India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan have been facing the increasing challenges of meeting their rising elecricity and energy needs and hydropower dams in the Himalayas are being proposed as solutions to meet a considerable part of these requirements.
The document examines the various arguments that have been put forward against the building of the dams as against the proposed advantages that the dams are claimed to have for these four countries, which share common geographical, topographical and eco-climatic features but have starkly different political and economic contexts.
A review of existing evidence and the arguments raised by a number of experts highlight the following points:
The document argues that pushing ahead such a massive dam-building program in the fragile Himalayan region without proper social and environmental assessments and safeguards, and ignoring the likely impacts of climate change, can have severe consequences for the environment and the people of the region.
The document argues for the need to conduct a comprehensive review of the dam building program in each of the river basins in the Himalayas and for evolving an alternative approach to meet the pressing energy and water needs in a manner that is just and sustainable. The document ends by making an appeal to the people of the region to remember that they are the custodians of a treasure that is the common heritage of the entire world - The Himalayas.
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