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DAM-L New dam in Mali will cause starvation and destroy ancient city/LS (fwd)
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Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 08:31:29 -0700
To: irn-safrica@netvista.net
From: Lori Pottinger <lori@irn.org>
Subject: New dam in Mali will cause starvation and destroy ancient city/LS
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http://www.edie.net/index2.html
New dam in Mali will cause starvation and destroy ancient city
The government of the West African nation of Mali has announced that it is
to press ahead with a controversial new dam project, despite revelations
that it will cause starvation and threatens a 2,000 year-old city.
According to the US-based NGO, Cultural Survival, even backers of the
multimillion dollar Talo Dam, the African Development Bank, on the River
Bani, a tributary of the Niger, have concerns about the project, which the
Malian government, a major stakeholder in Talo, is eager to start as soon as
possible. ?According to information we received from the Associated Press
bureau chief in West Africa, only last week the Malian government reaffirmed
its commitment to begin work on the dam soon, despite a large demonstration
by Djenn? residents last weekend,? Cultural Survival?s Director, Dr. Ian
McIntosh, told edie. ?We have had meetings with executives from the African
Development Bank, and they agree that the environmental impact assessment
was flawed, and that the dam will have a negative impact on up to one
million people downstream,? McIntosh said. ?The dam will have a devastating
effect on the environment, 40,000 will face famine in the first year and the
town of Djenn? will be deserted.?
The dam is being constructed to raise the level of the Bani River, upstream
of the ancient city of Djenn?, sufficiently to feed irrigation networks
covering regions that only 20-30 years ago lay in the flood plain of this
arid subsistence nation and produced food. Although an environmental impact
assessment (EIA) was carried out, it only covered upstream areas and no
mention was made of possible effects downstream, which citizens of Djenn?
and many other towns as far away as the border with Burkina Faso, Cultural
Survival and the African Development Bank, are concerned about.
The principal fears are over possible starvation and loss of valuable
subsistence crops as far away as Burkina Faso. Cultural Survival
commissioned a report by a team from the International Development Office at
Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, which said that downstream
residents of Djenn? may be more susceptible to drought. If the Bani had an
ample supply, water sufficient to meet the needs of downstream farmers could
be released during dry season, however as the Talo Dam, is proposed
precisely because of the Bani?s dwindling water supply, the proposed sluice
gate is unlikely to help at the height of the dry season. Although the
African Development Bank states that only 6% of the Bani River will be
diverted annually for irrigation in the target area, Cultural Survival?s
hydrological analysis found up to 20% of the river will be diverted while
the reservoir is filling during the rainy season.
The project documents fail to adequately consider ecological and systemic
impacts, says Cultural Survival. Fish populations may decline, resulting in
a loss of livelihood for the region?s many fishermen as life cycles of fish
in the Bani River are dependent on seasonal flooding. Farmers also use
seasonal wetlands, especially as surrounding rangelands dry out and
controlled flooding cannot simulate the natural floodplain?s quantity or
distribution. Nomadic populations already travel great distances to graze
cattle in the delta and their rangelands will become more arid as the Niger
Inland Delta floodplain, which between 500,000 and one million people depend
on, shrinks, says the report. A reduction in groundwater levels is also
expected as the Talo Dam could further deplete aquifers and the health of
the populations in Djenn? and surrounding villages may deteriorate as
irrigated wetland areas and stagnant reservoir water create ideal breeding
grounds for organisms responsible for the spread of malaria,
schistosomiasis, and bilharzias.
There is also widespread concern over the future of the United Nations World
Heritage Site the city of Djenn?, inhabited since 250 BC, home of the Djenn?
mosque - the world?s largest adobe structure and almost 2,000 traditional
houses, and one of Mali?s top three tourist sites. The report says that a
dam at Talo could potentially result in the displacement of 20,000 residents
of Djenn? and the destruction of the life of the city.
Cultural Survival believes that before any dam can be built the following
need to be fulfilled:
a.. an environmental impact assessment and socio-economic study focusing
on the downstream area (from the dam to Mopti);
b.. an environmental impact assessment focusing on potential effects of
the Talo Dam on the greater Niger Inland Delta;
c.. a revised cost-benefit analysis of potential losses that includes both
downstream and upstream costs or losses, in addition to projected project
benefits; and
d.. a comprehensive hydrological study taking into account the amount of
water to be diverted from the Bani River, including losses due to factors
such as evaporation, and considering climatic variability instead of solely
relying on yearly averages.
Internet links:
a.. Cultural Survival
b.. Malian Government and information on Djenn? (in French)
c.. African Development Bank
Add your comments
Source:
edie newsroom
? Faversham House Group Ltd 2001. This article may be copied or
forwarded for individual use only. No other reproduction or distribution is
permitted without prior written consent.
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