earthPoems
Celebration of LifeArchive for Urgent Action Required
A hydropower project in Swat, Urgent Action Required
Town of Bahrain and Daral River in Swat Valley
I am writing to you on behalf of the community of Bahrain and the
Environment Protection Network (EPN), coalition of six NGOs in Swat
Kohistan (in the Swat district).
Bahrain is a tourist destination in the upper naturally beautiful Swat
Valley. Most of the income here is earned by tourism which is
dependent upon the natural beauty enhanced by a small river, Daral,
which falls into the mighty Swat river in Bahrain town. Bahrain is also a business and cultural hub of the Torwali community living in the Valley beyond Madyan up to Kalam.
Almost a decade back a feasibility report about the construction of a
hydropower project (Dara Khawr Hydropower Project) was prepared by the Sarhad Hydropower Development Organization (SHYDO) for the Asian
Development Bank. The proposed project is of about 50 MW. The
feasibility report says that the Daral River will be diverted to a tunnel about 6 KM above in the Daral Valley above Bahrain town. The feasibility was carried out excluding and ignoring the people of
Bahrain.
Diversion of the Daral River means devastation of the beauty,
livelihood, agriculture and environment of Bahrain town, about 20,000
populations.
In 2010, the representatives of SHYDO came to Bahrain in order to
commence the construction work on the project but the community of
Bahrain reacted and opposed the construction as it is. Almost a year
of discussion between the community, EPN, the local administration and
SHYDO was passed without any results. The SHYDO could not satisfy the people and the EPN—Environment Protection Network.
Being a bureaucratic organization SHYDO is utterly inattentive to the
concerns of the people. It has been using various tactics of carrot
and stick to the marginalized and ignorant people in order to report
well to ADB. The EPN has also carried the concerns to the ADB which
was very positive but it seems that the SHYDO was misleading it
because SHYDO has paid touts in the community who try to misguide the local community by announcing ghost benefits.
After the floods in July 2010, the people of the area faced lots of
problems of infrastructure, livelihood, agriculture and shelters.
While people were thus engrossed in these emergencies SHYDO did not
give up its malicious tactics and tried to convince some of the people
who live in the peripheries. Now SHYDO is again trying to woo and threaten the people with the help of its paid touts. It is still pursuing its vicious objective in the area.
EPN is concerned if SHYDO does not give up its covert war with the
environment and people of the area there will be problems of serious
consequences which can create issues of law and order.
It is also worth noting that SHYDO has not conducted an EIA, Environment Impacts Assessment. It only relies on a feasibility
report.
The community of Bahrain demands the government, civil society,
environmentalists, humanitarian and rights organizations to kindly
come forward and protect the marginalized community from environmental hazards, depletion of income resources and conflicts.
Sincerely Yours,
Zubair Torwali
Coordinator,
Environment Protection Network (EPN)
&
Executive Director,
Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (IBT)
Bahrain, Swat, KP Pakistan.
Cell: +92 305 9078 944
.
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