Position available: Policy Program Coordinator

Position available - please post and disseminate:
Policy Program Coordinator

International Rivers fights destructive dams in Latin America, Africa and
Asia and promotes better methods of meeting energy and water needs. One of
our core strategies is to promote stronger social and environmental
standards for international dam builders and financiers.

International Rivers is looking for an experienced, skilled, dynamic
person to coordinate our efforts to reform social and environmental
policies and practices of governments, financiers and companies. The
Policy Program Coordinator will work with our partner organizations and
satellite offices around the world, as well as with colleagues in our
Berkeley headquarters.

This is a full-time position (40 hours/week). It is located in Berkeley,
USA, and requires occasional international and domestic travel. The Policy
Program Coordinator reports to the Policy Director.

The duties and responsibilities of the Program Coordinator are:

1. Research and analysis: Monitor the strategies, policies and projects of
international dam builders and financiers and conduct research on these
topics. In particular, analyze developments regarding the World Commission
on Dams, the proposed Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol and
the role of hydropower projects in climate finance mechanisms.

2. Advocacy: Build pressure to convince international dam builders and
financiers to strengthen their social and environmental guidelines.
Promote the framework of the World Commission on Dams, and push back
against efforts to undermine this framework. Engage dam builders and
financiers in a dialogue if possible, and employ more confrontational
tactics if necessary.

3. Capacity building: Strengthen the capacity of civil society groups to
advocate for stronger social and environmental standards within their
countries and on the international level. Share information, publish
reports and fact-sheets, organize trainings and other workshops, assist
partner groups with small grants, and give direct advice as needed. Work
together with our China Global Program and support the policy work of our
regional programs.

4. Media work and other communications: Respond to media inquiries and
carry out international media work. Write articles, commentaries, blog
posts and reports. Contribute stories to our magazine, World Rivers
Review, and maintain the Policy Program's web pages.

5. Program coordination: Coordinate International Rivers' program to
strengthen the social and environmental standards and practices of dam
builders and financiers. Develop and implement strategies and work plans.
Supervise interns and volunteers. Help with fundraising, budgeting and
financial oversight for the policy program.

Requirements:

. Excellent research, writing and verbal communication skills in
English; other language skills a plus.
. Demonstrated ability to think strategically and develop effective
campaign strategies.
. Knowledge and understanding of sustainability and human rights
issues, international financial institutions and the corporate sector.
. At least five years of experience in international advocacy work.
. Diligence, independence, ability to handle multiple tasks and
deadlines.
. Ability to work well in a team and within an international network.
· Commitment to environmental integrity, social justice and the vision and
mission of International Rivers.
. Strong computer skills (including the ability to maintain web pages).
. Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience required;
Master's degree a plus;
. Authorization to work in the United States.

International Rivers offers a stimulating, casual and flexible work
environment. Our competitive salary and benefits package includes health
insurance and excellent vacation and sick leave. Salary commensurate with
experience.

To apply, send a cover letter, resume and writing sample to
jobpost@internationalrivers.org or to International Rivers, 2150 Allston
Way, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA; fax +1 510 848 1008. Please mention "Policy
Program" in the address or subject line. Deadline for applications:
September 12, 2010.

International Rivers is an Equal Opportunity Employer and First Source
Berkeley employer. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates
regardless of age, class, disability status, ethnicity, gender, race and
sexual orientation.
________________________________________________

You received this message as a subscriber on the list: jobs@list.internationalrivers.org

To be removed from the list, please visit:
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GoM decides to scrap NTPC hydel project on Bhagirathi river

GoM decides to scrap NTPC hydel project on Bhagirathi river
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/GoM-decides-to-scrap-NTPC-hydel-project-on-Bhagirathi-river/articleshow/6383763.cms
The Economic Times of India
August 20, 2010

NEW DELHI: Keeping religious sentiments and environmental concerns in
view, a Group of Ministers (GoM) on Friday scrapped the NTPC's
controversial 600 MW Loharinag Pala hydel project on Bhagirathi river in
Uttarakhand.

Headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the GoM in a meeting made a
detailed re-examination of the project and recommended that the
hydro-power dam, the work on which had been under suspension for
sometime, should be scrapped.

"A technical panel would be set up to recommend specific safeguard
measures to be undertaken to protect the environment and to maintain the
fragile eco-geological balance in the area," said Union Power Minister
Sushilkumar Shinde, who is one of the members of the GoM.

The fate of the project had been hanging in balance for the last few
years with the government doing a flip-flop -- first deciding to suspend
the work and then partially resuming construction citing huge financial
cost given that it had already incurred Rs 700 crore on the project.

Two projects on Bhagirathi -- 480 MW Pala Maneri and 381 MW Bhairon
Ghati hydel projects proposed by the state government have already been
scrapped by the GoM.

Shinde said that in view of environmental concerns and after Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh asked the GoM to revisit the issue, it decided
to do away with the project on Bhagirathi river, a key tributary of the
Ganga.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said, "earlier decision (to resume
work) was taken reluctantly and after the GoM revisited the decision, it
finally decided to scrap the proposed dam on the river to ensure its
free flow."

A large number of religious leaders had also been protesting against the
proposed dam, claiming that it will threaten the existence of the river
and block free flow of Ganga, which is considered holy by the Hindus.
________________________________________________

You received this message as a subscriber on the list: sasia@list.internationalrivers.org

To be removed from the list, please visit:
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Position available: Policy Program Coordinator

Position available - please post and disseminate:
Policy Program Coordinator, International Rivers

International Rivers fights destructive dams in Latin America, Africa and
Asia and promotes better methods of meeting energy and water needs. One of
our core strategies is to promote stronger social and environmental
standards for international dam builders and financiers.

International Rivers is looking for an experienced, skilled, dynamic
person to coordinate our efforts to reform social and environmental
policies and practices of governments, financiers and companies. The
Policy Program Coordinator will work with our partner organizations and
satellite offices around the world, as well as with colleagues in our
Berkeley headquarters.

This is a full-time position (40 hours/week). It is located in Berkeley,
USA, and requires occasional international and domestic travel. The Policy
Program Coordinator reports to the Policy Director.

The duties and responsibilities of the Program Coordinator are:

1. Research and analysis: Monitor the strategies, policies and projects of
international dam builders and financiers and conduct research on these
topics. In particular, analyze developments regarding the World Commission
on Dams, the proposed Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol and
the role of hydropower projects in climate finance mechanisms.

2. Advocacy: Build pressure to convince international dam builders and
financiers to strengthen their social and environmental guidelines.
Promote the framework of the World Commission on Dams, and push back
against efforts to undermine this framework. Engage dam builders and
financiers in a dialogue if possible, and employ more confrontational
tactics if necessary.

3. Capacity building: Strengthen the capacity of civil society groups to
advocate for stronger social and environmental standards within their
countries and on the international level. Share information, publish
reports and fact-sheets, organize trainings and other workshops, assist
partner groups with small grants, and give direct advice as needed. Work
together with our China Global Program and support the policy work of our
regional programs.

4. Media work and other communications: Respond to media inquiries and
carry out international media work. Write articles, commentaries, blog
posts and reports. Contribute stories to our magazine, World Rivers
Review, and maintain the Policy Program's web pages.

5. Program coordination: Coordinate International Rivers' program to
strengthen the social and environmental standards and practices of dam
builders and financiers. Develop and implement strategies and work plans.
Supervise interns and volunteers. Help with fundraising, budgeting and
financial oversight for the policy program.

Requirements:

. Excellent research, writing and verbal communication skills in
English; other language skills a plus.
. Demonstrated ability to think strategically and develop effective
campaign strategies.
. Knowledge and understanding of sustainability and human rights
issues, international financial institutions and the corporate sector.
. At least five years of experience in international advocacy work.
. Diligence, independence, ability to handle multiple tasks and
deadlines.
. Ability to work well in a team and within an international network.
· Commitment to environmental integrity, social justice and the vision and
mission of International Rivers.
. Strong computer skills (including the ability to maintain web pages).
. Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience required;
Master's degree a plus;
. Authorization to work in the United States.

International Rivers offers a stimulating, casual and flexible work
environment. Our competitive salary and benefits package includes health
insurance and excellent vacation and sick leave. Salary commensurate with
experience.

To apply, send a cover letter, resume and writing sample to
jobpost@internationalrivers.org or to International Rivers, 2150 Allston
Way, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA; fax +1 510 848 1008. Please mention "Policy
Program" in the address or subject line. Deadline for applications:
September 12, 2010.

International Rivers is an Equal Opportunity Employer and First Source
Berkeley employer. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates
regardless of age, class, disability status, ethnicity, gender, race and
sexual orientation.
________________________________________________

This is International Rivers' mailing list on the role of international financial institutions in promoting large dams.

You received this message as a subscriber on the list: ifi@list.internationalrivers.org

To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp

SA community blazes trail for local wind power

http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/60167/2010/07/20-094002-1.htm

S.African community blazes a trail for local wind power
20 Aug 2010 09:40:00 GMT

By Fidelis Zvomuya

EMAFENGWINI, South Africa (AlertNet) - With powerful wind gusts
whipping across its plains, Emafengwini, a poor rural community in
South Africa's Eastern Cape, has become the new frontier for local
power schemes.

On a cool and breezy stretch of land along the Indian Ocean, 147 km
from the coastal town of East London, South Africa's first community
wind farm is being built, following the completion of an environmental
impact assessment.

The Tsitsikamma wind farm project will implant 20 wind turbines, each
80 metres tall, over 7,000 hectares of Wittekleibosch farmland at a
cost of 1 billion rand ($138 million).

The windmills will each produce 2 megawatts of electricity, which is
expected to light more than 400,000 homes, include those of the Mfengu
community who own the land but don't yet have access to electric power.

The Mfengus were forced off their land in 1977 and moved to Ciskei's
Keiskammahoek under the apartheid regime.

They began negotiating for the return of their land in 1990 and, after
four years of discussions and court applications, their bid succeeded.
The farm was allocated to more than 100,000 families in 1994 under a
government land reform programme.

LOCAL BENEFITS

The community remains extremely poor, however, and lacks work and
education opportunities. The nearest school is at least 25km away.
Unemployment is high and local people become desperate in times of
drought.

They are looking to the wind project to help turn their fortunes
around. It will be run by a consortium including the Tsitsikamma
Community Trust, which represents them.

The trust will own at least 10 percent of the project's equity, and
receive an equivalent proportion of revenue during the plant's 25-year
lifespan.

Its partners are Exxaro Resources, Danish wind turbine manufacturer
Vestas, the Danish Export Credit Fund, the Danish Industrialisation
Fund for Developing Countries, Danish energy company Dong Energy,
Denmark-based power producer European Energy and Eastern Cape
Community Wind Energy.

The Danish Export Credit Fund will provide start-up loans for inputs
and other materials, and Dong Energy will purchase carbon credits
generated by the scheme.

"From the carbon trading, there will be money to build a clinic, a
school, roads and water infrastructure and of course to bring
electricity to the people," explains Thobile Makamba, chairperson of
the Tsitsikamma Community Trust.

DANISH CONNECTIONS

The wind project was initiated by Port Elizabeth company Watt Energy,
which is owned by Nelson Mandela Bay municipal councillor Mcebisi Msizi.

Msizi spent seven years in exile in Denmark during the apartheid era,
and his contacts in the European country, a global leader in wind
energy, are a key driver of the Tsitsikamma deal.

As a child growing up in Emafengwini village, one of Msizi's chief
memories is of the wind. It is so fierce - even on a calm summer's day
- it threatens to propel your car into the Tsitsikamma mountains.

The area is judged to be the second windiest in the country, says Msizi.

The trust's Makamba is hopeful the community will be transformed by
the scheme. "We are going to contribute our land and the abundant wind
we have here," he says.

By 2013, the wind farm is expected to produce 40 megawatts of
electricity, which will be sold to state-owned power company Eskom. It
will be transferred to Eskom's power grid through a new sub-station to
be built nearby at an estimated cost of more than R100 million,
explains Msizi.

"The aim is that the community will benefit from a share of the R14-
million annual revenue, which will come from selling the electricity
generated to Eskom at an agreed buy-back rate of R1.25 a kilowatt," he
says.

The project is also expected to create more than 1,500 jobs for local
people in constructing roads, erecting the turbines and maintaining
them once they are up. And it has brought people from different
backgrounds - financiers, technology providers, entrepreneurs -
together with the local community.

"We've created a new landmark," says Makamba.

FILLING THE POWER GAP

The scheme also brings the country a step closer to boosting its
production of cleaner and renewable energy. South Africa experienced
several blackouts last year due to a coal shortage, which left Eskom
short of supply.

The government is aiming to produce 10,000 gigawatts of energy from
renewable sources by 2013. It is estimated there are some 5,000
megawatts of wind power under development in South Africa, while the
government has mandated the procurement of 40,000 megawatts by 2013.

As yet, the country has only seven commercial-sized wind turbines in
operation, three at Eskom's demonstration facility at Klipheuwel,
north of Cape Town, and four at the private Darling wind farm to the
city's northwest.

If successful, the Tsitsikamma project may be duplicated elsewhere in
the country. Watt Energy has already started discussions with Port
Alfred, Hamburg and Coega, for example.

With demand for electricity outpacing infrastructure in South Africa,
community-based renewable energy schemes like Tsitsikamma have
considerable potential to help plug the country's looming power deficit.

Fidelis Zvomuya, based in Pretoria, South Africa, is a writer
specialising in environmental reporting.

Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external
websites.
________________________________________________

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Floods in Pakistan: Lend a Hand and Learn a Lesson

Floods in Pakistan: Lend a Hand and Learn a Lesson
International Rivers, August 20, 2010

[Please visit www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/5715 for links to NGOs
and background documents.]

The floods that are currently ravaging Pakistan have created a human
tragedy beyond imagination. At least 1,600 people have lost their lives,
20 million people have been affected, and 4 million people have been left
homeless. Many families have lost their whole existence - their homes,
fields, crops and cattle - overnight, with no safety net to fall back on.
The floods have also washed away schools, health centers, roads and
bridges.

Pakistan's civil society and international aid agencies are doing their
utmost to bring relief to the victims of this tragedy. Our local partner
organizations - primarily Action Aid Pakistan, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum
and SUNGI Development Foundation - are among them. We urge you to support
the efforts of our partner organizations in Pakistan.

You can donate directly to SUNGI and Action Aid in the United States or
United Kingdom. Thank you for your support.

A natural or human-made disaster?

Once the floods have subsided and the victims have received support,
Pakistan and the international community will have to learn the lessons of
the current disaster. Are the floods a natural or a human-made disaster?
What kind of flood management will help to prevent or mitigate future
catastrophic floods in a time of climate change?

Daanish Mustafa, a water expert from Pakistan who teaches at King's
College in London, sheds light on the background of the current disaster
in an interview with the BBC. Mustafa explains that by walling in the
Indus and by destroying natural floodplains, Pakistan has substituted high
frequency low intensity floods for low frequency high intensity events:

"The focus has been on dams, which have their usefulness, but wetlands
unfortunately have been drained and settled and removed. As a result the
river's excess water has no where to go."

The Indus has one of the highest silt loads in the world. Due to dam
building the silt now gets deposited in the river bed and reservoirs. As a
consequence, the river bed is elevated, its capacity to drain flood water
dwindles, and the pressure on the levees increases. Dam builders have
often failed to take such changes into account.

In 2004-10, the World Bank rehabilitated the Taunsa Barrage on the Indus
at a cost of $144 million. As Mushtaq Gaadi, who teaches at Quaid-i-Azam
University in Islamabad, points out in an excellent commentary, local NGOs
objected to the dominant engineering perspective and urged the World Bank
to pay more attention to the sediment deposition. The Bank refused. Now
the embankments near the barrage breached, and caused huge devastation in
areas which are not normally flooded. "The very structures meant to
control flooding have partially caused and definitely exacerbated the
flood problem itself," Gaadi concludes.

Due to climate change, extreme weather patterns such as the current floods
are becoming more and more frequent. Managing floods is a more appropriate
response to such a scenario than trying to control them. According to
Daanish Mustafa:

"The kind of monsoon patterns you are seeing this year is very unusual.
The scary part is we have seen this sort of unusual monsoon pattern about
four or five times this past decade. (...) The fundamental message is that
the past averages are not going to hold. There is going to be greater
uncertainty in the future. That being the case, then we have to be a lot
more proactive and have to think about, well, if this becomes the pattern,
then what?"

More information:
Read "Before the Deluge: Coping with Floods in a Changing Climate" to
learn more about better flood management in the face of climate change.
________________________________________________

You received this message as a subscriber on the list: dams@list.internationalrivers.org

To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp

Floods in Pakistan: Lend a Hand and Learn a Lesson

Floods in Pakistan: Lend a Hand and Learn a Lesson
International Rivers, August 20, 2010

[Please visit www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/5715 for links to NGOs
and background documents.]

The floods that are currently ravaging Pakistan have created a human
tragedy beyond imagination. At least 1,600 people have lost their lives,
20 million people have been affected, and 4 million people have been left
homeless. Many families have lost their whole existence - their homes,
fields, crops and cattle - overnight, with no safety net to fall back on.
The floods have also washed away schools, health centers, roads and
bridges.

Pakistan's civil society and international aid agencies are doing their
utmost to bring relief to the victims of this tragedy. Our local partner
organizations - primarily Action Aid Pakistan, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum
and SUNGI Development Foundation - are among them. We urge you to support
the efforts of our partner organizations in Pakistan.

You can donate directly to SUNGI and Action Aid in the United States or
United Kingdom. Thank you for your support.

A natural or human-made disaster?

Once the floods have subsided and the victims have received support,
Pakistan and the international community will have to learn the lessons of
the current disaster. Are the floods a natural or a human-made disaster?
What kind of flood management will help to prevent or mitigate future
catastrophic floods in a time of climate change?

Daanish Mustafa, a water expert from Pakistan who teaches at King's
College in London, sheds light on the background of the current disaster
in an interview with the BBC. Mustafa explains that by walling in the
Indus and by destroying natural floodplains, Pakistan has substituted high
frequency low intensity floods for low frequency high intensity events:

"The focus has been on dams, which have their usefulness, but wetlands
unfortunately have been drained and settled and removed. As a result the
river's excess water has no where to go."

The Indus has one of the highest silt loads in the world. Due to dam
building the silt now gets deposited in the river bed and reservoirs. As a
consequence, the river bed is elevated, its capacity to drain flood water
dwindles, and the pressure on the levees increases. Dam builders have
often failed to take such changes into account.

In 2004-10, the World Bank rehabilitated the Taunsa Barrage on the Indus
at a cost of $144 million. As Mushtaq Gaadi, who teaches at Quaid-i-Azam
University in Islamabad, points out in an excellent commentary, local NGOs
objected to the dominant engineering perspective and urged the World Bank
to pay more attention to the sediment deposition. The Bank refused. Now
the embankments near the barrage breached, and caused huge devastation in
areas which are not normally flooded. "The very structures meant to
control flooding have partially caused and definitely exacerbated the
flood problem itself," Gaadi concludes.

Due to climate change, extreme weather patterns such as the current floods
are becoming more and more frequent. Managing floods is a more appropriate
response to such a scenario than trying to control them. According to
Daanish Mustafa:

"The kind of monsoon patterns you are seeing this year is very unusual.
The scary part is we have seen this sort of unusual monsoon pattern about
four or five times this past decade. (...) The fundamental message is that
the past averages are not going to hold. There is going to be greater
uncertainty in the future. That being the case, then we have to be a lot
more proactive and have to think about, well, if this becomes the pattern,
then what?"

More information:
Read "Before the Deluge: Coping with Floods in a Changing Climate" to
learn more about better flood management in the face of climate change.
________________________________________________

You received this message as a subscriber on the list: sasia@list.internationalrivers.org

To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp

The Taunsa Barrage, the World Bank and the Pakistan floods

Engineering failures
By Mushtaq Gaadi
Editorial in Dawn (Pakistan)
Monday, 16 Aug, 2010
www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/engineering-failures-680

THE devastating floods in Pakistan have once again ignited public debate
on the necessity of new water reservoirs in the country. The proponents
of Kalabagh Dam, including some prominent politicians, TV anchorpersons,
and Punjab water engineers, hold that if Kalabagh dam had been built, we
would not be facing the present disaster wreaked upon millions of people
in the Indus Valley.

According to them, the Kalabagh dam or any other water engineering
project should not be politicised because these issues are essentially
'technical'. Decisions on such vital issues should be left to the wisdom
of engineers and technical experts.

Implicit in this argument are three underlying assumptions, all three of
which are incorrect. First, it is assumed that 'technical' engineering
interventions in natural (water) systems have nothing to do with
politics. Second, that the control of river flows through engineering
structures is the best possible way to control flooding. Third, that the
knowledge of the engineering community is conclusive and beyond any
critical scrutiny. Nonetheless, mounting evidence and experiences
throughout the world suggest that these assumptions are not only
reductionist but also in fact part of the problem of river basin management.

A closer analysis of the present flood and flood-related events
experienced at/around Taunsa barrage furnishes us with some
counter-intuitive, and indeed, scandalous evidence: the very structures
meant to control flooding have partially caused and definitely
exacerbated the flood problem itself.

The flood trauma started with the breach of the eastern marginal
embankment in the upstream of Taunsa barrage. The breach caused the
Indus to outflank the barrage and the river carved out a new channel to
the left of its original course. Very shortly, floodwater flowing down
this new channel found its way into the extensive network of irrigation
canals on the left side. Consequently, masses of roiling, churning
floodwater are now rushing through and inundating relatively higher
ground which was rarely inundated by the Indus. Nature is responsible,
yes. But we must not overlook the role that engineering structures have
played in transforming the present floods into an enormous disaster
unparalleled in the history of this region.

Taunsa barrage is one of the most vulnerable diversion structures built
across the Indus River. Therefore, it was recently rehabilitated and
modernised with the help of a World Bank loan of $144m. The project was
approved and implemented on an emergency basis so that the barrage could
be kept functional. All that money has been washed right away. The Bank
is now involved in similar costly rehabilitation works at Jinnah
barrage, the latter also failing to withstand these recent floods.
Jinnah barrage's staff was compelled to blow up the embankments on the
right bank resulting in widespread inundation and heavy damages to the
under-construction hydropower project also stationed there. The Bank has
plans to undertake similar rehabilitation projects at other barrages in
Punjab.

When the rehabilitation of Taunsa barrage was being planned in early
2004, local civil society objected to the dominant engineering
perspective and asked the Bank and the irrigation department to pay more
attention to mitigating the barrage-induced alterations in river
hydrology and problem of sediment deposition, a phenomenon which has
made the flood protective structures susceptible to regular failure. In
this regard, a memorandum was submitted to the then country director of
the World Bank. The memorandum asked both the Bank and the provincial
government to appoint an independent review commission to ascertain the
nature and scope of rehabilitation works at Taunsa barrage. However, the
country director turned down the demand in a separate press conference.

The main problem with Taunsa barrage is the rising riverbed owing to
huge sediment deposition in the upstream areas. Before the construction
of dams and barrages, the Indus used to transport about 250 megatons
(Mt) of sediment annually, mostly silt and clay, to the Arabian Sea.
This helped in the development and nurturing of freshwater mangroves
prior to the phase of dam construction. By 1974-75, this had fallen to
about 100 Mt per annum and it is believed the present rates are
negligible. Taunsa barrage traps huge sediments left over from the
upstream storage and diversion structures. Moreover, the pond area is
additionally fed annually with large amounts of silt eroded from the
highly degraded catchment areas of the Suleiman Range. These heavy silt
loads are transported through western tributaries (hill-torrents) of the
Indus River.

The obstruction of great volumes of water together with the suspension
of a large amount of sediment has complicated the flooding problem at
Taunsa barrage. The riverbed levels are now higher than they have ever
been. The construction of a series of protective levees and dykes has
also contributed to raising the riverbed and the sedimentation of
upstream areas. These changes forced the river into developing an
oblique flow line and establishing a more tortuous course. Consequently,
it now spends its vigour on eroding the vulnerable banks. Moreover, the
rising riverbed levels have rendered protective levees and river
training works ineffective. Under the rehabilitation project, the crust
level of the barrage was raised by one foot so that silt entry into the
right bank canal could be controlled. The protective embankments were
also to be raised correspondingly but criminal negligence in this regard
resulted in no such measures being undertaken. Similarly, local accounts
and media reports suggest that the barrage staff has failed to properly
operate the newly installed motorised hoisting system.

According to these reports, 10 gates were not fully opened which, if
true, turned out to be the main cause of the flood disaster. The truth
of these reports must be ascertained, but if they hold, then an official
inquiry must be held into the incident and people held accountable.The
nature of the debate on the Kalabagh dam in the aftermath of the flood
disaster is depressingly flawed. Not only is this debate politically
divisive for an already fragile federation, it also covers up the story
of how engineering failures have contributed to this disaster.
Reconstruction without the benefits of an honest analysis would be
tantamount to recreating this same situation, or even worse, in the future.

The writer is a native of Taunsa and teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University,
Islamabad.
________________________________________________

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