Nirjuli Consensus on Rivers, Wetlands and Peoples
SOUTH ASIAN SOLIDARITY FOR RIVERS AND PEOPLES 3rd South Asian Forum on Rivers, Wetlands and People 13-16 June 2005, Nirjuli, India "NIRJULI CONSENSUS ON RIVERS, WETLANDS AND PEOPLES"
1. We are children of Mother Earth. Today, we, the participants of the 3rd South Asian Forum for Rivers and Peoples, gather at Nirjuli in Arunachal Pradesh, India on the traditional homelands of the Nyishi People to reaffirm our relationship to Mother Earth and our responsibility to future generations to sustain nature for peace, equity and justice.
2. We live in some of the most fragile and vulnerable ecosystems of the world, from the Himalayas to the coastal wetlands of the Indian sub-continent, and our Mother Earth is sacred and should be honoured, protected and loved. This special relationship enables us to conserve our natural heritage and biological diversity for the life of present and future generations.
3. Our lands, rivers and wetlands, and the natural and spiritual resources they contain and symbolise, are the basis of our existence. It is on this belief that we establish and celebrate our deep relationship with Mother Earth and affirm our stewardship role to our natural heritage.
4. We believe in the natural right of rivers to flow freely; and in the need to respect and guarantee the ancient rights of peoples and rivers; rivers and peoples were born free millions of years ago and their sustainability must be ensured for millions of years to come.
5. We have gathered here at Nirjuli to express our concerns for and solidarity with the peoples of Arunachal Pradesh. An unacceptably high number of hydroelectric dam projects have been planned in this tiny, ecologically fragile eastern Himalayan State and in the rest of the North East region of India. Such a development option, imposed by the government of India upon the indigenous peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and their traditional lands, will spell the total annihilation of the cultural and social fabric, histories and traditions of these communities, imperil livelihood base and irreversibly ruin the ecology and precious biological diversity heritage of this sub-region.
6. The development paradigm that has been pursued in the South Asian region is the major source of the misery and conflicts, including the intensification of flooding in our rivers, the devastation of riverbank and soil erosion, the loss of natural wetlands and the creation of artificial wetlands, and the resulting change in our social, economic and cultural life. The peoples, governments and institutions of the region must seriously review such a paradigm.
On Peoples' Solidarity, Co-operation and Advocacy
7. The South Asian Solidarity for Rivers and Peoples (SARP), is a peoples' alliance and we stand for a uncompromising vision on natural water resources, particularly our rivers and wetlands that emerge from rich socio-cultural traditions and a history of managing natural frontiers and limits within the diverse of ecological confines of the region.
8. SARP will stand together as a democratic and informed alliance working in the best interest of the peoples of South Asia struggling for their rights over their natural heritage, especially rivers, wetlands and forests. In this endeavour, we recognise that women, indigenous peoples, ethnic and other minorities are equally caretakers, nurturers, educators and leaders of our societies, as well as custodians of the land and water resources who bear the brunt of the devastation caused by so-called economic development in our region; and shall ensure a representative voice of the women's struggles and organizations, as well all indigenous and other minority groups of our region.
9. SARP commits itself to act as a well-informed network that will continue to provide an analytical framework and strategic action plan to counter the internal contradictions and external challenges arising from the inequitable and unsustainable exploitation of our rivers, wetlands and other water resources in South Asia.
10. SARP will be guided by the charter provided through the principles and objectives of the Sagarmatha Declaration, the Kathmandu Statement, the Nirjuli Consensus and all subsequent declarations from future SARP Forums.
11. We reaffirm the Sagarmatha Declaration and Programme of Action adopted in the first South Asia Regional Forum in December 2002 in Kathmandu, and the Kathmandu Statement on the Interlinking of Rivers Project and recommendations of the second Forum in 2003.
12. We also draw inspirations and strategies from all other local, national and regional-level initiatives and meetings on water, rivers and wetlands in the region organised by peoples' movements and networks and outcomes in the past that are in congruence with the ones adopted by SARP as guiding principles. In particular, we extend our solidarity with the positions adopted from the South Asian Consultation on River Linking Project, Dhaka, 2004 organised by Bangladesh People's Initiative against River Linking (BPIRL) in collaboration with SARP; the National Convention on Inter-Linking of Rivers, New Delhi, India, 2004 organised by the National Alliance of Peoples' Movements and its allies; and the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) Resolution on Rivers adopted in the light of the International Conference on Regional Cooperation on Transboundary Rivers, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2004.
13. We are committed to pro-actively seek alliances and cooperation, and extend substantive and meaningful solidarity, with all national and international campaigns and movements across the regions of the world, such as the Americas, Europe, Africa and Eastern and South East Asia, wherever rivers, wetlands and peoples are threatened by private, corporate and financial institutional interests. In particular, we express our deepest concerns about the IIRSA and other mega-infrastructure projects in South and Central America, and the hydraulic and other infrastructure plans in South East Asia, e.g. Greater Mekong Sub-region including the Salween River Basin, and extend our solidarity with peoples' struggles in these regions.
14. SARP will use every forum, avenue and opportunity nationally, regionally and internationally to advocate for our struggles and objectives.
On Water
15. Water is a basic human right, and not a commodity for profit or commercial ventures. It is a common natural resource and integral part of the heritage of all peoples, a common property right, particularly of the indigenous peoples and communities. Any violation of this fundamental right whether in the name of resource management or private profit is a serious crime against humanity as well as the nature.
16. Water privatization benefits corporate and other vested interests, corrupt politiciansand bureaucrats at the cost of the rights and interests of the public and local communities. Water is not a state asset to be disposed of as needed; it is a communal right and belongs to the commons. We oppose the privatisation of water.
On Himalayan Policy
17. There is an urgent need to adopt policies and laws to address the needs and aspirations of the Himalayan region and the peoples. Management of natural resources must assume paramount importance and development model in accordance with environmental conservation and peoples' economic livelihoods. A clear regional and peoples' Himalayan Policy perspective is required in the light of rapid industrialisation, unregulated tourism and global warming.
On Rivers and River-Linking Projects
18. In order to save rivers, the peoples and governments of South Asia must refrain from activities that threaten the existence of these life sources and irreparably damage the biodiversity, environment, economy, natural growth of delta and floodplains in the basins of all rivers in question; including encroachments, pollution of rivers and watercourses.
19. Despite the last few decades of peoples' struggles against destructive large dams, there is currently a renewed thrust to build more by the international corporate lobbies and interests in collaboration with our governments and ruling establishments. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank led international financial institutions now have confidence that the global and regional security and governance environment is conducive for their profiteering and destructive investment strategies and plans. We call on peoples' movements to be vigilant in this time of corporate-led encroachment into communal resources.
20. The gigantic Indian river-linking project is a catastrophic proposal that will have irreversible negative consequences on humans, communities, societies, cultures and ecological habitats of the entire region. There has not even been a meaningful and informed debate on the pros and cons of the river-linking or other river diversion projects in the region. However, peoples' movements and unbiased experts across the region have spoken out clearly against the project on scientific, ecological, financial, and socio-cultural grounds.
21. We demand for the immediate and total cancellation of India's unilateral inter-linking of rivers project and of the 13th December 2002 Resolution of Government of India for Interlinking of Rivers. This is demanded in the light of the revelation in the Indian Parliament that the report of the National Commission for Water Resource Development deems peninsular component unnecessary and Himalayan component as not feasible because of adverse environment impacts.
22. In the context of this demand, we resolve to submit a memorandum to the Standing Committee on Water Resources of the Parliament of India, currently under the Chairmanship of Shri R. Sambasiva Rao, Member of Parliament, which is presently examining the details of the proposed project and preparing a priority report to Parliament on the project "Interlinking of Rivers".
23. We demand complete transparency at all stages of planning, building, and managing of any water resources project in the sub-continent, while in principle and based on our experience, we oppose the large dams and mega-river-linking projects. Our resurgent movements springing from our past and present living experiences with large dams clearly conclude that large dams can rarely be "good" or "sustainable". We assert that large dam projects can only be built in the absence of better, ecologically sustainable and non-destructive viable alternatives in full compliance with the criteria and guidelines of the World Commission on Dams and other national and international legal, human rights and environmental framework, and obligations.
On Wetlands and Floods
24. Wetlands are one the most precious source for the survival of human habitats, livelihoods and biodiversity of the world, many of them fed and sustained by annual flooding of our rivers. They must be allowed to survive undisturbed. Systematic encroachment, full or partial fragmentation, lack of adequate protection through conservation-related policies, laws or institutions can play havoc with this ancient natural heritage. Collective participation of indigenous and local peoples in the nourishment and long-term protection of wetlands can be the only logical and rational option in this time of crisis.
25. We are particularly concerned with the continuous destruction of the wetlands, including the mangrove forests, recognised and unrecognised as the Ramsar sites, and we demand for the full implementation of wise-use and conservation plans evolved with the full and meaningful consultation and consent of the indigenous concerned peoples and local communities.
26. We shall support wide and strong peoples' campaigns in the struggle for the conservation of our precious wetlands.
27. An independent and fair study on the phenomenon of flood covering all aspects connected with and involving peoples working on it and affected by it should be done urgently. We are deeply concerned that the findings of the various high-level Task Forces set up by the government of India and concerned States to study flooding of our rivers and recommend measures to mitigate their impacts are not worthy of their status, irrational and non-consultative nor are the recommendations acceptable to the peoples.
28. We demand an early warning system on flood that is accessible to all peoples living in the entire basin or watershed of each major river, including the Transboundary Rivers. We shall do our utmost to have such systems installed at the peoples' level for the entire sub-continent.
29. The rights of ownership of lands and fishing rights of flood-affected peoples and communities should be recognised and respected. Government should stop alienating such flood plains and areas from the affected peoples and communities by such action as auctioning areas to private interests and profiteers. Existing legal provisions concerning loss of lands and other immovable properties due to erosion and course changes of rivers should be urgently reviewed. On Free, Prior and Informed Consent
30. The principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of the indigenous peoples with regard to all development projects, including extractive industries that affect them and their lands is now a well recognised one in international law. This principle must equally apply to local (non-indigenous) communities whose livelihood base is threatened by development projects planned in their localities and outside of their localities that have the potential to impact their livelihood. FPIC should always form the prior basis of any steps planned or taken for projects that are located or will impact on indigenous and local communities' lands and natural resource base.
31. Projects involving commercial exploitation of natural resources (minerals, hydrocarbon resources, forests, water, and hunting/fishing grounds in indigenous peoples' territories and local communities' vicinities (areas where there is specific or broad 'collective attachment'), FPIC in practice must make it mandatory that the affected peoples and communities be accorded the space to freely make a decision according to their traditional or customary practices after being fully informed of (a) their rights to such resources under statutory and customary law; (b) the scope and nature of such proposed commercial development and the parties involved or interested in such development; and (c) the potential effects of such development on their livelihoods, environments, and use of such resources.
32. Social and Environment Impact Assessments (known generally as EIAs) which constitute a legal or statutory framework of project environment clearance have systematically undermined and subverted the basic principles of FPIC.
33. The present practice of and current IFIs and corporation-led attempt to "re-engineer" EIAs by state agencies are a further direct assault in this direction.
34. We challenge the present assault on our democratic right to participation and decision making; and demand an immediate full and independent review of the Social and Environment Impact Assessment statutes at the national level in order to affirm the principle of FPIC and strengthen the protection of constitutionally and internationally safe-guarded democratic rights.
On India's North East Region
35. We recognise the increasing focus of large-scale hydraulic and other infrastructure development projects with huge potential impacts in the North Eastern region of India, particularly in the context of regional economic and geo-political spheres of interest in South and South East Asia, enhanced attention for investment by international financial institutions (IFIs), private financial cartels and other arrangements, and India's new so-called "Look East" policy perspective.
36. We shall work together to ensure that the indigenous peoples and local communities of India's North East region are protected from exploitation, human rights violations and subjugation of their dignity, pride, culture and honour to exist in their ancestral habitat and further to safeguard the rich heritage, bio-diversity and natural resources from devastation in the name of economic development.
37. We shall support and strengthen peoples' campaigns, groups and networks in the struggles of the North East region of India in the above context.
On Financial Institutions, Donors and Corporations
38. The international financial institutions (IFIs), donors and corporations today face a crisis of credibility. They have failed to ensure and convince the communities that large dams bring direct benefits to them. They are not transparent and impose severe conditions on the recipient countries making large dams even more expensive and disastrous economically, socially and environmentally. Their information disclosure and other policies are neither adequate nor effective.
39. IFIs and such other financing institutions and donors should not finance dam projects without meeting the framework provided by the World Commission on Dams and no projects of any kind should be financed without resolving disputes, particularly in trans-boundary rivers. IFIs should stop the practice of using profit-driven private contractors and other middlemen to implement their projects. IFIs' and Trans-National Corporations' impunity for their economic, environmental and human rights violations and crimes cannot be tolerated; and debt due to bad dams financed by multi-lateral and/or bilateral funding should be cancelled. Hydroelectric dams and projects must also be kept out of the emerging international Carbon Credit Trading under Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism.
40. Today, the phenomenon of dam building is further strengthened by the open support provided by the private banks and public trust funds. National financial institutions and arrangements are a growing phenomenon in the financing of river valley projects, without any policy or accountability mechanism. We demand that such institutions and public trusts immediately withdraw from irresponsible dam financing; and urgently place fair, transparent and effective safeguard and accountability policies and mechanisms, developed through widely consultative processes, for all investments, credit lines and lending.
On Riparian Issues
41. We oppose the construction of any infrastructure or river diversion projects in transboundary rivers unless there is equal, free and informed consent and prior consensus among all the co-riparian states and nations. It has to be based on the principles of equality, fraternity and respect for mutual interests in word and deed. Direct consultations and seeking consent of the communities living in these transboundary river basins is a priori condition. This process of consultation and consensus should equally apply to China as South Asia's upper riparian country.
42. All trans-boundary river basin countries and communities must make efforts to maintain flow of rivers by removing obstacles that impede drainage. All possible measures should be adopted to avoid inappropriate projects and activities that exacerbate flood, inundation and cause damages to local inhabitants and the environment. To this end regular consultation among co-riparian communities is prerequisite so that approach can be identified to bring all stakeholders into an agreement. People displaced by dams and embankments built in the past must be properly compensated and rehabilitated socially and economically.
43. A comprehensive and independent review of impacts of existing water projects involving local, regional, and international rights- and stakeholders should be undertaken, including social and ecological costs, rights and risks, and we demand immediate decommissioning of all destructive dams including the Farakka, Gandak and Kosi Barrages, the adverse impacts of which are well documented in both the upstream and downstream regions.
On Existing Treaties, Agreements and Conflict Resolutions
44. All the existing treaties and agreements on rivers and wetlands should be reviewed in line with the emerging principles of international law and human rights of the concerned communities and nations. Most of these treaties have led to protracted conflicts and social unrests across boundaries. We demand an Independent South Asia Commission on Water-related Conflicts and Resolutions to minimise and prevent conflicts, both past, present and future, for the benefits of all concerned in the days and years to come.
45. Towards achieving this goal, we have agreed to set up a South Asia Peoples' Commission on Water-related Conflicts and Resolutions, which will start the process through research, analysis, documentation, public hearings and tribunals within the next six months.
On Regional Legal Framework
46. To avoid any future conflicts over international watercourses and benefits, we demand an immediate adoption of a South Asia Regional Framework Treaty on Trans-boundary Rivers and Their Management for regional peace and prosperity of all South Asians.
1. We are children of Mother Earth. Today, we, the participants of the 3rd South Asian Forum for Rivers and Peoples, gather at Nirjuli in Arunachal Pradesh, India on the traditional homelands of the Nyishi People to reaffirm our relationship to Mother Earth and our responsibility to future generations to sustain nature for peace, equity and justice.
2. We live in some of the most fragile and vulnerable ecosystems of the world, from the Himalayas to the coastal wetlands of the Indian sub-continent, and our Mother Earth is sacred and should be honoured, protected and loved. This special relationship enables us to conserve our natural heritage and biological diversity for the life of present and future generations.
3. Our lands, rivers and wetlands, and the natural and spiritual resources they contain and symbolise, are the basis of our existence. It is on this belief that we establish and celebrate our deep relationship with Mother Earth and affirm our stewardship role to our natural heritage.
4. We believe in the natural right of rivers to flow freely; and in the need to respect and guarantee the ancient rights of peoples and rivers; rivers and peoples were born free millions of years ago and their sustainability must be ensured for millions of years to come.
5. We have gathered here at Nirjuli to express our concerns for and solidarity with the peoples of Arunachal Pradesh. An unacceptably high number of hydroelectric dam projects have been planned in this tiny, ecologically fragile eastern Himalayan State and in the rest of the North East region of India. Such a development option, imposed by the government of India upon the indigenous peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and their traditional lands, will spell the total annihilation of the cultural and social fabric, histories and traditions of these communities, imperil livelihood base and irreversibly ruin the ecology and precious biological diversity heritage of this sub-region.
6. The development paradigm that has been pursued in the South Asian region is the major source of the misery and conflicts, including the intensification of flooding in our rivers, the devastation of riverbank and soil erosion, the loss of natural wetlands and the creation of artificial wetlands, and the resulting change in our social, economic and cultural life. The peoples, governments and institutions of the region must seriously review such a paradigm.
On Peoples' Solidarity, Co-operation and Advocacy
7. The South Asian Solidarity for Rivers and Peoples (SARP), is a peoples' alliance and we stand for a uncompromising vision on natural water resources, particularly our rivers and wetlands that emerge from rich socio-cultural traditions and a history of managing natural frontiers and limits within the diverse of ecological confines of the region.
8. SARP will stand together as a democratic and informed alliance working in the best interest of the peoples of South Asia struggling for their rights over their natural heritage, especially rivers, wetlands and forests. In this endeavour, we recognise that women, indigenous peoples, ethnic and other minorities are equally caretakers, nurturers, educators and leaders of our societies, as well as custodians of the land and water resources who bear the brunt of the devastation caused by so-called economic development in our region; and shall ensure a representative voice of the women's struggles and organizations, as well all indigenous and other minority groups of our region.
9. SARP commits itself to act as a well-informed network that will continue to provide an analytical framework and strategic action plan to counter the internal contradictions and external challenges arising from the inequitable and unsustainable exploitation of our rivers, wetlands and other water resources in South Asia.
10. SARP will be guided by the charter provided through the principles and objectives of the Sagarmatha Declaration, the Kathmandu Statement, the Nirjuli Consensus and all subsequent declarations from future SARP Forums.
11. We reaffirm the Sagarmatha Declaration and Programme of Action adopted in the first South Asia Regional Forum in December 2002 in Kathmandu, and the Kathmandu Statement on the Interlinking of Rivers Project and recommendations of the second Forum in 2003.
12. We also draw inspirations and strategies from all other local, national and regional-level initiatives and meetings on water, rivers and wetlands in the region organised by peoples' movements and networks and outcomes in the past that are in congruence with the ones adopted by SARP as guiding principles. In particular, we extend our solidarity with the positions adopted from the South Asian Consultation on River Linking Project, Dhaka, 2004 organised by Bangladesh People's Initiative against River Linking (BPIRL) in collaboration with SARP; the National Convention on Inter-Linking of Rivers, New Delhi, India, 2004 organised by the National Alliance of Peoples' Movements and its allies; and the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) Resolution on Rivers adopted in the light of the International Conference on Regional Cooperation on Transboundary Rivers, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2004.
13. We are committed to pro-actively seek alliances and cooperation, and extend substantive and meaningful solidarity, with all national and international campaigns and movements across the regions of the world, such as the Americas, Europe, Africa and Eastern and South East Asia, wherever rivers, wetlands and peoples are threatened by private, corporate and financial institutional interests. In particular, we express our deepest concerns about the IIRSA and other mega-infrastructure projects in South and Central America, and the hydraulic and other infrastructure plans in South East Asia, e.g. Greater Mekong Sub-region including the Salween River Basin, and extend our solidarity with peoples' struggles in these regions.
14. SARP will use every forum, avenue and opportunity nationally, regionally and internationally to advocate for our struggles and objectives.
On Water
15. Water is a basic human right, and not a commodity for profit or commercial ventures. It is a common natural resource and integral part of the heritage of all peoples, a common property right, particularly of the indigenous peoples and communities. Any violation of this fundamental right whether in the name of resource management or private profit is a serious crime against humanity as well as the nature.
16. Water privatization benefits corporate and other vested interests, corrupt politiciansand bureaucrats at the cost of the rights and interests of the public and local communities. Water is not a state asset to be disposed of as needed; it is a communal right and belongs to the commons. We oppose the privatisation of water.
On Himalayan Policy
17. There is an urgent need to adopt policies and laws to address the needs and aspirations of the Himalayan region and the peoples. Management of natural resources must assume paramount importance and development model in accordance with environmental conservation and peoples' economic livelihoods. A clear regional and peoples' Himalayan Policy perspective is required in the light of rapid industrialisation, unregulated tourism and global warming.
On Rivers and River-Linking Projects
18. In order to save rivers, the peoples and governments of South Asia must refrain from activities that threaten the existence of these life sources and irreparably damage the biodiversity, environment, economy, natural growth of delta and floodplains in the basins of all rivers in question; including encroachments, pollution of rivers and watercourses.
19. Despite the last few decades of peoples' struggles against destructive large dams, there is currently a renewed thrust to build more by the international corporate lobbies and interests in collaboration with our governments and ruling establishments. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank led international financial institutions now have confidence that the global and regional security and governance environment is conducive for their profiteering and destructive investment strategies and plans. We call on peoples' movements to be vigilant in this time of corporate-led encroachment into communal resources.
20. The gigantic Indian river-linking project is a catastrophic proposal that will have irreversible negative consequences on humans, communities, societies, cultures and ecological habitats of the entire region. There has not even been a meaningful and informed debate on the pros and cons of the river-linking or other river diversion projects in the region. However, peoples' movements and unbiased experts across the region have spoken out clearly against the project on scientific, ecological, financial, and socio-cultural grounds.
21. We demand for the immediate and total cancellation of India's unilateral inter-linking of rivers project and of the 13th December 2002 Resolution of Government of India for Interlinking of Rivers. This is demanded in the light of the revelation in the Indian Parliament that the report of the National Commission for Water Resource Development deems peninsular component unnecessary and Himalayan component as not feasible because of adverse environment impacts.
22. In the context of this demand, we resolve to submit a memorandum to the Standing Committee on Water Resources of the Parliament of India, currently under the Chairmanship of Shri R. Sambasiva Rao, Member of Parliament, which is presently examining the details of the proposed project and preparing a priority report to Parliament on the project "Interlinking of Rivers".
23. We demand complete transparency at all stages of planning, building, and managing of any water resources project in the sub-continent, while in principle and based on our experience, we oppose the large dams and mega-river-linking projects. Our resurgent movements springing from our past and present living experiences with large dams clearly conclude that large dams can rarely be "good" or "sustainable". We assert that large dam projects can only be built in the absence of better, ecologically sustainable and non-destructive viable alternatives in full compliance with the criteria and guidelines of the World Commission on Dams and other national and international legal, human rights and environmental framework, and obligations.
On Wetlands and Floods
24. Wetlands are one the most precious source for the survival of human habitats, livelihoods and biodiversity of the world, many of them fed and sustained by annual flooding of our rivers. They must be allowed to survive undisturbed. Systematic encroachment, full or partial fragmentation, lack of adequate protection through conservation-related policies, laws or institutions can play havoc with this ancient natural heritage. Collective participation of indigenous and local peoples in the nourishment and long-term protection of wetlands can be the only logical and rational option in this time of crisis.
25. We are particularly concerned with the continuous destruction of the wetlands, including the mangrove forests, recognised and unrecognised as the Ramsar sites, and we demand for the full implementation of wise-use and conservation plans evolved with the full and meaningful consultation and consent of the indigenous concerned peoples and local communities.
26. We shall support wide and strong peoples' campaigns in the struggle for the conservation of our precious wetlands.
27. An independent and fair study on the phenomenon of flood covering all aspects connected with and involving peoples working on it and affected by it should be done urgently. We are deeply concerned that the findings of the various high-level Task Forces set up by the government of India and concerned States to study flooding of our rivers and recommend measures to mitigate their impacts are not worthy of their status, irrational and non-consultative nor are the recommendations acceptable to the peoples.
28. We demand an early warning system on flood that is accessible to all peoples living in the entire basin or watershed of each major river, including the Transboundary Rivers. We shall do our utmost to have such systems installed at the peoples' level for the entire sub-continent.
29. The rights of ownership of lands and fishing rights of flood-affected peoples and communities should be recognised and respected. Government should stop alienating such flood plains and areas from the affected peoples and communities by such action as auctioning areas to private interests and profiteers. Existing legal provisions concerning loss of lands and other immovable properties due to erosion and course changes of rivers should be urgently reviewed. On Free, Prior and Informed Consent
30. The principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of the indigenous peoples with regard to all development projects, including extractive industries that affect them and their lands is now a well recognised one in international law. This principle must equally apply to local (non-indigenous) communities whose livelihood base is threatened by development projects planned in their localities and outside of their localities that have the potential to impact their livelihood. FPIC should always form the prior basis of any steps planned or taken for projects that are located or will impact on indigenous and local communities' lands and natural resource base.
31. Projects involving commercial exploitation of natural resources (minerals, hydrocarbon resources, forests, water, and hunting/fishing grounds in indigenous peoples' territories and local communities' vicinities (areas where there is specific or broad 'collective attachment'), FPIC in practice must make it mandatory that the affected peoples and communities be accorded the space to freely make a decision according to their traditional or customary practices after being fully informed of (a) their rights to such resources under statutory and customary law; (b) the scope and nature of such proposed commercial development and the parties involved or interested in such development; and (c) the potential effects of such development on their livelihoods, environments, and use of such resources.
32. Social and Environment Impact Assessments (known generally as EIAs) which constitute a legal or statutory framework of project environment clearance have systematically undermined and subverted the basic principles of FPIC.
33. The present practice of and current IFIs and corporation-led attempt to "re-engineer" EIAs by state agencies are a further direct assault in this direction.
34. We challenge the present assault on our democratic right to participation and decision making; and demand an immediate full and independent review of the Social and Environment Impact Assessment statutes at the national level in order to affirm the principle of FPIC and strengthen the protection of constitutionally and internationally safe-guarded democratic rights.
On India's North East Region
35. We recognise the increasing focus of large-scale hydraulic and other infrastructure development projects with huge potential impacts in the North Eastern region of India, particularly in the context of regional economic and geo-political spheres of interest in South and South East Asia, enhanced attention for investment by international financial institutions (IFIs), private financial cartels and other arrangements, and India's new so-called "Look East" policy perspective.
36. We shall work together to ensure that the indigenous peoples and local communities of India's North East region are protected from exploitation, human rights violations and subjugation of their dignity, pride, culture and honour to exist in their ancestral habitat and further to safeguard the rich heritage, bio-diversity and natural resources from devastation in the name of economic development.
37. We shall support and strengthen peoples' campaigns, groups and networks in the struggles of the North East region of India in the above context.
On Financial Institutions, Donors and Corporations
38. The international financial institutions (IFIs), donors and corporations today face a crisis of credibility. They have failed to ensure and convince the communities that large dams bring direct benefits to them. They are not transparent and impose severe conditions on the recipient countries making large dams even more expensive and disastrous economically, socially and environmentally. Their information disclosure and other policies are neither adequate nor effective.
39. IFIs and such other financing institutions and donors should not finance dam projects without meeting the framework provided by the World Commission on Dams and no projects of any kind should be financed without resolving disputes, particularly in trans-boundary rivers. IFIs should stop the practice of using profit-driven private contractors and other middlemen to implement their projects. IFIs' and Trans-National Corporations' impunity for their economic, environmental and human rights violations and crimes cannot be tolerated; and debt due to bad dams financed by multi-lateral and/or bilateral funding should be cancelled. Hydroelectric dams and projects must also be kept out of the emerging international Carbon Credit Trading under Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism.
40. Today, the phenomenon of dam building is further strengthened by the open support provided by the private banks and public trust funds. National financial institutions and arrangements are a growing phenomenon in the financing of river valley projects, without any policy or accountability mechanism. We demand that such institutions and public trusts immediately withdraw from irresponsible dam financing; and urgently place fair, transparent and effective safeguard and accountability policies and mechanisms, developed through widely consultative processes, for all investments, credit lines and lending.
On Riparian Issues
41. We oppose the construction of any infrastructure or river diversion projects in transboundary rivers unless there is equal, free and informed consent and prior consensus among all the co-riparian states and nations. It has to be based on the principles of equality, fraternity and respect for mutual interests in word and deed. Direct consultations and seeking consent of the communities living in these transboundary river basins is a priori condition. This process of consultation and consensus should equally apply to China as South Asia's upper riparian country.
42. All trans-boundary river basin countries and communities must make efforts to maintain flow of rivers by removing obstacles that impede drainage. All possible measures should be adopted to avoid inappropriate projects and activities that exacerbate flood, inundation and cause damages to local inhabitants and the environment. To this end regular consultation among co-riparian communities is prerequisite so that approach can be identified to bring all stakeholders into an agreement. People displaced by dams and embankments built in the past must be properly compensated and rehabilitated socially and economically.
43. A comprehensive and independent review of impacts of existing water projects involving local, regional, and international rights- and stakeholders should be undertaken, including social and ecological costs, rights and risks, and we demand immediate decommissioning of all destructive dams including the Farakka, Gandak and Kosi Barrages, the adverse impacts of which are well documented in both the upstream and downstream regions.
On Existing Treaties, Agreements and Conflict Resolutions
44. All the existing treaties and agreements on rivers and wetlands should be reviewed in line with the emerging principles of international law and human rights of the concerned communities and nations. Most of these treaties have led to protracted conflicts and social unrests across boundaries. We demand an Independent South Asia Commission on Water-related Conflicts and Resolutions to minimise and prevent conflicts, both past, present and future, for the benefits of all concerned in the days and years to come.
45. Towards achieving this goal, we have agreed to set up a South Asia Peoples' Commission on Water-related Conflicts and Resolutions, which will start the process through research, analysis, documentation, public hearings and tribunals within the next six months.
On Regional Legal Framework
46. To avoid any future conflicts over international watercourses and benefits, we demand an immediate adoption of a South Asia Regional Framework Treaty on Trans-boundary Rivers and Their Management for regional peace and prosperity of all South Asians.
