Dam building

Laos' premier on Wednesday said the Communist country will press on with its ambitious hydropower strategy after a dam collapse killed dozens, but vowed to intenisfy scrutiny on the lucrative mega projects. The rare public comments from prime minister Thongloun Sisoulith came during a World Economic Forum panel in Hanoi, weeks after July's dam disaster in Attapeu province. An official tally given by Laos' secretive government said 35 people died in the collapse of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy saddle dam, a Korean-built structure which had not yet been completed. But testimony from locals suggests the toll may be much higher with several villages swept away and buried under thick mud. Since the disaster Laos has suspended all new dam projects, while ongoing hydropower projects will be inspected, premier Thongloun Sisoulith said. "Building hydropower projects is a good way to generate income," he said. "The impact of the incident in July is something we will continue to take into account when … [Read more...] about Laos to press on with dam-building after deadly collapse: PM

The Vientiane Times, citing district governor Bounhom Phommasane, said about 19 people have been “found dead”, more than 3,000 “require rescue” and about 2,851 have been saved. Earlier, a senior Lao government official, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said dozens of people were feared dead after the hydropower dam that was under construction collapsed on Monday. “We will continue with rescue efforts today but it’s very difficult, the conditions are very difficult. Dozens of people are dead. It could be higher,” the Vientiane-based official told Reuters by telephone. Hundreds were reported missing after walls of water washed away villages and rescuers on Wednesday continued to search floodwaters for survivors, a government official said. State media showed pictures of villagers, some with young children, stranded on the roofs of submerged houses. Others showed villagers trying to board wooden … [Read more...] about Nineteen people confirmed dead after Laos dam collapse: media

The Vientiane Times, citing district governor Bounhom Phommasane, said about 19 people have been “found dead”, more than 3,000 “require rescue” and about 2,851 have been saved. Earlier, a senior Lao government official, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said dozens of people were feared dead after the hydropower dam that was under construction collapsed on Monday. “We will continue with rescue efforts today but it’s very difficult, the conditions are very difficult. Dozens of people are dead. It could be higher,” the Vientiane-based official told Reuters by telephone. Hundreds were reported missing after walls of water washed away villages and rescuers on Wednesday continued to search floodwaters for survivors, a government official said. State media showed pictures of villagers, some with young children, stranded on the roofs of submerged houses. Others showed villagers trying to board wooden … [Read more...] about Ninteen people confirmed dead after Laos dam collapse

Plans to build about 3,000 hydropower plants in the Balkans in the next few years endanger Europe's last wild rivers and some of the most important biodiversity hotspots on the continent, campaigers said on Saturday. Stretching from Slovenia to Albania, critics say the hydropower boom threatens animal life, including endemic species of fish, and people's access to water used for drinking, fishing and farming. "There is a tsunami of hydropower dam constructions happening here and nobody really knows about it," said Britton Caillouette, director of "Blue Heart", a documentary that focuses on efforts to halt the hydropower plans. "Blue Heart", which had its world premiere on Saturday in a screening at the Idbar dam near Konjik, focuses on local people's and campaigners' efforts to halt the plans. Investment in renewable energy projects is growing around the world as countries rush to meet clean energy goals under the Paris Agreement on climate change. The EU aims to source at least 27 … [Read more...] about ‘Tsunami’ of hydropower dam building threatens Europe’s last wild rivers: campaigners

Researchers backed by multi-million dollar grants from NASA are heading to Southeast Asia's Mekong River region to find ways to improve dams so they are less harmful to people and the environment. Researchers from Michigan State University (MSU) will spend three years analyzing sites in the lower Mekong River basin in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The project will be funded by two grants from the United States space agency, NASA, totaling $3 million, and the researchershope their findings will improve dams around the world. "The most egregious affects of dam building are displacement and relocation," said Daniel Kramer, a professor of fisheries and wildlife at MSU. "But the research that we're doing is also suggesting that there are a lot of less obvious things that the effects of dams bring on local people and ecosystems," Kramer told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. There are concerns, for example, about damage to farming and fisheries due to dam projects along the lower … [Read more...] about Mekong River researchers hope to find ways to make dams less damaging