S1E128: Hundreds of dams endangering the Mekong

In the quest for renewable hydropower, indiscriminate dam
building in the basin of the Mekong is changing the landscape and
negatively impacting local communities and ecosystems.


Synopsis: Every first and third Sunday of the month, The Straits
Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from
biodiversity conservation to climate change.


Unilateral and indiscriminate dam building has been taking place
in the quest for hydropower and control over water in the basin
of the Mekong river - the lifeblood of mainland Southeast Asia.
 


But local communities most impacted by the changing face of the
river system struggle to be heard amid elite-driven, urban-based
decision-making and an engineering mindset, critics say. 


Only one in ten of over 600 dams have been notified to the Mekong
River Commission, following the 1995 Mekong Agreement among
Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The Agreement was supposed
to focus on sustainable development and management and tries to
balance needs and rights. 


Two other countries where the Mekong river flows - China and
Myanmar - are not bound to notify the Commission as they are only
dialogue partners. 


On this episode of Green Pulse, host Nirmal Ghosh speaks to
Senior Fellow and co-lead of the Mekong Dam Monitor at the
Stimson Center Brian Eyler and Thailand-based Campaigns Director
for Thailand and Myanmar of International Rivers Pianporn (Pai)
Deetes. 


Highlights of conversation (click/tap above):


02:31 Sounding the alarm with more dams coming up 


03:55  Dams in China’s part of the Mekong river are doing
the most damage 


06:43 How Laos attracted huge amounts of foreign investment with
its “Battery of Southeast Asia” programme 


12:04 In Thailand, why build more dams when there has been an
oversupply of electricity


15:54 Significant environmental impacts on Vietnam and Cambodia
from the Funan Techo canal, whose development would also violate
the Mekong agreement 


19:20 No accountability for damaging consequences 


Produced by: Nirmal Ghosh (nirmal@sph.com.sg) and Fa'izah Sani


Edited by: Fa’izah Sani


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