India is well ahead in this respect. A country with as many as over 3600 large dams within its belt can never be the exceptional case regarding displacement. The number of development induced displacement is higher than the conflict induced displacement in India. According to Bogumil Terminski an estimated more than 10 million people have been displaced by development each year.

Athough the exact number of development-induced displaced people (DIDPs) is difficult to know, estimates are that in the last decade 90–100 million people have been displaced by urban, irrigation and power projects alone, with the number of people displaced by urban development becoming greater than those displaced by large infrastructure projects (such as dams). DIDPs outnumber refugees, with the added problem that their plight is often more concealed.

This is what experts have termed “development-induced displacement.” According to Michael Cernea, a World Bank analyst, the causes of development-induced displacement include water supply (dams, reservoirs, irrigation); urban infrastructure; transportation (roads, highways, canals); energy (mining, power plants, oil exploration and extraction, pipelines); agricultural expansion; parks and forest reserves; and population redistribution schemes.

The most important thing is how can the people be sustained in their environment.

But the most sad thing for me is the people think that nothing can be done. So many things can be done if you just try…

They are so wrong that nothing can be done but this is what you get by being steeped in 12 th century philosophy.

The religious stumbling block can be seen in the comments section in the following related blog post:

May 18 @ 5pm

Dear Enlightenment: If there is no food to eat and workm there will be chaos and disaster. Pakistan simply does not have the means nor the love or desire to save these carvings. After it is meaningless when viewed from a Muslim perspective. So take pictures study them well and build the dam. Nothing can be done.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/18/basha-dam-threatens-thousands-of-ancient-rock-carvings.html

In Pakistan there are the problems of tribalism and religion to contend with – the very things that are keeping those in the countryside poor and oppressed. You only have to see the aftermath of the earthquake of a few years ago to see how the people return to the old place and continue scratching out a living the old way instead of trying something new.

Yes I agree the artefacts should be preserved and moved to a suitable place. There is talk of preserving them in a museum for future generations.

But what about the 25,000 people who will be displaced…