Chile Protesters Clash with Police Over Mega Dam
- 12 years ago
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Police clash with Chileans protesting the Supreme Court's decision to allow the building of a mega dam in the Patagonia region. Studies predict major environmental damage, should the project go ahead.
Thousands of environmental activists marched down the streets of Santiago, Chile on Wednesday before the protest descended into chaos as police fired at the crowd with water cannons.
The activists were protesting a Supreme Court decision giving the green light to the controversial mega dam 'HidroAysen'.
Holding signs saying "No to HidroAysen" and chanting protest songs, the crowd made their way through the city as riot police lined the streets.
As activists set tyres on fire, blocking downtown traffic, riot police rolled out their water tanks to disperse the crowd and kill the flames.
The 3.5 billion dollar dam project is a private venture between 2 of Chile's largest energy companies, HidroAysen and Energia Austral—a unit of mining company, Xstrata Copper.
The companies plan to build five dams on Patagonia's Baker and Pascua Rivers to generate power for Santiago.
However, studies have indicated that the project would have a major impact on the environment.
Both projects are scheduled to start operating in 2019.
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Police clash with Chileans protesting the Supreme Court's decision to allow the building of a mega dam in the Patagonia region. Studies predict major environmental damage, should the project go ahead.
Thousands of environmental activists marched down the streets of Santiago, Chile on Wednesday before the protest descended into chaos as police fired at the crowd with water cannons.
The activists were protesting a Supreme Court decision giving the green light to the controversial mega dam 'HidroAysen'.
Holding signs saying "No to HidroAysen" and chanting protest songs, the crowd made their way through the city as riot police lined the streets.
As activists set tyres on fire, blocking downtown traffic, riot police rolled out their water tanks to disperse the crowd and kill the flames.
The 3.5 billion dollar dam project is a private venture between 2 of Chile's largest energy companies, HidroAysen and Energia Austral—a unit of mining company, Xstrata Copper.
The companies plan to build five dams on Patagonia's Baker and Pascua Rivers to generate power for Santiago.
However, studies have indicated that the project would have a major impact on the environment.
Both projects are scheduled to start operating in 2019.