The Dammed Don: Lao hydropower project pushes ahead despite alarm from scientists
Snaking down the length of the Mekong River the beautifully detailed map looks strikingly like those marking the distribution of unexploded ordnance in Laos. The red dots that pockmark the course of the river, from its origins in the highlands of China to its outlet in Southern Vietnam, do mark existing or potential destruction; each indicates a place where a hydropower dam has been constructed or is proposed. Not bombs, but potentially just as destructive for the communities, cultures, forests and fish upon which these riparian nations depend. A back-of-the envelope calculation based on numbers in official reports suggests that 110,000 people have already been relocated to make way for dams in Laos. The actual number may well be higher. It seems everyone wants a piece of this river and its tributaries, in particular in Laos where as many as a hundred and forty dams are planned.
