Northeast India has been in turmoil over the last two decades or so because of unbridled hydropower development in the region. This article is an effort to understand the extent of hydropower development in the region, the multi-faceted and multi layered conflicts unleashed by this development and also explore ways of engaging with them. It is organised around three broad sections:
The indigenous people at the dam sites who depend largely on forests and rivers for their livelihoods are threatened. They aren't involved in decision making processes that result in the utilisation of these natural resources. Protests against the detrimental downstream impacts of large dams have assumed the proportions of a mass movement.
The attached paper talks of a few dams to illustrate the various forms that these conflicts can take. The map below lists these dams. Clicking on each marker will provide more information about the dam and also briefly describe the conflicts around it. You can also select the 'view full screen' mode to view the map in greater detail.
Water conflicts are symptoms of larger issues in water resources governance. Implicit in these conflicts is a demand for change, first in the ways we think about water and second, in the ways we manage it.
Using statistics and government reports, the paper proves that India's surge of hydropower development is unprecedented in the history of the country. India’s plan to expand its power generation potential – both hydropower and thermal power – is to keep up its high growth trajectory through industrialisation and urbanisation. Thus, the main driver of such large scale hydropower generation in the Northeast is arguably not the development of the region as such, but the export of hydropower to the rest of India to fuel its high growth economy.
Where do we go from here?
In the age of climate change, the need and wisdom of switching over to a developmental pathway with a low energy and water footprint cannot be emphasised enough.