Dams - Temples of doom or development?

[jaiganes]

badri wrote:

Can't hardly blame Nehru for it all, although I do remember studying about the Bhakra Nangal Dam and how it was the brainchild of Nehru and shows his vision etc!!!

I am not trying to squarely blame Nehru for everything. I am just pointing out the fact that Nehru was too westfacing that he undermined the traditional knowledge of Indian farmers. Gandhiji, on the other hand was always blamed as being too traditional and old fashined. Gandhiji's ideals (even economic) will stand the test of time. Nehru was an ardent supporter of democratic ideals but sadly for development he only looked to the west forgetting the traditional knowledge. Remember, befor Britishers came, we were a flourishing economy and the credit must go to the micro level fiscal management that was prevalent. Gandhiji argued that we should go back to that minus the caste and other social evils. This would have meant that the large rural population would have got their problems addressed immediately and with the zeal that we had in early days of post independence any amount of social change and land reforms would have been achieved.
Nehru concurred with the soviet socialist argument that rapid industrialization and modern agricultural practices of that time(which was consuming huge water and rejected later) were the only way to go ahead. His view was that as the country remained a socialist republic, the social ills would die a natural death and rural people who couldn't get employed in farmlands could easily find jobs in modern industries that can now be located anywhere because of the water availabilty due to huge dams. The only positive spinoff from this vision was the need government had for engineers en masse' which could only be satisfied by IITs and RECs and other private institutions.
Still I would have opted for Gandhian economics considering the state of country at that time. Even now, the rural India must choose to go the Gandhian way, which is nothing but the age old knowledge of rural India. It is a pity that other countries around the world have started to look upon Gandhian management as a serious tool of political, social and economic empowerment, while in our country we have neglected them totally, thus doing a great disservice to a noble soul. There is no use in simply chanting "vaishno Janate" on October 2nd.

[Badri]

JG.

Brilliant analysis, as usual. Yes, rather unfortunate, although I still wouldn't blame Nehru - he did what he thought was best, and this damning initiatve was just one more in that long line!!

"India lives in her villages" - for this statement alone, Gandhi should be declared wise, for a truer statement had never been uttered. Not just India, but her wisdom and progress as well. But standing where we are at the moment, guess we have the benefit of hindsight!

The soviet experiment which Nehru chose to emulate has sadly failed! Good thing at least Nehru didnt live to see it, but it has left us with the legacy of several faulty intiatives, whose price we shall continue to pay. But the Gandhian concept of sustainability including trust in the native intelligence of our rural practices would have no doubt helped us, had it been but augmented with modern practices. The total overhauling of those, which is what the rapid industrialization did, only left confusion in its wake.

But going forward, what can be done? Is it possible to demolish existing dams? New ventures may need serious reconsideration, as being insisted by NBA. But what alternatives can we have to both satisfy the energy needs as well as water harvesting requirements?

[jaiganes]

Thanks badri!!

badri wrote:

Is it possible to demolish existing dams

America is already doing it. I dont see a reason why we cannot do it.

Infact, 3-4 months back saw a horrifying report in Sun News on a dam in Madurai district(I am not sure) which was full, but the farmers of all downstream villages went in a procession to the collector to request not to open the dam as it was willed with waste and sewage water. What a collosal waste of human effort and government expenditure!! A dam built by the government is acting as a drainage lake!!! The waste is mostly industrial effluence and hence toxic to the land downstream.

Though we can argue saying that there was a violation and graft from some chemical company and our pollution control board sanctioned that in breach of regulations, it only highlights the fact that industries are there in our country where they have no business of being in. SO thanks to Nehruvian economics what we have in our country is rapid industrialization (which is also subsidised if it is in a so called backward region) in tandem with "license permit inspector raj". A heady combination which in my opinion heralded corruption highway in our country.

A Gandhian approach would not have created a useless industry emitting toxic effluents in the vicinity of a river used for agriculture and wouldn't have built a stupid dam too. This is one example is at a microlevel and you just have to multiply this with the number of districts we have in our nation to get to the final figure in US$ that this experiment has cost our nation. The situation today is to solve this core issue we have to deal with a host of other issues. What are they? Let us continue with the example cited above..
1. First punish the industry and the governement officials responsible to clearing the license for that industry.
2. Close the industry or relocate it to some other place.
3. If you do the second point, then communists and trade unionists of all shades will carry the hammer and sickle and create ruckus. So this rabid trade unionisation without reason is another issue that our country has to deal with. We have to talk to them and remind them that the industry in question might have given jobs to hundreds of workers, but allowed to function it will end up killing lives of thousands. If they agree then we are in good luck. Most likely the principal opposition is likely to get involved and make sreaming headlines for their family owned TV (If it's DMK, then SUN TV will show or if it is vice versa, JayaTV is likely to shout about it).
4. Provided we are lucky there then the question of destroying the stupid dam comes. Government employees who are incharge of the dam are not likely to take it lyng down either, so they will go on a hartaal. They can be pacified with a simple hike in DA or transfer to a 'nice and profitable' place.
5. Provided you do all this, you can make this situation right. But given the level of government apathy and sensationalist times we are living in, Jayalakshmi's travails will have more media and government attention.

This is enough to highlight the muck that surrounds each and every sphere of our life, that needs to be cleaned quickly so that we can think of progress in rural india that can give a human face to reforms. Till then, NDA or UPA, nobody can provide uniform benefits to the people of India. There will be always who are lucky to live in the rainy region and those who live in regions of eternal rain shadow.

[Badri]

To cut a long story short, it is a hopeless situation

Sad pa..not the right note to leave for home on a Friday evening!!!

[Sudhaama]

Dear Jaiganes,

Thanks a lot... for drawing our worthy attention towards a time-relevant Hot-Topic ... in a wonderful manner of presentation backed by a beautiful weaving of apt words.

In my Opinion Dams are Dam necessary for any Country.... Many fallow Lands have become highly rich as also the Water-tables in the region have risen up well remarakably. For example the whole of Bellary District which was considered a Dead-weight to the Nation then.. being almost a Dry district forcing the then Madras presidency Govt. to rush Rice from Tanjore District of those days. Whereas after construction of Tungabhadra dam near Hospet... the whole District has become fertile and rich an Asset to Karnataka.

But we have to remember that as you rightly said... there are minimum two-sides for anything and every subject on life.

Even for the Basic factors of Life... such as... Marriage or getting children or Advanced studies / Employment in Overseas... etc.... And indeed those minimum two problems used to indicate the opposite poles... so to say each positive-side portends the other side unseen or unsighted of too. When anything is handled without Far- sight ... cumulative problems do occur sometimes making more complex.
Now I put forth the Third-dimension of theTopic on your discussions...

(1) If and When an accident occurs in a Road, or Railway or even in Airflight... we do not think too far to eliminate that Rich facility itself...
Similarly these are the After-effects or Side-effects of a Theoretical Medicine... administered so far.. Now it has seriously lead towards some imminent Danger on Basic Life-system itself. But the Fault DOES NOT Squarely rest on the Concept of an intermedite Insertion of a Dam- Structure in between the course of River. .. But where?

(2) Rivers are Natural Wealth of a Nation... They should be allowed to Exist, Thrive and enrich the People, whereas our politicians are KILLING them by slow-poisoning.. How ?

(a) No River should be blocked for a major part of the year ... taking the Selfish interests of the Upstream Regions only ignoring the parallel rights of the Riparian regions. So to say... the River-flow should be allowed tio be perennial all through the year, allowing to reach the Ocean in a seady flow... to a minimum depth. Otherwise not only the Agriculture but also the Forest-wealth of Botanical-life Fauna as well as the Animal life... will perish... leading to the deterioration as Desert.... Rajasthan ... is the best example for this phenomena. It was one of the most fertile states once upon a time...today is struggling even for Drinking water.

(b) It is totally against the Rudimentary principle of Irrigation- Engineering ... to locate Dams in the ROOT-TRIBUTARIES ... although it is the simplest easiest and the most economical by initial cost. Consequently the total-extent of water- flow from the Tributaries can be allowed to reach the Main-River flow.... Lest the Main River will gradually DIE off..

(c) Using the River only as a Drainage to clear off the Surplus Rain-water... on one season... and totally dry for the other seasons of the year... denying the needs of the Forest leads to Ecological imbalance.

(3) Improper Water-Management culminates in Seismic-imbalance.
... because the upstream side of the Dam constantly contains heavy storage and collness while the other side of the Dam... Down-stream side... suffers due to no loss of super-incumbent weight alongside the excessive heat due to lack of water.

The Best example or illustration for all the above odds... is the series of Dams constructed on all the Tributaries of Kaveri main River...including its major contributors ... Kabini, Vega- Vauhini and others.

Then the Solution...

(1) Immediate URGENCY .. Keeping the interests of Riparian regions also in mind... .Allow a minimum depth flow all through the year irrespective of Rains... ensuring the ultimate reach of River to the ocean constantly.

(2) Inter-connect all the Rivers by Cross-canals... by which Internal-Navigation can share with the present unweildy loads on Roads and Railways.... apart from solving all these hurdles.. This shold be planned in a phased manner.. starting from Godavari to Tambraparni

Nothing can be a Problem to accomplish this Rich Goal towards the common interests of all concerned...

Now the Rivers are being KILLED. Only BIG PROBLEM HURDLES... are the Politicians...

...Who wants the Problems to be PERENNIAL.. and Not the Rivers.

[jaiganes]

Sudhaama ji!
wonderful points you have put forth for dams (with checks and balances).
I would beg to differ with you in comparing a dam (huge one) with a road or railway. The ecological impact of a dam is too huge and its socio economic impacts are also tremendous. Your claim that Bellary region has benefitted because of the TB canal projects emanating from the TB dam is surely correct, but Gandhian way of doing things would be to live in the manner the native intelligence of people of Bellary told them to do so. It is not as if people of Bellary are not used to dryness. The arid regions of Bellary were not completely barren for ages, people living there used to grow crops that take up crops which consumed less water and now thanks to the TB canal project they too are cultivating rice and sugarcane, more water consuming and less resistant to the pests and drought like situations in the area. This means the native variety of crops of Bellary are dying a slow extinction. What it also means is that the areas which were fertile due to constant flow of Tunga Bhadra have now become barren (like our cauvery basin in Thanjavur). To use the analogy of Mr.Thillai Govindhan in the Thinnai article, it is like robbing peter to pay Paul. The socio economic impact remains sadly the same and if you take a pan Indian view there are always ppl denied of water due to dams which were meant to provide someone with the same.

[Sudhaama]

"jaiganes"

//I would beg to differ with you in comparing a dam (huge one) with a road or railway//

I clarify further...Roads and Railways are the facilities towards Advancement... OK? .

But sometimes they cause some Problems too... UNSEEN before ... in their absence... OK?

Under such circumstances can anybody blame the addition of such facilities and advise to remove the Road or Railway...

simply because of accidents due to traffic or even due to a wrong alignment?

So to say ... my point is... the Problem is not in the Concept of Dam ...

....but in the.... WATER MANAGEMENT... Repeat... WATER-MANAGEMENT

Farmers of both Karnataka and Tamilnadu are our People. All Indians alike... performing good service to the country... By their enthusiastic production ... not only they are benefited in the respective states but also the other Buyer-states consumers too due to price-reduction and cost control... benefiting the National Economy as well...

The Blunder is only on the respective states Politicians who are approaching the matter in a Parochial outlook of Divisive- fanaticism for political gains..

A simple fact... the Congress MlLAs and MPs of Tamilnadu say one point... whereas the MLAs and MPs of Karnataka on the same point oppose it... even though ONE NATIONAL PARTY ?

Same case with BJP... Where is the National Spirit ? Where is India?

Solution NOT AT ALL IMPOSSIBLE... Nor DIFFICULT... But VERY VERY EASY.

All Politicians KEEP OFF. Leave the Problem to the Professionals... so to say the ENGINEERS....They can Solve EASILY... How?...

Imagine the regions of Tamilnadu and Karnataka as ONE Single State... How it would have been managed ?

They will meticulously plan the overall Demands Vs Availability of Resources... and accordingly...Regulate the Flow... in a calculated manner

... but in any case ensuring the minimum Survival demands of the Forest-plants as well as the Forest-Life of the whole region including the riparian.

What is happening Now?... Due to politicians pressure on the Engineers of Upstream State... all the Rain water is BLOCKED within the upstream State only... FEARING for a Drought-situation in the course of FUTURE FIVE YEARS!

But the surging Flood-flow just within a few months during the Rainy- season of the same year... makes them RUSH to open out the Dam-Gates... wide enough. to clear off the Surplus flow... Quickly.., as a Drain-water UNWANTED for the whole Region of the River-flow... since Non-season for both the regions.

Ultimately it gets DRAINED to the Sea... as Unused... While Starving for the other seasons of the same year.

While the Current year demands of the Riparian state is TOTALLY DENIED... making the later Starve with Heavy Debts... depending on Local Rains only.

//.... Gandhian way of doing things would be to live in the manner the native intelligence of people..//

Gandhian way ... mostly is mistaken by people... even by the Congressmen. Gandhi wanted to enrich the Villagers by one and all the means at their easy reach.

(1) Additional income by Self-employment ... Charka and Handicrafts.

(2) He was against Heavy Industries or Mass-industrialisation just to mint money at the cost of labour .... rather causing loss of employment to the people to the loweer-skilled and unskilled people. But after detailed analytical discussions with the Experts along with mr. Birla.. he reraced his formulae and agreed in Principle... that anything which will not cause a Economic- Disparity or create loss of employment or make anybody an undue Victim... was acceptable to him. During such discussions... Mr. Nehru and mr. Patel were with the whole Experts -meet. Patel fully agreed and apreciated... But Neheru got angry and without any remarks or justification for his disagreement... he abruptly left..

.Ultimately Nehru got passed all his One-sided Resolutions of Communistic-concept in the Parliament ...with the blind support of the Yes-masters of Nehru ... the Brutal Majority then... ignoring Patel's several sensible oppositions

Consequences of which ... the present innocent Farmers ...are Weaping while the Indians on the whole are Reaping.

Main draw-back... proper UTILITY-MANAGEMENT.. primarily apart from the Flaws in the Initial Projects Planning.

//....robbing peter to pay Paul. The socio economic impact remains sadly the same //

Yes... Because of one-sided planning and unnecessary interference of Politicians overlooking the experts and Engineers FARSIGHTED advices.

//... if you take a pan Indian view there are always ppl denied of water due to dams which were meant to provide someone with the same.//

You are dragging me towards the Fundamentals of Irrigation Subject in my Engineering studies... about 55 years back...

What are Dams?.. Why are they NECESSARY?

(1) In the absence of Dams major part of the Flow goes on waste to Sea.. So it is blocked and Stored .... preventing WASTAGE.

(2) To make it available for the SEASON when it is required for Agricultural-needs.

(3) To ensure uninterrupted supply to Farmers... for consecutive years keeping in mind the flucutuations and vagaries of rains.

(4) To chanelise the flow to different areas for Cultivation, Fishing, Drinking (Human-Consumption), Industrial-needs

(5) To check or Arrest the sudden impact or onslaughts of Flood-rush due to heavy rains in any one region.... distributed through various directions by canals.... which wil seriously inundate the villages at the Banks.

(6)To prevent River-erosion due to the excessive water-force of Erratic uncontrolled River-flow all through the year varying due to imbalanced INTAKE and OUTFOW.

(7) To avail the maximum advantage of the Natural wealth towards the Overall Benefit as Maximum extent of region and as widest utilities as Possible ..including Internal Navigation.(on Stagnant-water in Canals)

(8) It enables control over the River-bed-Erosion (due to sudden onrush of Flood-waters) ..by means of regulated flows through different canals

(9) Due to wider area feed through Distribution-canals ... Water-Table in the whole of such ayacut regions rises up more

So I reiterate... the Dams are Dam NECESSARY AND VITAL for India ...

But... the Lacunae and even BLUNDER is ...because of the...

... Irrational .. Unrealistic... Insensible WATER-MANAGEMENT...

In brief, Politics entered Engineering .. and Engineering lost in Politics!!

[jaiganes]

Wonderfully constructed views Sudhaamaji!
Though we have been told the good things about dams in our engineering text books, ecological studies have shown the other side of dams that these books havent.
There are two aspects of this problem.
1. The ground reality of usefulness of dams
2. Even if useful, the politics that walks in to play spoilsport.

I see this harmful effect of dams, that offsets the very reason for its existence - WATER. Wherever dams have been constructed, entire ecosystems have vanished on either sides of the dam. I would implore you to see the wonderful movie "Dweepa" by Girish Kasaravalli. It details the official apathy and harmful effects that dams have on population. Dams are built to store water and when they are constructed, thousands of square miles of forests on wither side of the river are destroyed. The down stream is sucked dry of water and the ground water level dips below te critical level (a minimal constant supply of water from the dam is always to be ensured, but doesn't happen all the time). This means that surrounding the dam thousands of square miles of land is cleared of forests and therefore is now available for human occupation and industrial use. This would immediately mean that there will be a huge displacement of humans,cattle and other artificial setups that would require millions of gallons of water per year. So ultimately the water saved up is spent of this new entrant into the area. Increased stress on natural resources in the area becomes a reality thanks to the dam. Ultimately, in the long run, the dam loses its value and usefulness. The deforestation due to the construction of dam will eventually mean lesser rainfall and vegetation that can trap the debris from the river and the land fails to hold the nutrients. This will eventually affect the farmers who are the supposed beneficiaries of these mega dams.

[Sudhaama]

Scientist... Thomas Alwa Edison... invented the Electric Bulb.. we know.

His first invented version of Bulb... was too Big in size... with Carbon Rod as the Filamant.... which developed smoke within.. and the whole Bulb became Black and Dark... without any Emanation of Light or Brightness....

He improved on it...as the second version...which solved the first Problem but caused a second problem of short-life of Filamant Carbon-rod which got burnt and fused within a short while.

His third version was Copper-Filamant... which Solved the First and second Problems... but it was too dim... so a Third problem...

Ultimately he succeeded... after series of Inventions by Improvements over the previous Inventions... solving Problems after Problems

That is the Scientific approach on Life...which God / Nature has thrust on Mankind.

Dam is a Human-Invention... Man has to improve on it based on Reality...

... and Not get stuck-up Stagnant ... crying over the ....SPILT-MILK...

My Dear Jaiganes... please add WHEELS to your Horse... Let it move Forward...

It is just ROCKING at the same location from where you started!!!

[Sudhaama]

Mr. Jaiganes,

Your Reply to mine... and further.... Your Thoughts?