Dam Fever and The Diaspora
New Generation Thinker Majed Akhter explores how large dam projects continue to form reservoirs of hope for a sustainable future. But what are the dangers of this 鈥渄am fever鈥� ?
New Generation Thinker Majed Akhter explores how large dam projects continue to form reservoirs of hope for a sustainable future. Despite their known drawbacks, our love affair with dams has not abated 鈥� across the world more than 3,500 dams are in various stages of construction. In Pakistan this has become entwined with nationalism, both inside the community and in the diaspora - but what are the dangers of this 鈥渄am fever鈥� ? This Essay traces the history of river development in the region, from the early twentieth century 鈥渃anal colonies鈥� in Punjab, to Cold War mega-projects, to the contemporary drive to build large new dams. Previously an engineer and a resource economist, Majed Akhter now lectures in geography at King鈥檚 College London. you can hear him discussing the politics of rivers in a Free Thinking episode called Rivers and geopolitics /programmes/m00051hb
New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by 麻豆社 Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to select ten early career academics each year to turn their research into radio.
Producer: Alex Mansfield
