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People Versus Power: the Geopolitics of Kaptai Dam in Bangladesh

SAILA PARVEEN
Environmental Studies, North South University, 12 Kemal Ataturk, Banani C/A, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh.

I. M. FAISAL
Environmental Studies, North South University, 12 Kemal Ataturk, Banani C/A, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

This paper examines the impacts of the Kaptai dam, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, on the tribal communities of that area. Kaptai dam is the only hydropower source in Bangladesh, with an installed capacity of 230 MW; about 5% of the electricity consumed in the country is produced there. When the dam was built in 1962, some 100 000 people were displaced and few of them received adequate compensation. Recently, the Power Development Board (PDB) of Bangladesh has announced a plan to install two new 50 MW units that will bring the capacity of the dam to 330 MW. This plan will cause the reservoir water level to rise and may take away about 7500 ha of the fringe land, which the tribal people use for rice cultivation during the April–August period each year. As before, the PDB has not discussed this plan with the potentially affected tribal groups, who are concerned about losing the fringe land and an important source of income. The paper discusses the original displacement issue and this recent development in light of the geopolitical history of this region. It attempts to present an objective analysis of these issues and views held by various concerned parties. It then proposes a scheme for managing the Kaptai reservoir based on a participatory approach that will ensure both economic efficiency and social equity.

Keywords: Geopolitics, Kaptai Dam, Bangladesh

Location: Kaptai dam, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Water productivity

Objectives:

The questions raised above will be critically examined in this paper in light of the historic development of the geopolitical events in the CHT. The paper will specifically look at the human and environmental impacts of the dam created in the past as well as the potential impact of the proposed expansion plan (installing units 6 and 7). Views from both sides—the tribal communities and the PDB—will be presented in relation to the operation of the dam and its impacts on the local people and the environment

Methodology:

The paper will then suggest an approach that can help resolve this latest issue of dispute in a mutually agreeable way. The study will be based on information collected from secondary sources in the form of papers, reports, books and academic publications and primary information collected through interviews with key informants.

Source of Information: Water Resources Development, Vol. 18, No. 1, 197–208, 2002

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

All over the world, there are more than 15 000 large and numerous other small dams that have displaced some 60 million people from their homelands. In the recent past, Turkey has built the Ataturk dam in the Kurdish region, where some 60 000 people were displaced. Another project in this region, the Ilisu dam, will affect about 75 000 people of the Kurdish region. Such encroachments on the resources and rights of the people of the land are not isolated—the Narmada in India, the Three Gorges in China, the Nam Theun II in Laos and the Itoiz in Spain are just a few examples of such violations. Unfortunately, a large part of the population displaced by dams has come from the underclass and the tribal communities. In India, about 40% of the people displaced by dams have been low castes or tribal people, even though they make up less than 6% of the Indian population. The story looks very similar in Bangladesh. It is about time that the government and the affected groups worked out a peaceful and mutually agreeable solution in a democratic way and through a properly designed institutional framework. This would go a long way in ensuring the security and prosperity of the CHT region in the new millennium.

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