In the course of putting together our coverage of the current spurt in big-dam building in Southasia, the significant level of apprehension, frustration and outright anger against the projects became apparent. Having covered dams for over two decades in these pages, we experienced a certain sense of déjà vu while delving into these contemporary reactions: if the rhetoric of rejection has changed so little over the years, the rigidities of the dam-building combine must have changed little, as well. Indeed. These articles all indicate a deeper malaise than an anti-development or anti-national attitude, or environmental romanticism. The continued opposition to dams indicates a deeper socio-political reality. In the face of the skyrocketing demand for power, communities near and far are being forced, still, to succumb. At this point, it appears that the best that can be done in most cases is to ensure that they get a fair price for what they are giving up, and that deep, integrated beliefs are respected. Part of the reason for these ongoing protests and worries, after all, is that the political economy of hydropower production continues to ignore the locals the most.

Given the continuity in the issues being faced in the shadow of high dams, we have again tapped our longtime contributor Venantius J Pinto for this issue’s cover image. Venantius also did the cover artwork nearly a decade ago, for our March 1998 issue entitled “Fantastic Dams” (see right). How little has changed.