ROGUN, Tajikistan, Oct 9 (AFP): A plan by Russian metals giant Rusal to kick-start construction of a vast hydropower plant in Tajikistan and build two aluminium production complexes has been hailed as a lifeline by Tajik officials, but critics worry about its environmental and social impact. This impoverished Central Asian republic has long seen potential in its mountain terrain to generate vast quantities of hydroelectricity for domestic use and export. But recent history has not been kind to such plans. In the town of Rogun, east of Dushanbe on the Vahsh River, empty apartment blocks, stripped of their doors and windows, and a ruined youth club and cinema are testimony to thousands of Russian workers who broke off building the dam as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and civil war ensued the next year.
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