World Commission on Dams : Formation and Process

 Presentation by Shripad Dharmadhikary
Conference on Dams and Decision Making
 '3-4 Sept. 2001, NLSIU Bangalore  

The process of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) is a unique process in the annals of the conflicts surrounding the social and environmental impacts of large infrastructure projects. The WCD is the first international Commission this nature that worked on the basis of transparency, participation, openness and independence and in which the representatives of the directly affected people had a meaningful say.

Background

It is important to understand the background against which the WCD was formed. Over the last two decades, a number of intense struggles and campaigns have emerged around large dams projects all over the world. Of course, the struggles around large dams have been taking place even before this, but the intensity has been much more in the last two decades. Such struggles have not been limited to the so called "developing countries" but have been taking place also in the "developed" countries. Such struggles emerged in countries like India, Thailand, Brazil, France, Australia, Canada and so on. These struggles raised issues of not just the social and environmental impacts but also questioned the very benefits of the large dam projects, their equitable distribution and the cost/ benefit ratios.

Part of the focus of these struggles were the multilateral financing institutions, especially the World Bank. The World Bank was made  the. target by such struggles and campaigns not only because it was the largest single financier of large dams, but also because the involvement of the Bank facilitated the involvement of other financiers, international suppliers and construction companies. The impact of the 'struggles was such that the World lending to large dam projects fell sharply. It became difficult to get international financing for such projects. It also became difficult to proceed with the projects on the ground due to the struggles and campaigns, and many projects were delayed or suspended.

In June 1994, n the occasion of the 50 years of the Bretton Woods institutions, over 326 groups and coalitions from 44 countries endorsed a declaration called the Mambeli Declaration, named after the heroic resistance of the people of Manibeli village in India, one of the first village to be affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project. Among other timings, this Declaration called on the World Bank to take up a comprehensive review of all large dams projects financed by it, and to put a moratorium on financing of large dams pending findings of the review. In 1997, the First International Meeting of Dam Affected people was held in Curitiba, Brazil, where this demand was reiterated.

In response to the intense struggles, the Bank had meanwhile initiated an internal review of 50 large dams. The report of this was ready in late 1996. This was not made public, but leaked copies were obtained by many NGOs and movements. This review came up for severe criticism on the grounds of methodology, selection of projects (for e.g. there was no project from India in these 50 dams), lack of inputs from non-official sources, being merely a desk-top study, and for ignoring or glossing over vital facts. In some ways, this reaction must have been anticipated, because the Review report itself talked about a second phase of the review and suggested that the second phase be initiated after consultations.

Formation of the WCD

In April 1997, the World Bank and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ILJCN) called a meeting in Gland, Switzerland to discuss the review and follow up. This meeting was to be the genesis of the WCD process. This meeting was a unique, for it brought together* people from all the sides of the dams controversy There were dam builders, Governments, dam operators, consulting companies equipment suppliers to dams, academics, research, Qrganisation  as financial institutions funding large dams TNGOs and people's struggles- The World Bank review came under severe criticism at this" meeting. Amazingly, this diverse group came to a unanimous conclusion - there was a need to initiate an independent review of large dams world wide by a Commission of eminent and knowledgeable people.

The mandate for such a review was also defined by this meeting. It called on this review to :

Review the development effectiveness of large dams based on a global review of large dams

Carry out an assessment of options for water and energy services

Come out with standards, guidelines, criteria for future dam building.

It is important to note that the mandate was to assess the "development effectiveness" -not merely whether the dams had supplied irrigation or water or produced electricity.

A process of global search for Commissioners extended over the next eight months, and the Commission was finally formed in February 1998. The process of selection of the Commissioners was guided by the participants at the Gland Conference who were designated as the Reference Group. Prof. Kader Asmal, then Minister for Water Resources of South Africa, was called on to Chair the Commission, and Shri L.C. Jain from India was asked to be the Vice Chair.

Structure and Composition of the Commission

The structure and composition of the Commission, along with its knowledge base and the process adopted by it are the biggest strengths of the Commission. The Commission consisted of 12 members, selected very carefully after prolonged discussions and consultations to provide a balance of all view points related to dams (dam proponents, builders, Governments, opponents, academics and so on), backgrounds, skills, expertise, gender and so on. For example, the Chair of the Commission was the Water Resource Minister for South Africa, and was involved in building of many dams in the country. He was also an internationally renowned human rights activist. The Commission included the Mr. Jan Veltrop, an engineer who had spent last 40 years building dams all over the world, and was the Honorary President of ICOLD (the largest association of dam building companies, Governments, industry in the world), the Mr. Goran Lindahl, Chairperson of Asea Brown Boveri, supplier of equipment to many dams, Mr. Don Blackmore, heading the Murray Darling Commission that manages the large number of dams in the Murray Darling Basin in Australia. The Commission also included Medha Patkar of Narmada Bachao Andolan'- one of the most well known struggles against large dams. Thus, all the viewpoints were represented in the Commission- and that too by people who were internationally renowned experts in their fields.

Apart from the Commission itself, there was the Secretariat, staffed by highly qualified professionals meeting international standards.

Associated with the Commission was also the "WCD Forum". The Forum consisted of about 65 organisations from all over the world, representing all sides of the dams debate. The Forum was an expanded version of the Reference Group that had met in Gland. The Forum was a sounding board for the Commission, and brought in a broad endorsement to the process of the Commission. (Though not every member of the Forum endorsed the Final report).

Knowledge Base of the Commission

The Commission brought together the most comprehensive knowledge base on dams in the world. Part of this was a review of existing literature and experience, part of it was fresh studies and investigations. The Commissions knowledge base consisted of

1.      Case studies of River Basins: These were in depth case studies of 8 maj OIL river .basins and the
dams built in the basin, with one major dam as the focus. Apart from this, the experience of two countries was thought to be too important to be restricted to basin studies and hence Country Level studies were undertaken for these two countries - China and India.

2.      Thematic Studies : 17 thematic studies were carried out by consultants from all over the world. These studies focussed on themes like displacement, equity, benefits, financing and so on, drawing from experiences of a large number of dams all over the world.

3.      Cross Check Analysis : This consisted of the studies of specified parameters of 125 dams from all over the world.

Apart from this, the Commission held four pubic hearings at various points in the world, where hundreds of

people - including project affected people, dam builders, Governments etc. made presentations to the

Commission. Some of the Public Hearings were accompanied by field visits. The Commission also welcomed

submissions from anyone who desired to do so, and over 950 submissions were made to it.

In this manner, the Commission put together a knowledge base using multiple approaches, carried out by experts from all over the world. Added to this was the considerable knowledge and expertise brought in by the Commissioners themselves.

Process of the Commission

The Commission adopted a process of functioning that was unique to such International Commissions.

First of all, it maintained with great care its independence. It drew its financing from various organisations, but the control of the funds was exercised entirely by it.

The Commission also maintained transparency and participation in all its activities. All the drafts of the studies were circulated to the Forum members who were free to provide their inputs. Further to this, the studies were also subjected to peer reviews. In case of the Case Studies of River Basins and country studies, multi-stakeholder meetings were held to discuss the scoping of studies and the interim findings.

Two meetings were of Forum were held during the life of the Commission. The pubic hearings provided opportunity for the affected people to voice their experiences directly to the Commission. There was opportunity for people to attend the public hearings as observers.

The Commissioners, as also the Secretariat was accessible for discussions and inputs.

The Report

The Commission published its report on 16th Nov. 2000 after two and half years of intense work. The most significant point about the report was that it was a unanimous report, signed by all the Commissioners. This has added great strength to the report.

The Report of the Commission has emerged as a landmark report and has the potential to I transform the water and energy management all over the World to a more efficient, equitable, environmental friendly process, greatly enhancing development outcomes.

'Conclusion

In conclusion, one can say that the unique structure, composition and process adopted by the Commission, the comprehensive knowledge base, the carefully maintained independence and the fact that the Report is unanimous are the biggest strength of the World Commission on Dams. That 12 members, drawn from all the sides of what is certainly one of the most acrimonious debates in the world were able to carry out such a process and come to unanimous conclusions has created a ray of hope that the issues around large dams will be resolved. The Commission’s Report offers the best chance to do this.

Shripad Dharmadhikary

B-13 Shivam Flats Ellora Oar,

Vadodara (Gujarat) 390007

e-mail shripad@narmada.org