KiRAGRAPH 5. Seventeen villages in the flooded area have now been rebuilt and the 6.200 people -
mostly farmers who lived in them have been retrained to make a living from the reservoir. The power company has promised to double their living standards within five years. According to the World Bank, 87 per cent of those resettled believe life is much better than before as they now have electricity, sanitation, clean water, new roads and greater access to schools and health care. 'Inthe old village things just weren't convenient,' said Tiea, 25, one of the relocated villagers. 'Itwasn't a pretty place, the houses weren't very nice and we didn't have power. In the new village we have electricity, we can see better.'
PARAGRAPH 6. But the old criticisms have not gone away. Environmental and human rights groups wam that the dam will have a negative impact on water quality and fish and that the local people who were relocated after the area was flooded may not be able to support themselves economically in future. 'People are happy with these new amenities, but the real problem is how to restore sustainable livelihoods for communities who used to rely on the natural resources-forests, fish and grazing lands for their animals - now that they've lost these,' says Ikuko Matsumoto, programme director for the environmental group. Intemational Rivers.
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