Court Rules Against Giant Dam in the Amazon
The construction of the third largest dam in the world was stopped by a Brazilian court. The project threatened aboriginal fishing, the judge explained in his decision.A Brazilian court has ordered a freeze on Wednesday for the world’s third largest dam in the Amazon region. The construction of the controversial Belo Monte dam prevented the fishing of indigenous people and threatened their survival.
The construction consortium Energia Norte could not make any infrastructure, the natural flow of the Xingu River and thus affect the fish and the way of life of the indigenous people, the judge ruled.
The proposal to build Belo Monte, which would be the world’s third-largest hydroelectric dam, has sparked protests in Brazil and abroad because of its impact on the environment and native Indian tribes in the area.
A federal court in Para state, under judge Ronaldo Desterro, has halted plans for the construction because environmental requirements for the project had not been met. These included contingency plans to assure transportation along rivers where the dam is expected to reduce the water level sharply.
Environmental activists take part during a protest against the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric power plant in the Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo August 20, 2011
Judge Desterro ordered the immediate suspension of the partial installation license for the commencement of construction of the Belo Monte Dam Complex on the margins of the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon. This ruling also prevents the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) from transferring funds to the dam-building consortium Norte Energia (NESA), given the consortium has failed to comply with dozens of social and environmental conditions required for an installation license. The Brazilian judge Ronaldo Destêrro of the Federal Court in Belém stated that Norte Energia (NESA) has not complied with required environmental and social conditions imposed by the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA) to allow dam construction to begin.
“Instead of IBAMA being the one to conduct the process,” said Destêrro, “it is NESA that – according to its own interests, needs and timeline – is imposing on IBAMA the licensing process for Belo Monte.”
The construction of the dam, in the world’s largest rainforest, was to begin soon. The project is estimated as being worth up to $26 billion.
Belo Monte was to be built with a power of 11,000 megawatts, but would generate, on the average, only 40% of this.The Belo Monte Dam in northern Brazil would be the third largest hydro-electric dam in the world in terms of electrical output. It would span a length of 3.75 miles across the Xingu River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. It would generate more than 11,000 megawatts, which could power up to 23 million homes. The Brazilian government has hailed the project as necessary for meeting the nation’s energy demands. The project would also require clearing 588 acres of Amazon jungle, and displace around 20,000 indigenous people by flooding a 193 square mile area. It would also dry up a 62 mile stretch of the Xingu River.It was protested against by environmentalists, with hundreds of people taking part in a protest in Brasilia in February. They handed over a petition with 600,000 signatures against the project.
International attention also focused on the insights shared by star director James Cameron. The Oscar winner had warned that local tribes in the Amazon rain forest could use force to stop the construction.
The federal judge ordered the suspension of all work on the massive project, including the clearing of 588 acres of rainforest- a major victory for environmentalists, activists and the indigenous people of the Amazon.
The World Bank estimates that forcible “development-induced displacement and resettlement” now affects 10 million people per year. According to the World Bank an estimated 33 million people have been displaced by development projects such as dams, urban development and irrigation canals in India alone.
India is well ahead in this respect. A country with as many as over 3600 large dams within its belt can never be the exceptional case regarding displacement. The number of development induced displacement is higher than the conflict induced displacement in India. According to Bogumil Terminski an estimated more than 10 million people have been displaced by development each year.
Athough the exact number of development-induced displaced people (DIDPs) is difficult to know, estimates are that in the last decade 90–100 million people have been displaced by urban, irrigation and power projects alone, with the number of people displaced by urban development becoming greater than those displaced by large infrastructure projects (such as dams). DIDPs outnumber refugees, with the added problem that their plight is often more concealed.
This is what experts have termed “development-induced displacement.” According to Michael Cernea, a World Bank analyst, the causes of development-induced displacement include water supply (dams, reservoirs, irrigation); urban infrastructure; transportation (roads, highways, canals); energy (mining, power plants, oil exploration and extraction, pipelines); agricultural expansion; parks and forest reserves; and population redistribution schemes.