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Allain Duhangan

Damming a Global Heritage

Tue, 12/09/2008 - 4:34pm
By: 
Peter Bosshard

Jagatsukh village, India (Michelle Arevalo, IAP)

Jagatsukh village, India (Michelle Arevalo, IAP)

Until recently life in Jagatsukh, a village nestled in the Beas Valley among Himalayan peaks, followed its traditional course. Apple plantations and local tourism brought modest prosperity to many inhabitants. The irrigation channels were well maintained, and the sturdy houses withstood the region’s harsh climate. When we visited, the local farmers were happy to share their stories over glasses of hot chai with us.

Jagatsukh’s culture and economic development are now being sacrificed for the glitzy middle class consumption which is on display in the nearby holiday resort of Manali. With support from the World Bank Group, the Norwegian government and the CDM, private investors are currently building the Allain Duhangan Hydropower Project on village lands. The project has brought 2,000 workers, illegal logging, serious accidents and conflict to Jagatsukh. The dam will divert the creeks on which the farmers have so far depended for their livelihoods. But since the villagers will not be physically displaced, they are falling through the cracks of the World Bank’s safeguard policies.

CDM: Changing Lives for the Worse

Thu, 12/04/2008 - 11:03am

Hydro makes up nearly a third of CDM Projects

Hydro makes up nearly a third of CDM Projects

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat organized a "changing lives" photo contest to raise awareness of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).  Was the photo contest a last ditch effort to spruce up the CDM's image and deflect criticism?

Dam-Affected Peoples Launch Complaint Against the Allain Duhangan Project

 To the IFC Compliance Advisor Ombudsman:

We would like to lodge a complaint concerning the proposed 192 MW Allain Duhangan (Hydropower) Project (ADP) that IFC proposes to fund. 

We live in the villages near Manali in Beas river basin in Kulu district in Himachal Pradesh in Northern India.

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Affected People to World Bank Regarding Allain Duhangan Hydro Project

Proposed IFC funding of the Allain Duhangan Project in India

Dear Sir or Madam:

We have learnt that International Finance Corporation is soon to put up the proposed IFC funding of the proposed 192 MW Allain Duhangan (Hydropower) Project in Kulu district in Himachal Pradesh in India before the IFC board. However, there are many issues and problems connected with this project that remain unresolved.

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World Bank Approves India Dam Against Wishes of Local People

Ann Kathrin Schneider
On October 12, the World Bank’s executive board approved a $45 million loan from their private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), for a controversial hydropower project in the Indian Himalayas. The loan was approved despite the launching of an investigation into the project by the IFC’s ombudsman.
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From the Swiss Alps to the Hilltops of Manali

By Peter Bosshard
Originally published in Foreign Eye column, Tehelka Magazine, December 2004

Most Indian visitors who step outside Zurich airport will be struck by how different Switzerland is: the clean sidewalks. The trains that run on time. The bland food. The girls in skimpy dresses.

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