However, the nature of this industry is such that few benefits actually accrue automatically to local people. Skilled construction jobs go mostly to outsiders with even the labourers sometimes brought in from the outside by the contractor. Traders who come in to the area to take advantage of the economic boom are also mostly outsiders. The limited menial jobs, which are available to locals, last only a few years. The boom and bust cycle of dam construction is similar to that of an extractive or mining industry.
Local communities do have a right to clear and long term benefits from project construction.
This is because the community as a whole loses when local production is reduced because of displacement. Secondly, building of the dam precludes other developments in the river basin, such as future irrigation projects. Communities along Himalayan rivers also lose out on future economic possibilities such as rafting and eco-tourism, after a dam is constructed. People in localities affected by dam building in Nepal have developed a keen sense that if they are to suffer losses and future economic opportunities, then the benefits to them need to be clear and up front. Developers and project contractors promise large benefits from the construction process itself, which do not materialize and are found to be inadequate by local communities.