Impacts of the project
The local population's cultural heritage has yet to be assessed. The inadequacy of previous surveys greatly impedes the mitigation process. We can assume nonetheless that the relocation of the local population will result in a loss of irretrievable traditional knowledge accumulated over millennia. The dispersion of the people affected will also considerably impact the culture of communities outside the flooding area. Indeed rural villages depend on each other to sustain their societal structure through marriage for example.
mitigation
The first step in mitigating the various impacts consists in the conduct of surveys to assess the cultural heritage of the population. The EIA report devised a program designed to document as much as possible the traditional knowledge of the local people and identify elements that people value. This program, to be conducted throughout the entire construction period at least, includes:
In addition to the previous surveys, the following actions should be considered:
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critique
WEAKNESSES
- Considering that this region is the "Cradle of Civilization", simply listing monuments valuable to the local culture, and writing down the traditional knowledge seems insufficient
- The relocation and re-burial of cemeteries are the only action proposed but the budget and timeline of the operations as well as the division of responsibilities are not mentioned
- The timeline to conduct the surveys remains undefined.