Muddy waters: Inside the World Bank as it struggled with the Narmada Projects

Economic and Political Weekly

Volumn 46, Issue 40, 2011, Pages 44-45

  Wade, Robert H ^a  

^a LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS   (United Kingdom)

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EID: 84859399452     PISSN: 00129976     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. See Robert Wade, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Inside the World Bank as It Struggled With the Polonoroeste Project in Brazil's Amazon", manuscript, Department of International Development, London School of Economics, June 2011.
2. See Wade, "On the Sociology of Irrigation Statistics: How Do We Know the Truth about Canal Performance?", Agricultural Administration, 19 (2), 1985, pp 63-79.
3. For an analysis of the Narmada projects as a case study of the inadequacies of traditional cost/benefit approaches to project planning see Jack Ruitenbeek and Cynthia Carier, "Evaluation of Narmada Projects: An Ecological Economics Perspective", Economic & Political Weekly, 26 August 1995, pp 2138-45.
4. Sardar Sarovar: The Report of the Independent Review, Ottawa: Resource Futures International Inc, 1992, also known as the Morse Commission Report. Cited as Independent Review, 1992.
5. World Bank, "The World Bank's Partnership with Non-governmental Organisations", Participation and NGO Group, Poverty and Social Policy Department, World Bank, Washington DC, May 1996.
6. Lori Udall, "The World Bank and Public Accountability: Has Anything Changed?" in Jonathan Fox and David Brown, The Struggle for Accountability. The World Bank, NGOs, and Grassroots Movements (Cambridge: MTT Press), Chapter 11, 391-436.
7. Per Ljung, Project Officer, interview, 12 March 1996.
8. William Partridge, interview, 10 March 1995.
9. See Wade, "The System of Political and Administrative Corruption: Canal Irrigation in India", Journal of Development Studies, Vol 18 (3), 1982, 287-328;
10. and "The Market for Public Office: Why the Indian State Is Not Better at Development", World Development, 13, 4, 1985, 467-97.
11. See Michael Cernea, "Social Integration and Population Displacement: The Contribution of Social Science", International Social Science Journal, Vol 143, No 1,1995.
12. OMS 2.33, "Social issues associated with involuntary resettlement in Bank-financed projects", February 1980, para 18.
13. Thayer Scudder, interview, 3 November 1995.
14. Summary of discussions at the meeting of the Executive Directors of the Bank and IDA, 7 March 1985.
15. World Bank, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, "Involuntary Resettlement in Bank-Assisted Projects: A Review of the Applications of Bank Policies and Procedures in FY 1979-85 Projects", February 1986.
16. See Catherine Caufield, Masters of Illusion: The World Bank and the Poverty of Nations, Macmillan, 1997, especially chapter 1.
17. Thayer Scudder, memorandum to Michael Baxter, 29 April 1989.
18. Cited in Independent Review, p 206.
19. independent Review, p 250.
20. Summary of discussions at the meeting of the Executive Directors of the Bank and the IDA, 7 March 1985, para 14.
21. Christoph Diewald to Don Levenhagen, 12 December 1988, emphasis in original. Interviews with Don Levenhagen, 6 and 8 November 1995.
22. Overview Environment Assessment - Sardar Sarovar and Narmada Sagar Projects - Narmada River Basin, India, March 1989, World Bank.
23. Colin Rees, one of the team of three that drew up the Bank's environmental assessment OD.
24. Independent Review, p 228.
25. The full name was ARCH-Vahini, headed by Anil Patel.
26. See her account of the campaign in "The World Bank and Public Accountability: Has Anything Changed?" in Fox and Brown (ed.), The Struggle for Accountability, chapter 11. A valuable account, except that it airbrushes ARCH, Oxfam and John Clark out of the picture.
27. Letter from Barber Conable to Randall Hayes (Rainforest Action Network) and Brent Blakwelder (Environmental Policy Institute), 31 July 1987.
28. Letter from Congressman James Scheuer et al, to Barber Conable, 2 November 1989.
29. Open letter to Barber Conable, President, World Bank, from Members of the Japanese Diet, 26 June 1990.
30. Barbara Crossette, "Water, Water Everywhere? Many Now Say 'Not'", New York Times, 7 October 1989, sec 1, p 4.
31. Smithu Kothari, quoted in Barbara Crossette, "What Some Preach in Rio Is Not What They Practice at Home", The New York Times, 15 June 1992, sec A, p 8. I thank Anne Fentress for this reference.
32. For example. The Financial Times, 21 September 1992, p 6.
33. Personal communication, Gerry Fauss, 14 January 1996.
34. Gerry Fauss, op cit, emphasis added.
35. Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Economic Survey 1991-1992, Part I: General Review, New Delhi: Ministry of Finance, 1992, p 10.
36. Swaminathan Aiyar, The Economic Times, 15 August 1997:5.
37. Quoted in Lori Udall, "The International Narmada Campaign: A Case Study of Sustained Advocacy" in William Fischer (ed.), Towards Sustainable Development? Struggling over India's Narmada River (Armonk: ME Sharpe), 1995, p 206.
38. Thomas Blinkhorn, interview, 3 April 1996.
39. Udall, "The International Narmada Campaign".
40. Independent Review, op cit, p 53, emphasis added.
41. Quoted in Udall, 1995, "The International Narmada Campaign", op cit, p 210.
42. Interview with author, 1 April 1996.
43. Ibrahim Shihata, "Remedies Available to the Bank/IDA Under the Loan/Credit Agreements on the Sardar Sarovar Projects", 16 July 1992.
44. Ian Newport, Chief Counsel, LEGSA, to William Humphrey, Acting Director, SA2DR, 7 August 1992.
45. Udall, "The International Narmada Campaign", p 201.
46. For two contrasting assessments of die report see Thomas Berger, "The Independent Review of the Sardar Sarovar Projects 1991-1992", Impact Assessment 12 (Spring), 1994, pp 3-20;
47. and David Seckler, "The Sardar Sarovar Project in India: A Commentary on the Report of the Independent Review", Discussion Paper 8, Center for Economic Policy Studies, Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, Washington DC, 1992.
48. Patu Grossman, "Before the Deluge: Human Rights Abuses at India's Narmada Dam", Asia Watch, 17 June 1992.
49. Udall, "The International Narmada Campaign", p 217.
50. Salman Salman, LEGSA, to Andres Rigo, Assistant General Council, Operations, 15 September 1992.
51. Joseph Wood to Bradford Morse, 20 October 1992.
52. Quoted in Rich, Mortgaging, p 301.
53. The quotation comes from the first draft of the Bank management's response to the Independent Review, dated 23 June 1992, p 12.
54. Chairman's summary, "India: Sardar Sarovar Projects", Executive Director's meeting, 23 October 1992.
55. Quoted in Hans Wyss, "Bankwide Lessons Learned from the Experience with the India Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project", 19 May 1993, p 5.
56. Quoted in "A Tactical Retreat to Save Face?", Pioneer (India), 31 March 1993.
57. In "Sarovar Project: India Forgoes World Bank Aid", Statesman (India), 31 March 1993.
58. Reported in "India Not to Seek Further WB Loan", National Herald (India), 31 March 1993.
59. Quoted in "The World Bank Cuts Funds to a Dam Project in India", The Independent (UK), 1 April 1993.
60. See also Steven Holmes, "World Bank Restrictions Prompt India to Cancel Dam Project Loan", New York Times, 31 March 1993.
61. Hans Wyss, "Bankwide Lessons Learned from the Experience with the India Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project", mimeo, 19 May 1993.
62. Wyss, ibid, Bankwide Lessons Learned from the Experience with the India Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project 1993 pp 4-5.
63. See Working With NGOs: A Practical guide to Operational Collaboration Between the World Bank and Nongovernmental Organisations, Operations Policy Department, Washington DC: The World Bank, March 1995.
64. See Resettlement and Development (Washington DC: World Bank), April 1994.
65. Ernest Stern, personal communication, June 1995.
66. S Parasuraman et al, "Sardar Sarovar Project: The War of Attrition", Economic & Political Weekly, 30 January 2010.