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India’s Dam Dilemma: An Eco-Friendly Remedy Govindasamy Agoramoorthy* College of Environmental Sciences, Tajen University, Yanpu, Pingtung 907, Taiwan and Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology, Bhuj, India attributing to dams vary from 10 to 50%.4 In this murky situation, is there any way for India to avert future irrigation water shortages leading to social conflict and environmental disasters? One way to tackle this environmental nightmare is to build check damssmall barriers using stones, cement, and concrete built across the direction of water flow on rivers. They retain excess flow during rains in catchment areas, and the stored water can be used for irrigation. India’s oldest check dam, the Grant Anicut (4.5 m tall), was built by the Chola King in the Cauvery river of Tamil Nadu, south India during second century AD and is still in use. In 2007, the largest check dam was built by a nonprofit agency (Sadguru Foundation) on Mahi River in Rajasthan state with a cost of USD 1.18 millionit stands at 7.25 m (length 367 m).3 The check dam with a storage capacity of 350 million cubic feet irrigates 7000 acres benefiting 18 000 farmers. Upstream from this check dam lays a large dam, Mahi-Bajaj Sagar with a construction cost of USD 300 million, which irrigates 154 000 acres or 22 times more than the irrigation area of the check dam. If 22 more check ow many outdated large dams pose risk to human lives in dams were to be built in series, it would cost USD 24.2 million, India? The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and with the potential to irrigate the same area of the Mahi-Bajaj People has warned that 500 large dams have passed 50 years Sagar dam. 1 100 of them built over a century ago. Decommissioning dams If thousands of check dams are to be built across India’s in developing countries is not easy and the bitterness arises rivers, they can meet the same potential as large dams in terms from our limited scientific knowledge on the environmental of irrigation coverage area. Besides, they will cost less and have 2 impacts of dam removal. To make matters worse, India lacks minimal environmental impact. The irrigation benefits of large legally binding dam accountability. The Standing Committee dams are often restricted around the dams. But the smaller on Water Resources presented its report on the Dam Safety Bill check dams can be built across many rivers covering vast areas to both Houses of Parliament on August 17, 2011. But there is 1 benefitting millions. Unlike large dams, check dams neither no news on its approval. So, the question ishow did the displace people nor destroy nature. By just opening the gates, largest democratic country manage to build 5101 dams without the silt can be washed away. These small dams can also outlive a safety bill? the large dams. The trapped water beneath the reservoirs can India is the third largest prolific dam builder in the world trickle down to the ground increasing groundwater reserve that following China and the United States.3 But it generates only can be used by people through village wells. Hence the check 129 000 MW of power annually while the demand is 200 000 3 dam option is simple, eco-friendly, and cost-effective so India MWa shortfall of 40%. As all engineering structures, dams must seriously think about this option to ease the dependency have a finite lifespan of maximum 40−50 years. The battle over and addiction to large dams. dams where human minds collide with nature is at the center of Five major environmental factors determine the extent of conflicts involving water scarcity, globalization, and indigenous global overshoot or demand on biocapacity; they include people. The proponents argue that the high-tech marvels human population, consumption of goods/services per person, control floods, deliver drinking/irrigation water, and generate resource use intensity, bioproductive areas, and bioproductivpower. There would be no glamorous cities like Las Vegas and ity/acre.5 One way India can eliminate the overshoot of Los Angeles as we know them without the iconic Hoover Dam bioproductive areas is by transforming rural areas through built in the Mojave Desert in 1935. Over 45 000 large dams that check dams to increase agricultural productivity. Of course the stand five stories tall exist now in 140 countriesthey generate large dams can create islands of green revolutioncan they one-fifth of the global electric power and food production.3 The drought-proof the entire rural India? Even if all the leading opponents, on the other hand, howl that dams displace millions politicians and policymakers join the bandwagon of the of indigenous people and damage the environment. For proponents of large dams, they must strike an ethical balance example, dams built from 1950 across India have displaced over 25 million people. Although these dams account for only 38% of the irrigated area, estimates of agro-production Published: January 4, 2012
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© 2012 American Chemical Society
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so that the livelihoods of people can be improved without compromising environmental integrity. Such a balance will require a hard look at whether or not India wisely manages its water resources, especially riversthe major source of freshwater. At present, India uses 829 billion cubic meters of freshwater annually, which equals the volume of water of North America’s Lake Erie and it is expected to double by 2050. It is about time for India’s politicians and policymakers to realize that the crisis involving higher water demand is inevitable if appropriate mitigation measures incorporating check dams are not taken straight away.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
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*Phone: +886-916752019; E-mail:
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REFERENCES
(1) Sharma, V. 500 dams in India over 50 years old. The Tribune December 5, 2011. (2) Stanley, E. H.; Doyle, W. M. Trading off: The ecological effects of dam removal. Front. Ecol. Environ. 2003, 1, 15−22. (3) Agoramoorthy, G., Chaudhary, S. India’s Eco-Friendly Check Dams: Revive Rivers and Reduce Poverty; Lambert Academic Publishing: Berlin, 2010. (4) World Commission on Dams. Dams and Development-A New Framework for Decision-Making; Earthscan: London, 2000. (5) Living Planet Report 2010: Biodiversity, Biocapacity and Development; WWF International: Gland, Switzerland, 2010.
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