How do large dams affect people?
An estimated 40 to 80 million people have been displaced by dams. At present perhaps two million people are displaced every year by large dams. Many times more people also suffer from the downstream impacts of dams, which can include loss of fisheries, decreased water quality and a decline in the fertility of farmlands and forests due to the loss of natural fertilizers and seasonal floods that healthy rivers provide. In nearly every case, the majority of people evicted by dams end up further impoverished, and rarely share in project benefits. They suffer cultural decline, high rates of sickness and great psychological stress. The ones who suffer are typically those most marginalized in society – poor farmers and indigenous people. In some cases, people receive no or negligible compensation for their losses. Where compensation is given, cash payments are rarely enough to compensate for the loss of land, homes, jobs and businesses. Dam-affected communities are often promised great improv
