Safety planning for downstream communities is often a low priority. Many older dams pose hazards from years of poor maintenance. Dam wall acts as a physical barrier for fish species. Reduced water and silt flows cause severe problems for downstream agriculture, fisheries and ecosystems. Reservoir changes river's chemical composition, seasonal timing of flows, and temperature of water, harming fish and other species downstream.
Riverbed erosion increases dramatically, reducing biodiversity downstream.
Global Response members are asked to support the people of the Narmada Valley by urging the German Chancellor to halt the Hermes loan guarantee for the Maheshwar Dam. Please send a polite letter to the German Chancellor. Remind him that a guarantee for the Maheshwar project would violate the German government's promise to apply environmental, social and development criteria to its export credit guarantees. The Maheshwar Dam will submerge valuable agricultural land and deprive 40,000 people of their homes and livelihoods. These people are committed to non-violent resistance until construction stops.