Lawsuit against dam project in Bodrum forests

The Kayaderesi stream, on which the dam will be built. (Photo: Gündem Fethiye)

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Local environmental groups in Bodrum, a popular holiday resort in the southwestern Muğla province, have filed a lawsuit against a dam planned to be built in the region.

The Ministry of Environment and Urbanization last month granted a positive environmental impact assessment report for the dam planned to be built in forested areas.

The lawsuit demanding the invalidation of the EIA report was filed by Muğla Environmental Platform (MUÇEP), the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB/UCTEA), the KARDOK association, and residents of the Çamlıca village.

According to the EIA file submitted to the ministry, 78 percent of the area where the dam is planned to be built is forested and 11 percent is agricultural land.

The dam is intended to provide drinking water for the districts of Milas, Bodrum and Yatağan, according to the report.

However, the MUÇEP pointed out that the project site is in the middle of a triangle consisting of three coal-fired power plants and open lignite mines, which would contaminate the water to be accumulated in the dam.

Also, No. 83 Turkish Pine Gene Protection Forest and the Çamlıköy village will be submerged in the water if the dam is built, noted the platform.

Five quarries and other facilities required for the dam construction will occupy an area of over one million square meters and this area will be "irreversibly destroyed," said MUÇEP. (TP/VK)