The ways in which Arundhati Roy depicts hydropower dynamics in India is powerful, and there are definite connections and generalizations to be made regarding nations building large dams. However, her writings have allowed me to more clearly perceive how Chile differs in many regards. These differences are not necessarily better or worse, but those who are resisting the ongoing dam building boom in Chile have a unique and uphill battle.
“Dam-building grew to be equated with Nation-building. Their enthusiasm alone should have been reason enough to make one suspicious. Not only did they build new dams and new irrigation systems, they took control of small, traditional systems that village communities had managed for thousands of years, and allowed them to atrophy. To compensate the loss, the government built more and more dams. Big ones, little ones, tall ones, short ones.” – Arundhati Roy
The point made above emphasizes a nation’s reliance on hydropower to promote development. This concept in Chile is harshly evident, in that the government allowed private hydro companies free range in terms of connecting more remote areas to the main energy grid (SIC) seemingly so the national government would not be faced with that financial and social responsibility themselves. The privatization of water rights in the 1980s in Chile “should have been reason enough to make [the entire country] suspicious.”