It is a common belief that not only are dams one of the best ways of providing cheap electricity and water, they also provide a boost to industry.
Roger Harrabin 's film, looking at contentious projects in India and Sri Lanka, reveals that such a view is now being challenged. Opponents say that dams destroy the habitat of both people and animals, forcing the former to leave their homes and relocate, and leaving the latter to their own devices. And the power and water the dams provide are often grabbed by rich farmers and industrialists who have plenty of it already. There is real fear too, as in the case of the Tehri Dam being built on an earthquake fault line, that dams could be the cause of the biggest man-made disaster in human history. With environmental campaigners on the offensive, dam-building schemes are now among the most controversial development projects in the world, but is the new orthodoxy as doctrinaire and blinkered as the one it replaces? Producer John Bridcut Editor John Morrison
A Crux production for BBCtv