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Quote: For over half a century we’ve believed that Big Dams would deliver the people of India from hunger and poverty. The opposite has happened." – Arundhati Roy Throughout South Asia, dams have been the source of heated controversy. Despite investments of tens of billions of dollars, dams have rarely met their expected benefits of irrigation, power generation and flood control. Instead, they have displaced millions of people, destroyed forests and decimated fisheries. In response, massive popular opposition has grown to become a force to be reckoned with. IRN works to strengthen the network of people fighting destructive dam construction in South Asia and has helped establish the South Asia office of the International Committee on Dams, Rivers and People. Dam building in India With 4,300 dams in place, India is one of the world’s major dam building countries. According to estimates, large dams have submerged a land area of about 37,500 square kilometers and have displaced at least 42 million people in India. For decades, people in India have been fighting dams. Through the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement) villagers have been opposing the massive Narmada Valley Development Project, which consists of hundreds of dams and an extensive irrigation system and will result in the displacement of millions of people. IRN has supported the movement fighting dams on the Narmada for over a decade and works to mobilize international pressure to stop these destructive projects. The Government of India is committed to a huge acceleration in dam construction. In May 2003, it announced plans to increase the country’s hydropower capacity by 50,000 megawatt over the next ten years. In July 2004, the World Bank announced that it would provide financial support for the dam building plans of the government. IRN, in cooperation with a network of activists and individuals in India, is challenging those plans and demands infrastructure development that starts with the needs of the poor.