A great damage is done to one of our natural history of a biblical legend, and the sad part of the story is we could learn the news and its significance as picked up by a foreign tourist.

Some gifts by their nature are meant not to be tampered with; instead should be protected and maintained for generations to come. The Blue Nile falls or Tis Abay is one of them. The Blue Nile holds a prominent place in the hearts and minds of Ethiopians not in the past and present but also with great promise into the future. It is a natural marvel for the whole world to cherish and not to destroy.

The source of Tis Abay and its vicinity is a sanctuary to a vast natural, historical and cultural site. Lake Tana is dotted with 37 islands, 20 of them with historical churches and monasteries, including one destroyed by the Italians; instead they built a bunker type torture chamber during the invasion. The remains of five Emperors including Fasiledes are to be found at the Dege Estifanos. It is told that the Ark of the Covenant once took refuge in one of the islands to escape danger hovering over Axum. The falls itself extends over 400 meters plunging 45 meters deep to its world renowned long journey.

Bahr Dar, attested by its name here, is truly a seaside resort town growing at a faster rate. It is located an hour away from the Tis Abay water falls. In good times in the hands of a legitimate political administration, the town could channel a major tourist industry and economic activity on a national scale. The global attraction of the Tis Abay water falls is indispensable in this economic equation. Simply put, the area is one of the best historically and naturally endowed tourist destinations in Ethiopia. Why destroy it?

If economic benefits alone are factored into the use of the waters where the project is laid (i.e. right at the head of the Tis Abay water falls), any tourist standing by the falls could simply work out the cost-benefit analysis against the hydro power project. It is unimaginable such a project could have an overriding economic merit than what is already lost as a result of where it is built.

The Ethiopian regime claims to have used the expertise of foreign consulting firms from France and the UK for environmental and economic assessment. There are nagging questions to be answered and a great deal of speculations until the truth is known. Even the Tis Abay I built in the old times didn’t jeopardize the existence of the falls. Why build the Tis Abay II where it stands now and not elsewhere to spare the falls? Technical or engineering explanations can not be thrown at us since they can’t be the determining factors in the face of environmental, economic and historical destruction. Building a canal right at the head of one of the world’s great falls cannot be the last resort to Ethiopia’s power shortage, a country blessed with great rivers streaking through its mountainous terrain.

What reads in the recommendation of the foreign firms’ environmental and economic study is provided in a scanty report by the Ethiopian Association of Civil Engineers summed up as follows: “The results of the study has confirmed that, unlike other Hydropower projects with a big dam, Tis Abay II Hydro Electric Project has negligible impact on the environment and it is economically very attractive for investment.” A rational human being should ask how negligible it would be if the Niagara falls adjoining the US and Canada was diverted and eliminated for hydroelectric purposes. Please read complete report at
http://www.mediaethiopia.com/Engineering/BlueNile_ii_hydroelectric_project.htm. The fact remains that the firms are presumed to have laid out extensive analytical report in front of the decision makers. Implementation of the project or its cancellation is left in the hands of the politicians. Considering the outcome, their decision must have taken completely a different form, which is a mere political decision contravening the outstanding factors. Or are we expected to think that the firms had inherent motives to give bad advice to the government as the culprits in this environmental, historical and economic destruction?

Indeed, the politics of the Nile ravaging the region and Ethiopia in particular in most direct ways than any other riparian nation, is seen seeping into Ethiopia’s internal matters of great strategic importance through the current administration; in this case obliterating the Abay TisEsat can not be ruled out as one example.

Erasing the Tis Abay from the scene can have two strategically important intended consequences: First, to dissipate Ethiopia’s right to the use of the Nile waters from domestic politics. Once the magnificent power of Tis Abay is stolen, diminished and lost from sight forever, it is possible it will also be lost from the minds and hearts of Ethiopians, including its promise to change the lives of millions of Ethiopians. Second, It is possible that the design of this project by its location could serve as impediment to other projects to tap into the water resource of the Nile in the future. It is already indicated how it has devastated tourism, the economy and environment, not just locally but on national scale. Lost revenue from the underdeveloped tourism industry alone can be put in perspective. The diminished local and national benefits due to the project will in turn contribute to diminish the symbolic significance of the Nile in Ethiopia’s political and economic life.

The good image the Tis Abay water falls earned Ethiopia in the world as a beautiful country cannot be underscored enough. In this regard Meles Zienawi’s regime has reached a different level to desecrate what is left of the good image of our nation; our history, the beauty and power bestowed by the Nile. Erasing the Tis Abay from the face of the planet in the name of hydro power project is a blunder or a calculated crime with lasting environmental, historical, economic, and political effects. Some of the environmental damages downstream lost to the lengthy 35 km project will be irreparable as time passes by. (You can observe this in the projected map provided in the Ethiopian Association of Civil Engineers website)

I should also add that the lesson from the Tis Abay II project puts other developments such as the Tekeze Hydroelectric project in question given the regime’s reputation working against strategic interest of our nation. Such projects will be controversial to eliminate in order to remedy their damage or correct their usage in the future as they are narrowly depicted today as a representation of economic progress and development. After all, a great deal of money is invested on them not to alleviate the lingering crisis in food supply in the country but to worsen it. Sooner than later, it is my hope that all concerned Ethiopians and international environmentalists closely examine the damage and work towards restoring the Tis Abay water falls to its revered place.