sustainable sources hydro power is growing in importance especially along major waterways like the mekong river in southeast asia there are already dozens of dams in its basin and plenty more planned a big plant has just gone online in laos but opponents say the ecological and social costs are too high. the $4500000000.00 a year bery mega dam seen here under construction and 2016 is just one of many hydroelectric projects being planned along the mekong river in laos the landlocked asian country has set its sights on becoming the battery of asia almost all the power it produces will be sold to a thai energy company the day i'm officially went into operation tuesday with animated videos and other p.r. moves like newspaper advertising developers have touted this is a a very as a win win for both countries one that's fish friendly and a blueprint of renewable energy but images of dried out affected areas downstream are now causing an outcry tens of millions of people live along the banks of the me kong and many rely on the river for their livelihoods they say they're already feeling the effec

left high and dry to fight for their livelihoods the 1st hydropower dam on the lower mekong river opens in dallas the villages downstream say it's destroyed now when the fire. problem crops that last deal so can the asian leaders come up with something better this time around the talks next week. and american lawmakers are again pressing boeing's chief executive of the company's having of safety concerns prior to 2 crashes that killed hundreds of people in asia and africa. and then fizzling its your business is something in the water as we seek to harvest more energy from sustainable sources hydro power is growing in importance especially along major waterways like the mekong river in southeast asia there are already dozens of dams in its basin and plenty more planned a big plant has just gone online in laos but opponents say the ecological and social costs are too high. the $4500000000.00 a year bery mega dam seen here under construction and 2016 is just one of many hydroelectric projects being planned along the mekong river in laos the landlocked asian country has set its sights on be

sustainable sources hydropower is growing in importance especially along major waterways like the mekong river in southeast asia there are already dozens of dams in its basin and plenty more planned a big plant has just gone online in laos but opponents say the ecological and social costs are too high. the $4500000000.00 a year bery mega dam seen here under construction and 2016 is just one of many hydroelectric projects being planned along the mekong river in laos the landlocked asian country has set its sights on becoming the battery of asia.

removing too much sand from the bed and banks of a river can disturb its equilibrium here the mekong washed everything away trees the riverside road the houses on fire you don't get it but it was night time and you were asleep and suddenly we heard a noise we thought it was the children but then the house started to move i was terrified we crawled out and ran away. but now my. cam use the remains of the house to build a shack with one bedroom and a kitchen but no inside walls or a toilet the family collects rainwater to drink and when they look over to where their small plantation once was with a wooden house stood they can see the barges on the river high in the water when they arrive empty and low when they take away the sand from the river bed. this is happening in many places in asia in vietnam in malaysia in indonesia sand has been pumped out of the river for years causing banks to collapse and rivers to change course. you know we're not making much water and i don't know where all those people come from or who they are there are so many digging machines i only know that they've

they're now in storage a few meters away for when times get better if they ever do the mekong river is devouring this village it's changed course and now flows faster the river has carried away entire buildings here the government has placed sandbags along the shore as a makeshift barrier what used to be an asphalt road is no new waterway these boats are currently empty and riding high in the water on the return trip they're heavily laden with endless tons of sand a fisherman shows us the dredges extracting it from the riverbed locals don't know who they belong to. that got to me congress changed it didn't used to be this white you know we used to be able to swim from one side to the other you could hear what was being said on the other side. on the water wasn't as deep as it is today. he positions his fishing out here by the river bank every morning and used to catch plenty of fish throughout the day today though once again his net remains empty. across asia rivers and seas are being robbed of their sand which is needed at construction sites in faraway cities. glass cement asphalt all

cambodia has been a major exporter of sand and that's causing major problems for people living along the mekong river. more dreads the sound of the masonry settling at night the 1st thing she does after getting up is to check if there are any new cracks in the walls. this building used to be her home what's left of a once contented life. when the riverbank broke away i dragged the bed across to the back. i tried to sleep here. but then i saw how the entire garden was gong and the wall had collapsed. then i took everything apart piece by piece. in order to at least selvage something more began to demolish her home with her own hands. i worked hard my whole life long. now i'm old and alone. i've lost everything. i was afraid that the stone house was too heavy and would sink that's why i had leased rescued the doors windows and tiles. they're now in storage a few meters away for when times get better if they ever do the river is devouring the. village it's changed course and now flows faster the river has carried away entire buildings here the government has placed sandbags along the shore as a ma

once the south vietnamese move out of position, they can reclaim territory in populated areas in the mekong delta. they will join a coalition that they expect to follow. that is their own version of the bigger game. everybody with me so far? what happens, how do we think nixon will react based on what we know? he wentnical phrase is nuts. he is not having it. he is totally not having it. threats this as a direct to his chances of being elected again. to his relations all around the world with europeans, soviets and chinese. he orders an all-out response. that is important because he has lost his confidence in the secretary of defense. he has lost his confidence in general abrams. he has no feeling that they will interject into this operation, the energy and power and creativity that he wants to see. them into the office and says this one is on you. you have been complaining about these restrictions for years. it is kind of a put up or shut up moment. they are getting ready to go to the mediterranean. they head west. off they go to the war. they abbreviate that and send them across the pacif

to give us an insight into how people trafficking works in asia, is matt friedman, the ceo of the mekongank you very much forjoining us. what do these people have in common irrespective of where they're coming from? many of them are in situations where as you indicated there is desperation or there is a lack of opportunity. and so what happens is you have a trafficker going into the community and talks about how would you like to make ten times more than what you're making in china by coming to the uk? all you have to do is agree to either put money up front or pay it back at a later point. so a lot of these people have never been warned that this is a scam and as a result of it they accept this. in the hope of expectation something good will happen. they then get taken to various locations, they get put on trucks and buses and planes and all variety of things to get them where they eventually get to, the final destination. nearly all of them at the end point are going to be exploited to the extent that they would be modern slaves. in such a long journey, there have to be many, many link