Tears of the Dam: How Kaptai Dam Displaced the Jumma People and Left Generational Scars

Introduction

In the early 1960s, the government of Pakistan embarked on what was hailed as a milestone of “modern development” — the construction of the Kaptai Dam in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The hydroelectric project promised electricity and industrial growth.

But behind the statistics of power generation lies a story of loss, displacement, and grief. For the Jumma peoples of the CHT, Kaptai was not just a dam. It was a flood that drowned ancestral villages, fertile lands, and sacred spaces — leaving behind trauma that continues across generations.

A Dam of Displacement

• Built between 1957 and 1963 with American aid, the Kaptai Dam submerged nearly 54,000 acres of arable land.
• About 100,000 people — predominantly Chakma and other Jumma groups — were forced out of their homes.
• Around 40% of the Chakma population lost everything: homes, farms, temples, and burial grounds.
• No proper rehabilitation program was implemented. Compensation, where given, was inadequate or corruptly distributed.

Families who had lived for centuries along the fertile valleys of the Karnafuli River suddenly became landless refugees in their own homeland.

Exodus Across Borders

The displacement caused by Kaptai Dam did not stop at the CHT:

• Thousands of Chakma fled into India — settling in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Tripura.
• Others crossed into Myanmar.
• Entire communities were split across borders, weakening cultural ties and creating stateless generations who remain marginalized to this day.

The dam, meant to generate electricity for the cities, instead generated a diaspora of pain.

Generational Agony

For those who were displaced, the scars have lasted decades:

• Loss of Ancestral Land: Farmland is not just economics; it is identity. Losing it meant losing a piece of self.
• Cycle of Poverty: Families pushed to barren lands or urban fringes faced poverty that persisted for generations.
• Fragmented Community: With large numbers scattered in India and Myanmar, cultural unity was weakened.
• Psychological Trauma: Survivors recall the waters swallowing entire villages. Even decades later, the dam symbolizes betrayal.

The Contrast of Power

Ironically, while the Kaptai Dam displaced 100,000 people, the electricity it generated barely benefited the CHT itself. Most of the power was sent to industrial zones and urban centers, leaving displaced Jumma communities in darkness — both literally and figuratively.

A Symbol of Broken Promises

The Kaptai tragedy is not just a chapter of history; it is a living wound. Even today:

• Displaced families struggle without land rights.
• The diaspora in India still faces statelessness and exclusion.
• Younger generations inherit the pain of their grandparents — born into loss they never personally witnessed, yet still forced to carry it.

The dam, once marketed as “progress,” became instead a monument to marginalization.

Conclusion

The Kaptai Dam may have lit up cities, but it drowned the future of an entire people. For the Jumma, it was more than a dam; it was a betrayal that reshaped their destiny.

The tears of the dam still flow — not in the river, but in the memories of those who lost their homes, in the poverty of displaced families, and in the fractured identity of generations scattered across borders.

Until the voices of the displaced are heard, and justice addressed, the waters of Kaptai will remain forever stained with sorrow.