Bhutanese Tourism Industry Under Attack: II

The clarion call that is being sounded for the “liberalization” of tourism business is ill advised, poorly timed and based on all the wrong premises. Even worst, I believe that the pursuit of this agenda goes against Bhutan’s national interest and that the reversal of the present policy of “high value, low impact” has the potential to cause irreparable damage to many decades of careful planning and steady advancement.

The talk in the tourism circles is that the hotel lobby is behind the push for what they call the “liberalization” of the tourism trade and that they have enlisted the help of some of the National Council members to champion their cause. It is also rumored that sometime back the National Council members engineered a debate on the subject - at the Royal Institute for Governance and Strategic Studies (RIGSS) in Phuentsholing - the motion for liberalization was defeated.

The Robin Hoods in the National Council will do well to remember that the House cannot be allowed to be used to further the cause of some select group of people. It must remain focused on issues that further the national interest.

In all fairness, I am not really sure if it is indeed the hotel lobby that is instigating the dangerous idea of “liberalization”, or some other interest group. But one thing is sure: the idea is ANTI-NATIONAL! The idea of “liberalization” as it is currently proposed is the very antithesis to our time-tested concept of “high value, low impact” tourism. It has the potential to devastate our tourism industry.

Let us examine the issues involved:

1.  The concept behind low volume, high value tourism

2.  The rationale and merit of the imposition of minimum daily tariff
3.  How is tourism traffic to Bhutan generated and who generates them
4.  The fuss about under-cutting
5.  Generation of foreign exchange and employment.

Demerits of “liberalization” as it is currently proposed:

1.  Influx of undesirable category of visitors
2.  Poor carrying capacity
3.  Social, cultural, religious and environmental impact of uncontrolled and unregulated tourism
4.  Increase in crime rate
5.  Plummeting foreign exchange inflow
6.  Offshore accounts
7.  Poor tax collection through evasion
8.  Loss of moral authority to regulate and impose minimum levels of service
     by tour operators and other service providers - market forces will reign supreme
9.  The role of the regulatory body will become redundant.

It is said that the only thing that is constant is: evolution. The human race is constantly evolving. Thus we must change and evolve to keep pace and be relevant to changing times and situations. However, change must be meaningful and progressive - not the kind of change we seek - destructive and ruinous.

............. to be continued

Bhutanese Tourism Industry Under Attack: I

The dream destroyers are at it yet again!

The clamor for demolishing the visionary tourism policy of high-value, low-volume, introduced by the Fourth Druk Gyalpo in 1974, is gaining steam from certain sections of the society and the Bhutanese polity. Sadly it is happening during a time when we celebrated the monarch’s 60th Birth Anniversary that concluded less than two weeks back. I am unable to understand the logic behind those who are baying for the burial of a policy that has been admired and adulated by world leaders and thinkers.

There is something terribly wrong with the people who seek to alter a policy that has stood us in good stead for the past four decades. These people ignore the fact that the unremitting success we have seen in our vital tourism industry hinged on one simple and yet profound guiding principal - our much-admired policy of high-value, low-volume tourism. I have heard visitors to Bhutan praise the wisdom behind the policy. Infact the tourists favor even higher daily tariff in the hope that Bhutan can continue to support and maintain the pristine environment and cultural purity that is the hallmark of Bhutan’s enduring allure as a tourism destination.

Bhutan introduced tourism in 1974 - soon after the coronation of His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck. Some of the large hotels (by Bhutan’s standards) such as Hotel Olathang, Hotel Motithang and Hotel Kharbandi were constructed to accommodate the visiting dignitaries to the coronation ceremony. In my view the introduction of tourism was necessitated to make use of these facilities that would otherwise remain unused.

While introducing tourism, His Majesty the IVth Druk Gyalpo was mindful of the negative impacts of uncontrolled and unregulated tourism. Thus, he was categorical that the guiding principals that should define and guide the development of our tourism industry would be: high-value, low-volume, (this was later rephrased to read: high-value, low-impact). Since then Bhutan has been unwavering and single minded in the pursuit of this policy resulting in an industry that now qualifies as the most important and vibrant.

In 1974 when the country was opened up for tourism, tourist arrivals were a mere 287. It has now grown to over 133,000 arrivals in 2014. From a single tour operator in 1974, there are currently over a thousand licenced tour companies engaged in tourism businesses.

Tourism accounts for the highest amount of untied foreign exchange inflow - estimated at about US$73 million annually, out of which close to US$21.00 million is net Royalty that goes into the national exchequer. It is the country’s biggest employer, providing employment and livelihood to every segment of Bhutanese society - irrespective of religion, gender, social standing, level of skills, educated and uneducated, the aged and the young.

As of now, tourism industry is the only industry in the country that DOES NOT INDULGE IN FRONTING. Unlike in other sectors where even a shanty stationary shop is financed and owned by shadowy outsiders, every aspect of the tourism business is owned and managed by Bhutanese. Unlike in the perilous hydro-power industry where secondhand trucks, buses, cement, rods, management and even vegetables are brought in from outside, Bhutanese tourism industry relies solely on local talent and resources available within the country.

But now it is under attack. This is insanity at its worst. There can be nothing noble or patriotic about those people who are determined to lead asunder the only industry that is the bastion of Bhutanese entrepreneurial spirit.

Surely something sinister is afoot!

............. to be continued

60th Birth Anniversary Celebration Photos

It was notified that photography of the most public celebrations of the Birth Anniversary of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo at the Changlemithang stadium on 11th November, 2015 was not allowed. I am clueless as to why a most public celebration should be out of bounds for photographers. However, it is not in my place to question - thus I did not go anywhere near the grounds. Instead I walked around town to take pictures of some really beautiful decorations that were put up to mark the occasion. I even went to Paro to check out the decorations there.

Come to think of it, may be the American visitor is right - we prefer to criminalize social disorders such as drug and alcohol abuse, juvenile delinquency etc.- instead of trying to remedy the causes that trigger them.

The following photos are posted for the benefit of Bhutanese people living outside the country. Ofcourse this is a sideshow - but this should give an idea of how charming the celebrations were - inside the celebration grounds.

 I love this one - I spent time to choose a particular time of day so that I can capture the shadows that add character to this uniquely crafted portrait of His Majesty the 4th Druk Gyalpo - at the VAST, Thimphu

Almost 300 ft. long - had a hard time framing this shot - at the RBA Campus, Shaba, Paro

Obeisance To The Fourth Druk Gyalpo: Champion of Environmental Conservation

One day in 1970, Mr. Stuart Filby - my principal at Paro High School - asked me to walk with him in the school orchard located at the southern edge of the school. There was an unusual solemnity about this domineering taskmaster as we silently wove our way through the haphazard line of fruit trees of apples, peaches and plums. After a while, he sat down on a tree stump; I took my place on the grassy floor of the orchard.

“Yeshey,” he said, “I have been asked to head the newly established Ugyen Wangchuck Academy where the Crown Prince will complete the rest of his studies. I will be leaving soon. A number of Bhutanese students from schools in Kalimpong and Darjeeling will be joining the Academy, along with few I have chosen from this school. Unfortunately, you will not be among them. I am sorry - but it is for your own good. You certainly qualify to be in that group. But I am afraid that if I take you, His Highness will surely kill you half way through the year."

This is how I first heard of Crown Prince Jigme Singye Wangchuck, my future King. I was so incorrigibly naughty and mischievous that my school principal had no doubt that His Royal Highness would surely do me in.

Soon after, His Royal Highness ascended the Golden Throne as the IVth Druk Gyalpo and got busy with the affairs of the state. Meanwhile I, the incurable laggard and prankster, continued to make life hell for everyone - teachers and students alike.

A few years later, I joined the civil service, in fulfillment of the rule that required everyone to devote 14 years of service to the country as restitution for the free education we received from the government. It was during my tenure at the Export Division of the Ministry of Trade and Industries that I became aware of His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck’s environmental bend of mind.

It is my belief that the environmental awakening in His Majesty took place sometime towards the end of 1970’s, when a series of measures to protect and conserve our natural resources were put in place. I think it was also around this time that His Majesty promulgated the now famous conceptual philosophy of “Gross National Happiness”.

In 1979, His Majesty commanded the seizure of illegal plantations, mostly in the South, where thousands of acres of public land were deforested and turned into unauthorized cardamom plantations. In the same year, he nationalized the timber trade that was causing large-scale deforestation, mainly in the North, through rampant and unplanned logging operations. I was privileged to be in the thick and thin of this conservation initiative, in my capacity as the head of the export section of the Export Division, Ministry of Trade & Industries. I, and my division was put in charge of confiscating the cardamoms and the raw lumber, and arrange for their disposal.

His Majesty introduced a number of watershed management polices, in recognition of the importance of water as a precious national resource. He declared thousands of acres of wilderness as wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, to prevent the areas from human exploitation. In recognition of his contribution to conservation, His Majesty received the much-coveted recognition when the world community awarded him the “Champion of Earth Award” in 2005 and the “J. Paul Getty Award for Conservation Leadership” in 2006.

However, His Majesty’s definitive contribution to the cause of environmental conservation has to be the constitutional requirement that Bhutan must maintain, in perpetuity, 60% of its land under forest cover.

On another front, the Operation All Clear carried out in the winter of 2003 was likewise an act of conservation - of Bhutan’s nationhood - that will go down in history as the pinnacle of His Majesty’s achievement. In his capacity as the Supreme Commander of the armed forces and servant and protector of the people and nation of Bhutan, His Majesty personally led the flush-out operations against Indian militants camped in the tropical jungles of Southern Bhutan. When the operation was announced, I was lodged at the Maurya Sheraton, in New Delhi. I called up a friend in Bhutan to confirm the news. I was told that the operations were in progress, even as we spoke. A chill went through my body, because I was in no doubt of the series of events that would follow, should this operation fail.

Months after this successful military campaign, information of His Majesty’s years of meticulous planning of the operations began to filter out. It became clear that we had a monarch with an uncommon intelligence, discipline, clarity of purpose and an unparalled sense of duty; proving, what one senior Royal Family Member had once told me:

“Drubi gii mii su drog ra mengo. Ngachara gii Zhab lu bjangshi cho me zambuling di na lu mi chiig ra med”.

Forty-four years after first meeting His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet him once again - this time in a more sociable setting. I had met him few times during school days when we played soccer together at the Paro Ugyen Pelri Palace grounds.

In 2014, I was privileged to be an invitee (one of the two outside the Royal Family) at a lunch hosted by His Majesty for a visiting diplomat. His Majesty spoke to me of his encounter with the White-bellied Heron and how his eyes were nearly damaged when he attempted to capture the bird with his bare hands. His Majesty asked me if I had photographed the endangered Palla’s Fish Eagle and the elusive Snow Leopard. He had obviously heard of my photographic jaunts into the frigid alpine regions of the country, during the thick of winter. He asked me to tell him of the coldest place I had been to. I recounted my journeys and experiences in minute detail - only to be told with a smile that he did not believe a word I said. Obviously, my accounts of my travels sounded too outlandish to be credible.

One Australian recently asked me;

"What do you think is the best about Bhutan"? 

I replied;

“Our natural environment which is largely intact”.

His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo has carved out a place for himself in the hearts of every Bhutanese - for his selfless service for the preservation of the Bhutanese people and the nation state of Bhutan. I am in no doubt that without His Majesty’s unrelenting care and protection of our natural surrounding, the state of our natural environment would be no where near what it is today.

Therefore, in this year of his 60th Birth Anniversary, I pay obeisance to His Majesty for his service to the people of Bhutan and wish him good health and long life so that he is around to give protection to our environment that is coming under increasing danger of being devastated.

MAY YOUR MAJESTY LIVE LONG AND HAPPY.

The pair of avocado above was supposedly grown from the seed of an avocado consumed by

His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. The owner of the avocado tree tells me that

a couple of nuns picked up the seeds from Yap Ugyen Dorji’s zimchu in Punakha where

His Majesty had paid a visit and ate the fruits.

Each of the avocados weighed just a little under a kilo each.

My Final Post On Keeping Chamkhar Chhu Undammed and Free-flowing

Since the government has announced that they are unwilling to keep Chamkhar Chhu free of dams, this will be the last post I will do on the issue of keeping one of our rivers free of dams. As a concerned citizen, I have tried to do, what I believe, is best for the country and the people of Bhutan. The rest is now up to the King, the government and others who I know are as concerned as I am about the need to keep one river free of dams.

For me, this is the end of the road. However, for the cause .... one never knows. Life is full of surprises.

The following is the full version of the email interview KUENSEL did with me. While I will keep on writing on issues related to hydro-power, I will not write any further or give interviews on the issue relating to keeping one of our rivers undammed and free flowing.

…………...............................................................................…. 

As you might have read, the Prime Minister has said that the petition/debate is a decade late and should have been raised before the governments of Bhutan and India signed the Chamkhar Chhu agreement. How would you respond? 

Yes, I have read the Prime Minister’s statement to the press during the government’s 19th Meet-the-Press session.

I am a little aghast that the government should decide to slam the door in my face, even before I knocked on it. As far as I am concerned, I have not yet submitted my petition to the government. Infact, I did not think that it would be necessary to submit the compiled petition because I believed that they would surely understand and empathize with the profundity behind my plea to keep the Chamkhar Chhu undammed and free-flowing in order that the same can be bequeathed to the name of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo in the year of His 60th Birth Anniversary. The government should not need a voluminous petition to do a worthy cause, should they believe that it is indeed a worthy cause.

I am aware of the existence of an agreement between Bhutan and India but that agreement is now untenable. According to the agreement, we are supposed to do 10,000 MW by end of 2020. We are nearing end of 2015 and not a single one of those ten projects have come on stream. In fact, six among them are still on the drawing board.

Unless Bhutan is under duress from India to do the Chamkhar Chhu Hydropower project specifically, I am sure that if a proposal is made to them, India will find it acceptable to choose another location from among 76 economically viable locations that have been identified under the 2004 Updated Bhutan Power System Plan. After all it is our hydro-power project and we should have the first and final say. We are not asking to curb the overall agreed generation - if that be their concern - merely that another location be selected in order that we can leave Chamkhar Chhu undammed and free flowing in eternity and bequeath it to our most deserving Monarch. I have no doubt that since India is coming under increased criticism from the international community given their environmental record, they will be equally recognized for partnering with Bhutan in our efforts at ecological and environmental conservation in a region that accounts for Asia’s largest fresh water supply.

It is never too late to correct a mistake. We all know and accept that this government was not a party to the hydro-power agreements of the past. However, feigning helplessness is not the way of a responsible government. The PDP government has been elected to be the chosen one, when the Bhutanese people pronounced their desire for a change in governance. If the same old policies are to be perpetuated, and same old mistakes continue to be made, how have the PDP government lived up to the people’s expectations?

Your plea that Bhutan should leave at least one river un-dammed, and the derivative arguments (economic benefits, environment) will go unheeded by the government. Are you still going to submit your petition to the government if you obtain 500 signatures? 

No, I won’t be doing that because, as I said earlier, I did not contemplate submitting the compiled petition to the government in the first place. That is why from day one, I disabled the button on the website that would have sent an E-mail to the Hon’ble Prime Minister - every time a supporter pressed the support button.

The government has been explicit that the Chamkhar Chhu project is a done deal and that there is no room for discussion. Regardless, it is my hope that the government will still leave open a small window of opening for reconsideration and recapitulation. That said, at the end of the day, should they decide not to, they are the government of the day and it is their call. It is not as if I am the only one that is concerned about this country’s future and well being. I know that there are others who are even more concerned than me.

However, it is sad that I did not hear a single one of our various environmental organizations voicing their concern at the devastation that is being caused to our environment. Not one of our many environmentalists have come foreword to publicly contest the false claims made by the political leadership and the hydro-power proponents that our dams are environmentally sound. Not one has refuted the falsehood that is being put out - that our dams will not emit green house gases such as Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide and Methane, the principal causes of global warming. Not one has challenged the lie that all our hydro-power projects are run-of-the-river projects. Not one of our many learned economists has spoken against the economic peril, the debt burden and outrageous interest rate charged on the loans and the unsustainable manner is which we do our hydro-power projects.

Your petition caused a lively debate within Bhutanese society and it seems public opinion is divided. You've failed to convince the government but are you in anyway satisfied about some of the outcomes of your petition? 

Frankly I know nothing about any outcome from this. However, I like the fact that my cause has sparked off a vigorous debate on the issue but those debates have been in the Facebook, where I am not.

I have pointed out nearly a dozen flaws in the way our hydro-power projects are done. The present government puts the blame on the past government, for the shamefully lopsided deal Bhutan got in the recent hydro-power projects. I will agree with that. However, it is hoped that this government will derive lessons from the past mistakes and do things differently.

I will be satisfied if some of the following emerge from these debates:

a.    The engagement of professional lawyers in going through the

      fine prints of the agreements before it is signed. From what

      we have seen happening in Punasangchhu I & II and

      perhaps even in Mangdechhu, it is evident that the negotiating

      team from Bhutan were sleep walking when they signed

      those hydro-power project agreements;

b.   That the government ensure that clauses in the

      agreements protect the interests of the Bhutanese

      business community and the local manufacturing industries;

c.    That further hydro-power projects is suspended - until

       all the projects currently in the pipeline are completed and

       fully commissioned because if we don't, I fear that

       our economic woes will be further compounded; and

d.    Ensure that all future DPRs are done professionally and

       then cross-checked by independent consultants to ensure

       that the studies have been carried out properly and that

       repeated geological surprises are not a norm.

Many from Kheng did not agree with your petition. Have their arguments in anyway softened your stance or thrown new light on your point of view? 

No - their arguments were complete nonstarters. In any event, when talking of a national level concern, localized issues are of no consequence. I am completely appalled at the assertion that the Chamkhar Chhu project will bring roads and schools and hospitals and electricity to Khengrig Namsum. There is something sinister about some of the Khenpas’ insistence, even while they are fully aware that this has not been the case in every single one of our earlier projects. They talk as if provision of these services is in the mandate of the project, thereby totally misleading innocent people.

By the way, I would like to once again reiterate that my intention was to keep one river undammed and free flowing, for future generations and, perhaps, for the reason that it may afford us an alternative to hydro-power. Chamkhar Chhu Hydropower project was furthest from my mind. For me it is a none-issue.

Are you planning to continue to petition against the dam? If yes, what comes next and why? 

Once again, I wasn't petitioning against any dams. I was appealing to keep one river free flowing - assign to nature what is rightfully nature’s.

No, I will not continue because the government has been categorical that they will not consider it. To continue in the face of such steadfast resistance from the all-powerful government would be nothing short of flogging a dead horse. The government has the people’s mandate and they are the ones who should be satisfied that they are performing their duties with sincerity and in good faith, as mandated by the people of Bhutan.

I, and my aspirations, are incidental.

One Decade Too Late? No, Two Decades Too Late!

The government had recently said that I am one decade too late in bringing up the issue of the need to keep one river free flowing. But it transpires that I am not one, but two decades late. The recommendation to keep one river basin free of hydropower was apparently included in the first Bhutan Power System Master Plan, prepared and submitted in early 90’s by a World Bank/NORAD Consultant. The Consultant in question, Mr. John H. Gerstle, C.E., MNIF, wrote me the following mail yesterday morning. I have his permission to publish his mail so that, hopefully, the government may reconsider their decision.


www.change.org/p/the-elected-members-of-the-parliament-and-the-royal-government-of-bhutan-keep-chamkhar-chhu-river-free-flowing

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Yeshey;

I was very interested to learn recently of your efforts to ensure consideration of relevant issues in Bhutan’s hydropower planning.

My hydropower-related service in Bhutan took place as follows:

1985-1988    Advisor, Planning Commission, RGOB

1988-1990    Himalayan Regional Programme Advisor
                     Water Resources Management and Environment,

                     UNDP, Kathmandu

1990-2004    Consultant on Development of Guidelines for

                     Hydropower Planning and Impact Assessment,

                     National Environmental Secretariat/Planning

                     Commission, RGOB

                     Deputy Project Manager, Bhutan Power System

                     Master Plan Studies, with responsibility for

                     environmental impact concerns/recommendations

                     Environmental Advisor, Mangde Chhu Hydropower

                     Project Feasibility Investigations.

In my work with RGOB, I strongly encouraged the early determination of those rivers and river basins to be designated for hydropower development, and those to be preserved for environmental, social, cultural, tourism, recreational and other objectives.

Similarly, it was recommended that hydropower development be concentrated in a small number of river basins, to limit the extent of the impacts and the expense of new infrastructure development required for projects far away from each other. It was expected that such a concentration of hydropower development along some rivers would enable other rivers to be conserved and protected.

These recommendations were made in the reports of the first Bhutan Hydropower System Master Plan so that the consideration could be done at an early stage, before significant investments and commitments would make such decisions more difficult.

So - you might understand my concern with the current situation - that there are projects existing, under construction or planned for all of Bhutan’s major rivers.  While I certainly understand the political, economic and financial benefits associated with these projects, and the desire to ensure that Bhutan benefits fully from its resources, I wonder whether the full costs - in terms of environmental, social, cultural, aesthetic and other impacts - are being properly considered.

Many of these impacts cannot really be mitigated - or even suitably compensated - and sometimes they are only recognized when it is too late. I am thinking, for example, of a number of hydropower dams in the USA that are being dismantled and taken out at a cost of many millions of dollars - because of the belated recognition of their impacts and the true value of the rivers in their undisturbed state.

I hope that you find these thoughts helpful, and that your efforts are successful to ensure consideration of the full range of relevant aspects which will have such important consequences for Bhutan and its coming generations of citizens. Please feel free to use these comments as you see fit, and it would be fine with me if you want to identify me by name.

I will close by sending you (and Bhutan!) my best wishes.

Sincerely,

John H. Gerstle, C.E., MNIF
Gerstle & Co LLC
Email: john.gerstle@alum.mit.edu
Cellphone: 720-470-5408
920 Jasmine Circle
Boulder, Colorado 80304
USA

The Dark Side of Our Hydropower Projects VII

My petition to allow the Chamkhar Chhu to remain undammed and free-flowing has been read around the world. An academician friend from the UK writes to me as follows:

Hi Yeshey,

I was very heartened to read your petition to keep Chamkhar Chhu free-flowing forever. It seems like one of the critical decisions that Bhutan faces in carrying out the promise and premise of GNH—an inflection point, so to speak. Very few nations still have the opportunity to shape their futures in such fundamental ways. Are you optimistic or pessimistic that Bhutan will make an enlightened choice? 

I was overwhelmed by the emotion and feeling that is resplendent in that short mail. In those four sentences, the friend managed to ask all the important questions that every Bhutanese will have to introspect and answer.

The questions are simple and yet fundamental.

How we decide on the issue I placed before the nation to decide will determine whether we ourselves believe in the promise and premise of GNH. If we dither or renege on the need to keep alteast one river free-flowing for the future generations to exploit this rare water resource in ways that may be more valuable than damming it for hydro-power, it will be a demonstration of the "inflection point" that the friend talks about.

As the friend points out, we are among the very few nations that still have the opportunity to shape our future in very fundamental ways. If we allow this opportunity to pass us by, saying sorry ten years down the line will be nothing more than spit on the sand.

And, everything hinges on the friend’s final question: will Bhutan make an enlightened choice?

Will we? I don't know but I am trying my damndest to convince you to make that enlightened choice. Because I believe that this generation has absolutely no right to exhaust every single water resource this country has, during our lifetime!

The decision to sink this country into debt and despair may not be yours but you might contribute to its salvation by signing at the following:

https://www.change.org/p/the-elected-members-of-the-parliament-and-the-royal-government-of-bhutan-keep-chamkhar-chhu-river-free-flowing

Another friend in New York sends me an SMS yesterday night asking:

“Didn't understand the first picture in your recent blog …. looks like domestic violence and so out of place with hydro-power….”

 

Abused and beaten black and blue

I explained to her thus:

The woman in the photo  personify Bhutan - hiding behind a glass curtain - abused and beaten black and blue and yet saying: “But he is sooooo good...!” The hapless and weak wife can do nothing but justify that her hydro-power husband is still good, regardless.

The Dark Side Of Our Hydropower Projects VI

My petition has never been about hydropower projects. It has been about the need and the duty to fulfill the Constitutional requirement to ensure intergenerational equity with respect to our natural and environmental resources. It has been about keeping one river - Chamkhar Chhu, free-flowing for all times to come. It has been about bequeathing the river to the name of the most illustrious of our environmentalists - His Majesty the IVth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuk. If you believe in the cause, please sign the petition at:

www.change.org/p/the-elected-members-of-the-parliament-and-the-royal-government-of-bhutan-keep-chamkhar-chhu-river-free-flowing

 The state of affairs between Bhutan and its hydro-power projects

Some truly eloquent and learned Bhutanese experts have recently spoken and written on the economic bonanza that the hydro-power projects mean for Bhutan. This cacophony has been blistering my eardrums since the last four decades. And yet, after all that, we find that we are even more badly off than we were at the point of departure! Still, our experts insist that we must take the phenomenal cost escalations and devastating geological surprises in our stride, because they reason that, it is in the nature of the business. They also reason that the more than Nu. 100 billion hydro-power loans that is in excess of our entire GDP is inconsequential because they say that the hydro-power loans are “self-liquidating”. But for those of you who worry, look at the following:

Bhutan’s hydro-power projects have largely been perceived risk-free, and thus rapid hydro-power investment through heavy borrowing has not caused much concern until recently. Yet available information suggests that the sector’s financial performance has been deteriorating since 2007. The net profit (before tax) per unit of electricity sold has fallen sharply since 2007, driven by rising costs and declining revenue. The sector’s regular contribution to the budget has also declined for the past 10 years, from 6-8 percent of GDP during the early 2000s to 2.7 percent in 2011/12, notwithstanding the significantly increased electricity generation capacity. All this indicates that the sector’s “high commercial profitability” cannot be taken for granted. Should the hydropower sector’s financial performance continue to deteriorate, Bhutan’s solvency could be threatened. Although debt service costs are being borne by DGPC at present, after all, the hydropower debt is the government’s liabilities. The source of the performance deterioration has to be identified, and, remedial actions taken soon to avoid debt service difficulties.

Economic Policy and Debt Department

The World Bank

From the above, you can see that even the World Bank worries about our capacity to remain solvent, should our hydro-powers fail. This should be warning enough to convince us to go slow on our hydro-power projects, or face the consequences.

Sometime back, the BBS ran a cute little graphics that depicted our external debt as opposed to our GDP:

 

A report called,  ‘The New Debt Trap’ released by the Jubilee Debt Campaign, a UK-based company has categorized Bhutan as a country with ‘high risk of government debt crisis’. The report lists Bhutan among 14 other nations that are fast heading towards a debt crisis.

 

TheBhutanese newspaper reported that Tata Power Trading Company (TPTC has a 15 years agreement with the Dagachhu Project to sell its electricity in India) was facing problems selling Dagachhu electricity at Nu. 2.90 in India. As opposed to that, according to Kuensel report, the cost of generation at the Punasangchhu has already touched Nu.4.00 per unit at 2017 figures. The project completion date has recently been pushed back to 2019 - meaning the cost will go up further.

The Dark Side Of Our Hydropower Projects V

Full version of my interview appearing in the Business Bhutan issue of today (12th September, 2015):

........................................................................................................

1.    You have started a petition to stop the damming of Chamkharchhu, which basically is a petition

        against the upcoming hydro-power project along the river. Why? What are the tangible ecological

       benefits of keeping the Chamkharchhu river system free flowing?

On the outset, let me be categorical that my petition to leave the Chamkhar Chhu undammed and free-flowing is NOT against the Chamkhar Chhu Hydro-power Project. Further, I would also like to clarify that unlike what some would like others to believe, I am NOT against hydro-power projects. I am all for it, because it is correct that we must benefit from the substantial hydro-power potential that our river systems represent. Certainly, if planned and executed with foresight and the required degree of prudence, the hydro-power projects have the potential to be a game changer for us. However, beyond that, I am against every single aspect of the manner in which they are implementing our hydroy-power projects.

>  The pace at which the projects are implemented is wrong

>  The financing model is wrong

>  Given the unit rate at which we sell our power to India, the interest rate charged on the loan portion

     of the equity is wrong

>    Award of project contracts is wrong

>   Total denial of business opportunities to Bhutanese business houses is wrong

>    Wholesale import of construction material when the same are available in country is wrong

>     Selection and composition of management team is wrong

>     The disparity in the decision making process is wrong

>     The quality of DPR is wrong

>     Quality of construction is wrong

>     The opacity in the manner in which they conduct their business is wrong.

However, as I said, I am NOT petitioning the government because I am against the installation of a dam over the river for a hydropower project. Why would I be worried about one project when there are 76 planned all over the country? My cause is simply that Bhutan MUST leave at least one river undammed and free flowing in perpetuity. My reasons are twofold:

a.    First, in a situation where global warming is creating all sorts of fresh water scarcity, we cannot be so irresponsible as to dam every one of our rivers. All around the world, water is now recognized as the most valuable resource – even more than oil. This means that every passing year, our fresh waters will be more and more valuable - because other country’s fresh water reserves are on the decrease. Completely bewitched by the myth that hydropower will pave our roads in gold and that we will see untold riches as a result of it, the Bhutanese people have been lulled into a stupor, thereby robbing us of the need to be imaginative. Today the situation is so scary that should our hydropower fail us, we will be completely sunk! WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO ALTERNATIVES. We have put all our dreams in the hydropower basket. We need alternatives and I believe that over time, our fresh water reserve has the potential to be one of the alternatives that we have to begin to pursue. That opportunity we must bequeath to our future generations.

b.    Second, the Bhutanese subjects are going helter-skelter trying to do something meaningful to honor our IVth Druk Gyalpo during His 60th Birth Anniversary. Gates are being constructed, avenues are being dug up to plant flowers in His honor; books and magazines are planned to be released on His Birth Anniversary; new songs are being composed, unique dances are being choreographed. But all these are short-lived and transient - to be forgotten within months after the celebrations. What we need to do is to do something that will be permanent and can be remembered till the end of eternity. That is the second reason why I am petitioning the government for the liberation of Chamkhar Chhu from dams so that we may bequeath it to the name of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo. Such a gift would be everlasting, as it should be!

2.    A lot of work and planning has already gone into Chamkharchhu hydro project.

        Perhaps, there is little chance that government would agree to kill the hydro project at this stage.
        In hindsight, don’t you think the petition has come a tad late? Why now? 

According to the Updated Bhutan Power System Plan 2004, as many as 76 hydropower projects are planned around the country. Therefore, one less hydropower project isn’t going to make any significant dent in their overall scheme of things. No substantial work has yet been done on the project – other than the DPR that is still a work in progress. Therefore abandoning the project will not translate into any significant loss of money.

The petition is PERFECTLY TIMED - because there is no worthier cause for the petition, than that the river be spared in the name of a conservationist of unparalleled credential, and for the fulfillment of the inter-generational responsibility that is a Constitutional mandate of every Bhutanese.

3.    The Chamkharchhu issue has in a way triggered another development versus conservation debate.

       The Kheng region has been left behind for far too long and the hydropower project is seen as a potential

      savior that will uplift the quality of life in Kheng. What’s your view on this? 

That is wrong. It is not conservation versus development debate. I have said this already and I am saying it again - when you have a gaping hole in your tummy, environment isn’t going to fill it. I believe that under normal conditions, the cause of the environment cannot be the stumbling block for human development and progress. I am realistic enough to understand that conservation efforts will always play second fiddle to human greed and the modern economic order.

It is lame to say that Zhemgang Dzongkhag got left behind because no hydropower projects happened there. It got left behind because the government did not do enough; it suffered poverty and neglect because elected leaders did not deliver on their promises. You don't need a hydropower project to bring roads, schools, hospitals and electricity to the villages. Hydropower project is not a prerequisite to the provision of these basic services. If those have not been provided, it is a failure on the part of the government and the apathy of the elected leaders.

Look at Chhukha Dzongkhag, Punakha, Wangdue and Trongsa Dzongkhags. How have the villages benefited? How have the business community benefitted? I am amazed at the naivety of these people who claim that hydro-power projects will bring all sorts of development to the villages, even while facts stare them in their faces.

4.  As an environmental conservationist, you have strongly voiced your views against the perilous impact

     of hydropower construction, particularly Puna I & II, on the habitat of the critically endangered

    White Bellied Heron, including the impact of Shingkhar-Gorgan road construction on tiger habitat.

    Taking these two examples, do you think, the government has failed in upholding the environmental

     principles and policies that influence and inspire our development process?

Yes, the government failed miserably! To some extent I can empathize with the environmental disaster at the Puna I & II – I can believe that the government would have never imagined that it would go so horribly wrong. Unfortunately we have not yet seen the end of it. However, what irks me is their unwillingness to learn their lessons from these tragic mistakes. Despite the monumental losses of money and opportunity, the government is still in a huge rush to do more projects. Why can’t we wait for the projects in the pipeline to be finished and commissioned?

The issue of Shingkhar-Gorgan highway is something else. This one is the absolute height of irresponsibility and disregard for the country’s laws. The NEC and the WCD has been categorical that they will not issue the environmental clearance to do this road because the law in place prohibits it. The road makes no economic sense to any body. If this government goes ahead with this road, it will be a government that breaks laws. You can imagine the state of this country - when lawmakers turn lawbreakers.