It concludes that the homework on many dams was never done. We estimate there are about 40-80 million people that have been displaced by dams. You are talking about a very significant number of people. In addition to the human tragedy, the 12-member commission which includes representatives from industry, dam owners, governments and environmentalists, found that many dams are run inefficiently, involve cost overruns and have led to accidents and the loss of flood plains, forests, fisheries and wildlife. The commission recommends that large dam projects should only be approved if they meet a framework and guidelines, set out in the report, that recognise the rights and assess the risks of all interested parties.
Activists seize on report Critics of dams immediately seized on the report as a vindication.
They also call for reparations for the social and environmental damage caused by dams. The challenge could influence the future of China's Three Gorges dam, the dams on India's Narmada river, the Ilisu dam in Turkey, San Roque in the Philippines, Bujagali in Uganda and Ralco in Chile among others. Activists against dam-building say those projects do not comply with the WCD framework. Each dam is a unique understanding. But he stressed that the report only offered recommendations and it was up to governments and other parties to comply with them.