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Sunday, August 11th, 2013

China and India ‘Water Grab’ Dams Put Ecology of Himalayas in Danger

Author:     JOHN VIDAL
Source:     The Observer (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Saturday 10 August 2013 08.59 EDT
 Link: China and India ‘Water Grab’ Dams Put Ecology of Himalayas in Danger
Stephan:   I constantly tell you that water is destiny. This is what I mean. If all the dams proposed are built the countries of Asia will collectively destroy their environment in a major way; a self-inflicted wound that may take generations to repair. And this report is mostly about surface water. This same madness can be seen in Fracking, which deals with sub-surface water. Pure underground aquifers are the national equivalent of an inheritance received from a relative one never knew. Polluting them so that a small number of people and corporations can get even richer than they already are is neither compassionate nor life-affirming. It is evil. Click through to see the graphic, which is very helpful.

The future of the world’s most famous mountain range could be endangered by a vast dam-building project, as a risky regional race for water resources takes place in Asia.

New academic research shows that India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan are engaged in a huge ‘water grab’ in the Himalayas, as they seek new sources of electricity to power their economies. Taken together, the countries have plans for more than 400 hydro dams which, if built, could together provide more than 160,000MW of electricity – three times more than the UK uses.

In addition, China has plans for around 100 dams to generate a similar amount of power from major rivers rising in Tibet. A further 60 or more dams are being planned for the Mekong river which also rises in Tibet and flows south through south-east Asia.

Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world’s deepest valleys. Many of the proposed dams would be among the tallest in the world, able to generate more than 4,000MW, as much as the Hoover dam on the Colorado […]

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