected to increase in the area. Despite this fact,
the government is woefully unprepared to deal with these risks as the Akosombo
dam (the country's first dam) has shown.
The most serious threat with this project will be schistosomiasis
(bilharzia), which could become established in the Bui reservoir area,
with snails, insects and other animals serving as vectors for this parasitic
disease. The bitter truth is that, the magnitude of the global incidence
of schistosomiasis is directly connected with the construction of dams
and irrigation projects. In Ghana, thousands of people living along the
volta river at Akosombo are dying slowly of bilharzia or schistosomiasis.
The worst bilharzia prone areas include Ada and English - Kenya, a village
on an island near Ada. So far a number of non-resident visitors who flock
to Ada on weekends to swim in the river volta have been infected. Not only
do they pass blood in their urine but have also ended up with strange forms
of paralysis due to bilharzia which affected their spinal cord, an unusual
development in medical history which continues to baffle local doctors.
As usual, the recent announcement by Ghana's Vice-president
Atta Mills that the ruling National Democratic government will go on with
the Bui dam construction was hailed by most people who will not directly
be affected by the dam. They also, will probably never hear of the hazards
and negative effects such as the obliteration of many villages, and fertile
farm lands, forced relocation, irreversible loss of critical wildlife habitat
and other social problems. For many environmentalists however, the Vice-president's
announcement has set in motion heated environmental controversy.
Already, environmentalists and scientists including eco-film
producers have been trooping in daily to the proposed dam site in the northwestern
part of Ghana. Their aim is to film and collect data on what would soon
become one of the biggest crimes against the planet and a violation of
the biodiversity protection principle of agenda 21, the Rio earth
summit's, blue-print for sustainable development to which
Ghana is a signatory.
Given the personal involvement of Ghana's Vice-president
and the high priority that the proposed project is so far enjoying, indications
are that the government is poised to approve of the plans for the construction
of the Bui dam project.
Having been shunned by the World Bank, the European Investment
Bank (EIB) and other multilateral agencies as a result of the obvious irreparable
adverse impact on local people and the environment, the government is now
having to court private foreign investors.
Mr. Adom who is a member of the proposed Bui planning
committee further disclosed that over twelve foreign investors from Russia,
Sweden, Japan, Australia and other countries have already submitted proposals
to the Ministry of Mines and Energy in respect of the construction of the
Bui Dam. By the end of March 1999, a technical committee hopes to short
list
the investors and the selected investor would construct
the dam, produce the power and sell it.
Ghana's history of dam building is full of tragedies,
many of which center around resettling people, and the accompanying health
hazards. A case in point is the Akosombo dam, with an area of 8,300 square
kilometres. The Akosombo reservoir in Ghana almost as big as Lebanon resulted
in the relocation of almost 80,000 people whose homes and
farmlands were inundated by the reservoir.
After almost three decades of the construction of the
Kpong and Akosombo dams, communities are still embroiled in legal tussles
with the Volta River Authority over compensation.
As a result of the difficulties of establishing new lives
in unfamiliar areas together with conflicts over land, about three quarters
of those who were resettled, continue to live and farm near the edge of
the Akosombo reservoir. This situation has led to rapid clearing of the
steep hillsides along the dam resulting in deforestation soil erosion and
accelerated siltation of the reservoir.
Some of these risks awaiting the Bui dam include the relocation
of over 2,500 people and the inundation of a greater portion of the 1800sq.
kilometres of the protected Bui National park and also too little water
in drought years to fully power the turbines.
Pledges by the government that the investors will submit
a comprehensive environmental and social impact assessment before starting
the construction work on the Bui has been dismissed by environmentalists
as a joke, since "EIA's have never worked in this country. Moreover the
effects of surface mining for gold in Ghana's western region is there
for all to see. Didn't those mining firms submit EIA's
to the Environmental Protection Agency?" asked Mr. Joshua Awuku Apaw, Head
of information of the GREENEARTH ORGANISATION, a non-governmental based
in Accra.
In an area of mass decommissioning of dams all over the
world and the long periods of droughts in the sub-region with too little
water to turn turbines, environmentalists have been left searching for
the logic behind the government's avowed determination to go ahead with
the construction of the Bui dam come what may. Moreover the disastrous
consequences of unfair compensation and resettlement which followed the
Akosombo dam and the recent power rationing due to too little water in
the Akosombo dam are still fresh in the minds of Ghanaians.
In an interaction with newsmen recently, Mr.Alex Papanko,
Brong Ahafo Regional Area Manager of Volta River Authority's Nothern Electricity
department disclosed that the VRA has identified sixteen potential sites
for the production of hydro-electricity and that more rivers will be damned
throughout the country.
The need for a credible energy efficiency policy in Ghana
cannot be underestimated and its not too late to tap the solar energy potential
in the country and the considerable wind resources along our lengthy coasts.
Meanwhile, scientists predict that by the year 2,000 (next
year) if the current abuse of the planet continues more than 100 species
of fauna and flora will disappear daily.
As the survival of these species is inextricably bound
up with our own, the black hippo and all the other endangered species at
Bui cannot be swept unto the rubbish dump of history, the Bui dam must
therefore be abandoned.
Lori Pottinger, Director,
Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley,
California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155
Fax (510) 848 1008
www.irn.org
09.04.99 : Indian Police Arrest Dam
March Leaders
By Frederick Noronha
NEW DELHI, India, April 9, 1999 (ENS) -
Thousands of tribals and peasants who fear being uprooted
by ambitious dam projects in the central Indian Narmada valley have concluded
a Manav Adhikar Yatra (human rights march) across vast areas of this country
with a resolve to intensify their struggle "against unjust displacement
and for the right to life."
This march ended in the federal capital of New Delhi
Thursday. A delegation of the from the march met Maneka Gandhi, Indian
federal Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment. Their long trek prompted
a promise from her to send a high ranking team of officials to reassess
the status of rehabilitation and the land availability for the oustees
of the
Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). Gandhi is a former Minister
of the Environment and Forests (1989-1991) and daughter-in-law of former
Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Protesters are challenging the claims by the governments
about the complete rehabilitation of all the oustees coming under the submergence
of land that would occur when the Sardar Sarovar Dam is raised to a height
of 90 meters (293 feet). This massive dam and its associated irrigation
canals would lead to the eviction of some 320,000 people and would deprive
many hundreds of thousands more of their means of livelihood,
the dam opponents say.
After the discussions, Gandhi appointed two joint secretaries
of the department and one from the Rural Development Ministry for reassessing
the claims of rehabilitation and the land availability. The officials were
told to start their mission within two days and would directly report to
the minister.
"This has vindicated our stand that the governments of
New Delhi and states have lied in the Supreme Court regarding the status
of rehabilitation and displacement in the SSP," said Jagannath Kaka Patidar,
senior activist in the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Valley),
a group battling against the huge dam projects of behalf of affected tribals
and villagers.
Marchers arrived in Delhi Wednesday and held a protest
rally at the premises of the Social Justice Ministry in the early hours.
The people invited the Minister to come down to meet the people who had
traversed hundreds of kilometers to come to the nation's capital. "Despite
the rude response by the Minister, the Andolan did prepare a memorandum
and was awaiting a dialogue in the closed meeting. But the police and arrested
the women and men in very highhanded manner," said the Narmada Bachao Andolan
(NBA).
Protesters, including the doughty woman leader of the
protest and the symbol of the anti-Narmada struggle, Medha Patkar, were
arrested by police. They were dragged during the arrests and received minor
injuries. Patkar is one of the 12 Commissioners of the World Commission
on Dams, and a Goldman Prize award winner. She was arrested in 1996 leading
another dam
protest.
Prominent Hindu campaigner-priest Swami Agnivesh was also
picked up by police. Patkar and Agnivesh were later released. Another respected
social leader, Baba Amte, was forcibly packed up in the waiting police
ambulance and was told that he was under arrest. Later, he was abandoned
by police in one Delhi hospital, said NBA spokesperson
Sanjay Sangvai.
This march, aimed at protesting the displacement of the
poor by huge projects in India, started in Badwani, in the central province
of Madhya Pradesh, and made its way through various towns and villages
to the western commercial hub and major city of Bombay known locally as
Mumbai. Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River would be raised, creating
a larger
reservoir and flooding tribal and other agricultural
lands "They were welcomed by hundreds of organisation and movements of
tribals, Dalits (former Indian 'untouchables' and exploited sections of
society), fishworkers, urban poor, minorities, workers, trade unions, environmental
and human rights organisations," said the NBA in a statement. The NBA said,
"The struggle against the displacement has emerged as a political consensus
among the various organisations and sections of population. This, according
to them, was important in the days of the globalisation, liberalization
and the onslaught of the national-international capital on the right to
life and resources of the people."
In another development, the campaigners said police had
used tear gas recently to disperse dam-oustees who were protesting against
the Maheshwar dam, at the end of March.
In a delayed statement dated March 31, and released this
week, the NBA said, "Today, as thousands of the oustees to be affected
by the Maheshwar Hydro Electric Project (MHEP) marched towards the dam
site, the Government burst tear gas shell to disperse them, and arrested
people at several places. In spite of this, the people reached and occupied
the dam site,
and delivered the final warning to the state Government,
the Indian and foreign companies investing in and supporting the project
that unless the work on the project is stopped and the review initiated
as per the report of the Task Force within a week, the affected people
will take to the streets in large numbers and along with the people affected
by other dams
in the Narmada Valley, launch an indefinite struggle."
"Several thousand" of the affected people started moving towards the dam
site from many different directions. The administration fired tear gas
shells to disperse those advancing from the coffer dam side, the NBA announced.
It also said that one woman, Resham Bai of village Mardana,
was injured in this, and she has been admitted to the Mandeleshwar hospital.
The people entering from the Jalud village side were also stopped and arrested.
In spite of these attempts, the people succeeded in reaching the dam site
and stoppe all the work, according to the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Some huge dam projects have been increasingly drawing
protest in recent years in India, because of their potential to disrupt
the lives of a large number of the poor, who have few options to survive
outside of the habitat to which they have grown accustomed over generations.
@ Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved.
Regards,
-Zubair Faisal Abbasi.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sustainable Development Networking Programme.
Ph:092-051-270684,270691
House No. 12, Street No.85, G-6/4, Islamabad,
Fax:092-051-270688
Pakistan.
email:zubair@sdnpk.undp.org
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