Big Dams in India are a contentious issue for a number of reasons. The supporters of Big Dams, argue that privatization of water sources, and the construction of a series of large dams in India will lead to increased modernization and a better standard of living for Indian citizens, through abundant power and a streamlining effect on the nations water utility bureaucracy. The desire for foreign investment capital in India is also very strong,and the supporters of the dam projects point to the economic benefits of the creation of large dams in areas that are otherwise unprofitable to multinational corporations and the investors that they represent. The economic benefits that they espouse are creation of a number of jobs, mainly in construction of the dams. Also touted by the proponents of these dams is an increased food security for India, which reverberates in the consciousness of many nation minded Indian citizens.(p65)
The forces against the dams stem from a number of different groups in India. Many of the opposed will be directly affected by the creation of these dams and could lose their homes and everything they own to the march to modernization. These are some of the most vociferous opponents to the creation of these dams. According to the author, the figure for displaced persons could reach 56 million, however, no government agency or NGO has made an official tally, so no counter statistics exist. These people will not only have their land and livelihood taken away, they will have centuries of their family history washed away by the creation of these dams. This is not all, as of the publication of Ms Roy's book, no national resettlement policy exists, and those who are displaced by dams that are not relocated or compensated by their local governments are left to simply fend for themselves.(p68) Other opponents, like Ms Roy, oppose the dam on a number of political and economic reasons. The main opposition is not only the creation of these big dams, but the ways in which they are created.
The economics of building the dams turns out to be a losing investment for the Indian people, and would create unneeded power, that would have to be sold at a premium, far higher than other, preexisting local power sources(p56). Furthermore, the government of India possesses no data on the amount of food production that will be increased by the building of these dams, so it is hard to say what effect it will have on Indian food security, if any. Ms Roy and other opponents are not particularly opposed to the idea of a dam. What they find conflict with is the idea of Indian institutions, supposedly part of a democratic system, bowing down to the whims and demands of foreign transnationals. Another major set of objections comes from those concerned about the ecology of the Narmada Valley, India, and the world as a whole. The dam projects would completely submerge an entire ecosystem, and all of the diversity that comes with that.
The opposition to the creation of the dams manifested itself as a protest movement because no methods for working within the system were available to those who had been wronged, or those who were going to be wronged. Protesting became a necessity in this situation, because the authorities in power, namely the Supreme Court of India, chose to avoid and ignore the law whenever possible, in order to accomplish their goals. The people opposed to the creation of these dams did not have access to capital, they could not run a massive ad campaign, and their legal challenges were scoffed at.
The only option left for them was to use human capital and either physically stop the erection of the dams, or at least sway enough people through large scale protests and civil disobedience to make the authorities think twice about proceeding with the construction.
Ms Roy feels she must participate in the movement for a number of reasons. The most important would have to be her commitment to India and its people. Throughout Power Politics, Ms Roy refers to India as an ancient and great civilization, and it is obvious that she is opposed to seeing the people and leaders of India bow down to foreign interests, especially when it would hurt the people of India. She also must think that this is a goal that she can accomplish, and that there is enough popular support behind her ideas that some good can come of her efforts.
She also believes her actions to be paramount to the protection of democracy in India. Without respect for rule of law, and the power elite being beholden to the law, democracy cannot exist. Ms Roy realizes this and this motivates her in the fight against big dams in India.
The fight against government corruption and transnational greed in India has massive implications for the citizens of the United States. If Ms Roy and people like her prevail in India, large multinational corporations will have one less place to use cheap labor, and will no longer have free reign over the environment. Companies will finally become regulated in a meaningful way, outside of the Western world. If large corporations wish to do business with India, they will have to do so in a fair and just way, which will eventually translate into fairer wages and working conditions. This will affect workers in the United States in a number of ways, first it will lessen the growing inequalities between the ultra rich and everyone else in the United States. This is a positive effect due to the lessening of power individuals will hold over our electoral process and the laws that govern all of us.
A victory in their fight will also mean that corporations will be compelled to pay fairer wages to United States workers, since there will be no way to bypass our labor laws by outsourcing work to countries that do not protect their workers. Not only will the economies and political systems of the United States and the west change, the global ecology will be impacted significantly.
Transnational corporations in India effect the environment in many negative ways, specific examples mentioned in Power Politics include the complete destruction of a unique ecosystem, the Narmada Valley, and numerous polluting power plants and factories that operate outside of any kind of government or citizen regulation.
