Filling multipurpose reservoirs with politics: Displacing the modern large dam in India

Abstract

Large dams have often been declared as purely expert-driven techno-economic artefacts which are beyond politics. This is frequently reflected in the calculation of cost-benefit ratios, which are assumed by many to objectively assess a dam’s social, economic and ecological impacts. This assumption is increasingly disputed by studies which instead suggest that outcomes are often arrived at politically and directed towards realising specific political goals.