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Tag: water

Buddhist monk killed in resistance to dam project in India

By Joan Martinez-Alier. Public protests against the construction of dams in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh in North East India have been going on for some years. In the whole …

Zinc, lead and silver mega-deposits in San Cristobal (Bolivia)

Introduction San Cristobal is located in south-western Bolivia, in the Colcha “K” Municipality of Nor Lipez, Potosi, with altitudes ranging from 3,800 to 4,000 metres (12,467 to 13,123 feet) above sea …

Behind the veil of the Islamic State is a war for water

By Nick Meynen and Leah Temper. A little known fact of the war in Syria is that it started at the end of the worst drought in Syrian history, a biblical …

Welcome to the worst tourism project in the world

“Dear visitor, you are now entering an environmental disaster zone, formerly known as Kazakhstan’s most wonderful Ile-Alatau National Park.” Will that soon be the message NGOs have to paint on …

Chilean Patagonia saved from Hidroaysén-madness

By Daniela Del Bene. After 8 years of campaigning under the slogan Patagonia Sin Represas, the Bachelet government in Chile rejected yesterday the Hidroaysén project. The Committee of Ministers, the highest administrative …

Supreme Court of India slams the building of megadams

By Nick Meynen and Daniela del Bene. When we wrote “Himalayan dams: goddamned!” last year and reported about the Uttarakhand floods, India’s worst ‘natural’ disaster since the 2004 tsunami (900 deaths, …

Barrick in the doldrums: shareholders angry about Pascua Lama

By Joan Martinez Alier. For many years, Barrick Gold has been heavily investing in the ill-fated project of Pascua-Lama in Chile, despite the local opposition. Communities resist the destruction of glaciers …

Nayarit communities call for support to scrap destructive water management schemes

By Daniela Del Bene. Canal Costa de Oro, also known as “Canal Centenario”, is one of the most ambitious and strategic water management projects of the Government of Nayarit, Mexico. It …

Hidden water flows and the perversities of gold mining

By Diana Vela Almeida Large scale gold mining, more than any other economic activity; provokes the greatest number of negative impacts relative to its scale of operation. Gold mining damages local …

Is India changing its development paradigm?

“India cannot go through constructing another Sardar Sarovar Dam,” Indian Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said last week while discussing the Land Acquisition Bill with reporters in Delhi. Ramesh …