Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Khaleda writes to Hasina : Seeks her help in sending BNP team to Tipai

Staff Correspondent
Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia yesterday sent a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeking cooperation in sending a separate delegation to the proposed Tipaimukh dam site.

The letter contained names of six nominated members of the delegation. The team includes--two former BNP ministers MK Anwar and maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed, former water resources secretary Mohammad Asafuddoula, former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University Prof Moniruzzaman Miah, former director of Water Development Board Sharif Rafiqul Islam and water expert Prof M Abdur Rob.

A three-member BNP delegation led by party joint secretary Nazrul Islam Khan handed the letter to prime minister's Assignment Officer Manoj Kanti Boral and Protocol Officer Proloy Kumar Joardar at prime minister's office.

The BNP chairperson sent the letter following prime minister's call on June 24 to the opposition to send a separate team for the dam site visit.

“In the interest of the nation we [BNP] have agreed to your proposal for sending a separate delegation including water experts to visit the Tipaimukh dam site although an all-party delegation including experts would have expressed national unity,” Khaleda wrote to Hasina.

“We, as the opposition, cannot send a delegation to another country. So, we are seeking your help for sending the team and obtaining related information and documents from India on Tipaimukh dam,” said BNP chairperson in her letter.

Referring to Foreign Minister Dipu Moni's statement on receiving information from India regarding Tipaimukh dam, the leader of the opposition drew prime minister's attention urging her to give necessary direction for providing the information to the BNP delegation so that it could make preparation.

“Tipaimukh dam is a national crisis. That is why it should be solved through national consensus. Hence we took stance in favour of the nation's interest and think that our role will strengthen the government during talks with India,” said the letter.

Earlier on June 21, opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farrouque proposed to include five water expertsDr Ainun Nishat, former water secretary Asafuddoula, Dr Torofder, MA Rob and Dr Asif Nazrul--in the all-party parliamentary team.

He said if neutral water experts were not included, BNP would not join the all-party parliamentary team to visit Tipaimukh dam location.

However, the BNP chairperson dropped Ainun Nishat, Torofder and Asif Nazrul from the latest list of experts.


Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=94831

Monday, June 29, 2009

The way forward in Tipaimukh dam controversy




Can anyone confirm if the World Bank will be financing the construction of Tipaimukh Dam in India?

Meanwhile, please read an analytical piece by Zakir Kibria, titled The Case of Tipaimukh Dam in India and Concerns in Lower Riparian.

Abstract: The construction of Tipaimukh dam by India on the international Barak river has raises a number of questions in relation to successful implementation of World Commission on Dams (WCD) recommendation on Gaining Public Acceptance (GPA) for large dams. The government of India had never officially informed the lower riparian state of Bangladesh about the construction of the dam although experts fear that the dam would have adverse environmental impact on Bangladesh that share the same river basin.

This paper investigates the international nature of the river basin and possible impact on the Bangladesh in the light of co-riparian rights and evaluates some of the principles of GPA and searches for mechanism for participation of local communities in the process.

The context:

The under construction Tipaimukh dam – a 390 meter long, 162.5 meter high earthen core rock filled dam on the international river Barak at downstream of the confluence of Barak and Tuivai rivers near Tipaimukh village in Manipur state of India and close to Bangladesh border is supposed to produce an estimated 1,500 MW electric power. The dam will permanently submerge an area of 275.50 sq. km. in the state of Manipur. A large number of people, mostly belonging to indigenous Zeliangrong and Hmar communities, will be displaced permanently[1]. Indigenous communities, civil society groups and NGOs in northeast India have been campaigning years on possible adverse environmental effect, displacement, and inadequate public consultations in the construction of the dam[2].

Recently the Government of Bangladesh has also protested the construction of Tipaimukh dam and claimed that it will have adverse environmental impact on downstream Bangladesh[3]. Civil society groups and NGOs in Bangladesh have also been campaigning against the downstream impact of Tipaimukh dam[4]. It raises a number of questions in relation to World Commission on Dams (WCD) recommendations[5]. The WCD recommendation on Gaining Public Acceptance for large dams proposes procedural mechanism(s) to address grievances within a national system. But what if a dam poses serious risks to people and communities living downstream in another country? This paper seeks to investigate the WCD recommendation on Gaining Public Acceptance for large dam from the perspective of downstream Bangladesh[6].

International Nature of Brahmaputra-Barak-Meghna basin:

Rivers have no boundary. Only we humans draw lines and divide ourselves. Four-fifth of Bangladesh is made up of the combined delta of Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna and Barak river system. Barak River is part of Brahmaputra-Barak-Meghna basin – one of the largest river basins in the world. The mighty river Brahmaputra originates in Tibet and comes down to northeast India and then enters Bangladesh and finally empties itself towards Bay of Bengal. The Barak River is part of the Brahmaputra-Barak-Meghna river basin and the second largest drainage system in northeast India. Barak River originates from Lai-Lyai village in Senapati district of Manipur.

The upper Barak catchment area extends almost entire north, northeastern, western and southwestern portion of the Manipur State. The middle course lies in the plain areas of Cachar region of Assam state, while the lower, the deltaic course is in Bangladesh, where it is known as Meghna. Two important rivers in northeastern part of Bangladesh -Surma and Kushyiara – are fed by the flow Barak River[7].

Impact of Tipaimukh dam on downstream co-riparian Bangladesh

The construction of Tipaimukh dam will have serious adverse impact on the downstream part of the Barak river basin, which is in northeastern part of Bangladesh, and known as Surma-Kushyiara-Meghna river basin. Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), an autonomous research institute in Bangladesh has recently conducted a study on the impact of Tipaimukh dam on Bangladesh[8]. The study predicts that, the dam, once operational, will change the hydrological pattern of the Barak River. According to the report, the overall nature of impact can be summarized in six broad categories, like hydrological impact, impact on flooding pattern and on river-floodplain-wetland ecosystem, impact on morphology, impact on water quality, dam-beak and general.

Impacts on Hydrology

The IWM study estimate that once the Tipaimukh dam is fully functional, average annual monsoon inflow from the Barak River at Amalshid point to the Surma-Kushiyara-Meghna River system would be reduced around 10% for month June, 23% for month July, 16% for month August and 15% for month September. Water level would fall by more than 1 meter on average during the month July at Amalshid station on the Kushiyara River, while this would be around 0.25 meter, 0.15 meter and 0.1 meter at Fenchuganj, Sherpur and Markuli station, respectively. On the other hand, at Kanairghat and Sylhet station on the Surma River, average water level would drop by 0.75 meter and 0.25 meter, respectively in the same month.

During relatively drier monsoon year, dam would have more impact on the availability of monsoon water in the Barak-Surma-Kushiyara River than the average annual monsoon year. Like for the month July, August and September, flow would be reduced as much as 27%, 16% and 14%, respectively, 4%, 2% and 2% higher than the volume reduction found for average monsoon year.

Impact on Inundation Pattern and River-Floodplain-Wetland Ecosystem

Sylhet and Moulvibazar district in northeastern part of Bangladesh will be effected more due to the Tipaimukh Dam operation regarding their natural monsoon-flooding pattern. For Sylhet district, total inundated area would be reduced by 30,123 ha. (26%) during post-dam scenario than it actually happens in pre-dam average monsoon season. For Moulvibazar district, this would be around 5,220 ha. (11%). 71% of the Upper Surma-Kushiyara Project area would no longer be flooded during average monsoon season for post-dam condition. The Kushyiara River would cut its connection with its right bank floodplain for around 65 km. reach. As a result the river at this part will become ‘reservoir river’; rather than a most valuable ‘floodplain river’.

The Kushiyara-Bardal haor (wetland) on the left bank of the Kushiyara River would become completely dry during average monsoon year dry due to Tipaimukh dam operation. The Kawardighi haor (wetland) would also lose around 2,979 ha. (26 %) of its usual inundated land during average monsoon year. Impact on Damrir haor and Hakaluki haor would be relatively less in comparison to other haors of the Sylhet and Moulvibazar district. The above impacts on the river-floodplain-wetland would destroy the natural integrity of the ecosystem involved within these physical system, thereby, the consequences of that will be the loss of riverine habitat and species, lack of enrichment of land with the nutrient full silt leading to the ultimate decline in the natural productivity of the two most abundant resources of Bangladesh – land and water.

Impact on Morphology

The erosion just downstream of the Tipaimukh Dam would be excessively high and this erosion would continue as long as hundred kilometers downstream or more. This excessive erosion in the first 100 or 150 km. of Barak River downstream of the dam would increase the overall deposition in the lower Barak River, thereby, in the Surma- Kushiyara River system. Low flow during late monsoon and post-monsoon will accelerate this deposition in the region.

The probable deposition during late monsoon and post-monsoon season will raise the overall bed level of the rivers, and for an extreme case it would block the mouth of certain tributaries originating from the Kushiyara River. Bed level would rise and that will induce the average monsoon flood to become a moderate to sever flood in the floodplain of the Surma-Kushiyara. There would be possibility of increasing erosion in the upper Kushiyara River, and this will cause more deposition in the downstream of Kushiyara River and in Kalni River.

Dam Break and Its Consequences

The communities living in the downstream of any dam remains in a constant threat of catastrophe being occurred by dam-bursts and dam induced other floods. The apprehension like this is intensified further when the very seismic characteristics, its activities as well as the instability of the Tipaimukh Dam site and the region as a whole is taken into the consideration. The claimed Reservoir Induced Siesmicity (RIS) is another important feature of any large dam project that should be considered in the analysis of safety ground of Tipaimukh Dam Project[9].
Construction of Tipaimukh dam is violation of co-riparian rights.

India and Bangladesh share many rivers and water resources. The rivers that flow across the northern parts of India are mostly international rivers or their tributaries. In the North Eastern region, the Brahmaputra River and the Barak River are both international rivers. The joys and sorrows that these two rivers mean for the peoples of Bangladesh and northeastern India are shared. This issue has been well recognized and many efforts are in place to address this unhappy state of affairs. International water treaties have been made and even a Joint Rivers Commission was set up to examine and settle disputes[10]. The Tipaimukh Dam project was entirely developed and approved without once informing the government of Bangladesh or involving its people in any meaningful exercise to assess the downstream impacts of the dam. This is clearly a gross violation of co-riparian rights of Bangladesh. The unilateral construction of Tipaimukh dam on an international river is also violation of UN Convention on the Law of Non-navigational Uses of International watercourses[11].

Tipaimukh dam and WCD recommendation on Gaining Public Acceptance

Gaining public acceptance (GPA) of key decisions is essential for equitable and sustainable water and energy resources development. GPA has been recommended by WCD as the first strategic priority. Recognition of rights and assessment of risk to identify stakeholders, full access to information, negotiated agreements as the basis of demonstrable public acceptance of key decisions and guidance on projects affecting citizens of diverse social, ethnic, cultural and economic background by their free prior and informed consent are the underlying policy principles.

The first Dams and Development Forum meeting acknowledged the need to have transparency in decision-making. The opportunity for all stakeholder groups to participate, fully and actively, in decision-making process should be enabled. In this process, the definition of stakeholders, establishment of norms for consultations and involvement of all stakeholders and means of dispute resolution is necessary[12]. This whole process has an implicit assumption that all these happen within a national system. What if a dam is built on an international river and the impacts are also downstream in another independent state, like the case of Tipaimukh dam?
The first known official investigation on the possibility of Tipaimukh dams conducted in 1977-78 by NEC, CWC and report was ready in 1984[13].

Till now, the Government of India has never officially informed the Government of Bangladesh or the people and communities living downstream about the construction on Tipaimukh dam. The Tipaimukh Dam project was entirely developed and approved without once informing the Government of Bangladesh or involving its people in any meaningful exercise to assess the downstream impacts of the dam. This is clearly a gross violation of co-riparian rights of Bangladesh. The experience of Tipaimukh dam raises a number of questions, which has to be answered if we are to develop mechanism(s) and policies for gaining public acceptance of large dams.

The way forward?

Any meaningful and effective policy and mechanism for GPA have to redefine the category of stakeholder to incorporate the idea that dams in one country could have impact in another country and stakeholders could be international. Access to information is essential for GPA and international stakeholder should be informed in all stages of construction of dams. Informed participation of international stakeholders, not only governments, but also, communities and citizens to be adversely affected should be made part of GPA mechanism. How do we ensure that is a question that still remains to be answered.


Source: http://ontorebd.com/the-way-forward-in-tipaimukh-dam-controversy/

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Only MPs' team will visit Tipaimukh: BNP

Dhaka, June 28 (bdnews24.com)—A senior BNP leader has said only one parliamentary members' team will go to Tipaimukh to see the proposed Indian dam.

Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, also BNP's policymaking standing committee member, on Sunday asked the government to go public with all data and information received on controversial dam in India's Manipur state on the upstream Borak, which enters Bangladesh as Kushiara.

"Sending two or more teams to Tipaimukh will only jeopardise our national unity andreveal our rifts, weakening Bangladesh's bargaining power with India. People do not want it," he said at a press briefing in his business office in Shegun Bagicha.

The former minister, however, indicated that the main opposition party might consider sending a separate team to Tipaimukh only in case the parliamentary delegation fails to include experts recommended by them.

He alluded to foreign minister Dipu Moni's request to India not to begin the dam construction before the visit of the delegation to Tipaimukh. "The minister's request only shows that our concerns have been well founded."

"We have been protesting the dam construction proposal since India had initiated it a decade back, which the government had not heeded then."

BNP is now working to raise public awareness about the Tipaimukh issues, he said and added that party chief Khaleda Zia has written to the Indian prime minister about it.

BNP is keeping the leaders of a number of foreign nations informed of the developments, he said.

"We'll plan our next move after seeing what the government does in this respect," the former minister said.

A former Dhaka University geology professor, he observed that Tipaimukh will harm India and will be a veritable death-trap for Bangladesh.

"India's proposal to build a dam at Tipaimukh may cause disastrous earthquakes and landslides in the region, as the active 'Dawki geo-techtonic fault' zone is contiguous to the river Barak.

"Even the Indian geologists have opposed the construction of the dam at Tipaimukh."

Besides, unilateral construction on a water body shared by more than one nation amounts to breaching the international legal regime too, he said.

He also commented on deputy leader of parliament Sajeda Chowdhury's allegation on Saturday that during the last caretaker government's regime, the jail authorities had served detainedAwami League chief Sheikh Hasina poisoned food.

Mosharraf said, "Such allegations might be well founded in both the ex-prime ministers' (Hasina and Khaleda) cases."

"The unelected caretaker government had employed more or less similar tactics to implement their 'Minus Two' theory, which they failed because people would not endorse it."

He demanded that the allegation of 'poisoning' be probed.


Source: http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=34&id=88398&hb=top

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Tipaimukh Dam: Its nuts and bolts need dovetailing

A. Mannan

Ignorance is a bliss. It does appear to be so to many of us shown by portrayal of our body language as well as vocabulary inasmuch as the magnitudes of the portents of Tipaimukh Dam that are rushing towards Bangladesh like a giant amoebic demon are yet to be grasped fully.

Presentation in this article has been dovetailed through collation, analysis and summation of the nuts and bolts of Tipaimukh Dam in order to help, to some extent, keep ourselves aware and abreast of the situation. Data have been obtained from sources like, speeches, write-ups, through interpolation, through line of best-fits based on statistical average theory and some upon off-hand estimates.

Concise background:

Farakka Barrage (FB) :-It has been a burning issue since the mid-sixties. India did not pay much heed to the demand and necessity of water of the Ganges by the lower riparian Bangladesh. India unilaterally constructed the FB experimentally in 1972 with the concept and stipulation therefor to divert small portion of the water of the Ganges flow to the river Bhagirathi to increase navigability of the Calcutta Port. Bangladesh, however, realized it in 1974 that the Ganges flow due to construction of FB, only 11 miles off the border started scaling down the water flow to Bangladesh by half and at times almost at zero level. In 1976 FB was put into full operation and in due course of time India started withdrawal of water not for Bhaghirathi only but at places at upstream of the Ganges, e.g. Bihar and U P, proving how fragile have been the stipulations of India, breach of which has already led to render 80 rivers drying-up and 11 rivers dead in Bangladesh. It has virtually destroyed the deltaic basin in Bangladesh.

Teesta Barrage (T.B) :-

India constructed in 1990 a barrage along the river Teesta, called the Teesta

Barrage which has in turn made the Teesta Barrage constructed by Bangladesh absolutely ineffective.

Riparian River Linking (Link Canal) :-

(i)Upper Riparian Rivers Linking: It means linking of 14 Himalayan rivers in Northern India.

(ii) Lower Riparian Rivers Linking: This project involves 16 peninsular rivers including the Ganges and Brahmaputra.The project has virtually cast its eyes for withdrawal of Brahmaputra water for diversion to the water hungry provines of U.P, Bihar, MP, Andhra, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Chennai. India is also constructing two dams in Nepal for hydropower and perhaps augmentation of water for the Ganges to divert water through the link canal to South India. Whereas Nepal has contributed sites for the dams and is likely to have its access to power and water, the project will leave for Bangladesh a high-dried scenario.

The lower riparian rivers link project is bound to change the river course from N-S to E-W course. At the rate of 6000 cu m/sec during lean period six months i.e. Dec-May flow equivalent to the total flow of 200 bn cu m for 6 months, which if withdrawn substantially for the lower riparian rivers link canal will certainly lead the GMB Basin in Bangladesh to a catastrophe affecting all spheres of activities of economy, livelihood and ecosystem.

In 2002, the Supreme Court of India gave a judgment in favour of the link canal project upon a writ petition but the Indian political arena considering internal geopolitics, pro-people stand, huge funding, inadequacy in technical feasibility and viability has so far kept mum on the issue.

Earlier, National Commission for Water Resources of India in a report in 1999 mentioned that in the lower riparian link project involving the flow of three major rivers of Bangladesh for sharing, India's portion down the Himalayas will fetch no profitability until gestation period of right up to 2050.

It may also be worth mentioning here that according to a survey a withdrawal of 20% of Brahmaputra's water by India (India asks for 40%) will render at least 100 rivers in Bangladesh as dead-dry.

China's Eye on the Brahmaputra's flow:

China has planned to build a dam upon Yarlung-Tsangpo point on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet, when completed, will divert water to the Yellow river a quantum of 200 bn cu m per annum equivalent to that of the entire lean season 6 months flow of Brahmaputra river. It is easy to comprehend as to how much India can get out of Brahmaputra's flow, once Chinese dam is put in operation, and how much can India afford to release to Bangladesh. This apprehension India has got to foresee as much as Bangladesh would, in view of the riparian state of both in the respective cases in point.

Should India outbargain Bangladesh on the issue of Tipaimukh Dam and Fulertal Barrage, on the same analogy China is likely to do that at the upstream.

Tipaimukh Dam and Fulertal Barrage:-

(i)Reference as FB, TB and specially lower riparian rivers linking canal project of 16 peninsular rivers has been cited to highlight total impacts of the three major international rivers, the Ganges, Meghna and Brahmaputra (GMB), whose downstream last riparian country is Bangladesh. That will take a heavier toll than otherwise upon operation of Tipaimukh Dam and Fulertal Barrage on Bangladesh.

In the process of desertification Bangladesh will become unlivable for Bangladeshis and soon this basin will become a no-man's land after having been inflicted by four-front attack i.e. from N-E-W river flow attack due to either shortage creating desertification or excess inundating with floods and of course from the South i.e.

Bay of Bengal wherefrom will come the upsurge of water with all its might having concentrated salinity on account of global warming due to ozone layer thinning by the discharge of CFC contributed in bulk by the most industrialized nations, though Bangladesh contributes practically nothing or little in the ozone thinning process

(ii) Dam and Barrage:-

Dam is like a reservoir to contain water at higher level for a controlled discharge through the turbines to generate electricity e.g. Karnaphully-Kaptai Dam.

Hydroelectricity project having no provision of withdrawal of water upstream or downstream of the dam will have little variation, in the quantum for the year as a whole, in the downstream water flow based on the theory of constancy for the whole year recycle, set aside seasonal variation.

But quantum of water flow downstream of the dam depending upon season will fluctuate seasonwise as well as variation in rainfalls due to controlled release of water through the turbines and spillway gates of the dam, needed to generate electricity at certain capacity and also in view of the storage capacity for holding water by the dam and level so required.

Thus, while the annual quantum of water flowing downstream will be more or less, somewhat same but the water flow downstream of the dam will fluctuate substantially either creating floods, waterlogged and waterholds or perhaps high-dried scenario almost zero flowmetry of not cognizable dimension or proportion

(iii) Barrage is to contain water at a level with objective to withdraw for diversion elsewhere e.g. F.B. The purpose of a Barrage is mainly for withdrawal to divert, but it, all, depends upon how much, when and where for withdrawal and how much to release for the lower riparian country of the total intakeflow. For example, F.B was originally designed and contemplated to make the Calcutta Port more navigable with withdrawal of water via Bhagirathi river but due to rampant withdrawal all the way through upon the Ganges flow at the upstream of F.B. desertification process has already been in progress for 16 districts i.e. one third of Bangladesh at a colossal loss of ecosystem in its entirety.

(iv) Tipaimukh Dam:- It is, in fact, a Mega Dam. India mooted much earlier river harnessing project and accordingly handed over primary project proposal to Bangladesh in 1979 and in 1983, After having completed detailed studies India, however, did never share those data with Bangladesh.

In 2003, Tipaimukh Dam was proposed for the location at ½ k.m. downstream from the confluence of Barak river and Tuivai river lying on the S-W corner of Manipur state. Due to outcry against negative impacts of the Dam across the border as well as within Manipur and Mizoram states of India, construction of the Dam could not make any headway.

India in 2004, however, assured Bangladesh that no further steps would be taken up without any consultation with Bangladesh, but India floated a tender in 2005, opened it in 2006, finalized the design and drawing in 2008, obtained environmental clearance and inaugurated foundation stone laying in 2008.

The completion of construction is due in 2012.

Some data relevant to the upstream land of the Dam are shown below:-

One of the largest rock-filled dam in the world.

Height = 166 m, (or 180 m above sea level, 178 m maximum reservoir level and 136 m minimum draw down level)

Length = 390 m

Water containment capacity = 16 m cu m

Load of the rocks = 25 m . MT (app.)

Location of the dam = 200 km (maximum) upstream from Bangladesh border.

Originating from the mountains of Manipur the total length of Barak-Tuivai in India and Surma-Kushiyiyara-Meghna in Bangladesh right up to the mouth of Bay of Bengal = 946 km (of which India = 277 km and Bangladesh = 669 km)

Submerged land in India = 286 sq. km.

(i) Submerged 8 villages

(ii)Homeless, 40,000 people

(iii) Affected 90 villages

(iv) Affected 27,000 hectares of arable land.

Electricity generation capacity = 1500 MW but firm generation fixed at the rate of 30% = 412 MW

About 8% river water to Bangladesh comes via Borak river

Fulertal Barrage: - The issue is still indiscreet. Very little details are known. Neither its aims nor objectives have been made clear. The Barrage is 100 km (app.) downstream diagonally of Tipaimukh Dam and 100 km diagonally upstream of Amalshid in Sylhet. It is apprehended that India may regulate water flow at the Dam and then divert it to the proposed Fulertal Barrage, thus having direct bearing on the flow of Surma, Kushiyara and Meghna rivers invariably affecting total ecosystem in all spheres for the 1/3 area of Bangladesh.

Earthquake Risks:- In the N-E region's earthquake risks zone i.e. Surma Basin, major events are controlled by Dauki Fault system i.e. zone 1 comprising NE region of Bangladesh. With the presence of Dauki Fault system of Eastern Sylhet and the deep seated Sylhet Fault and proximity to the Jaflong Thrust, Naga Thrust and Disang Thrust, it is a zone of high seismic risk with a basic co-efficient of 0.08.

Geographic and topographic features at Tipaimukh and adjoining areas are noteworthy due to drainage pattern of Barak river and structural and tectonic lineaments of the region.Moreover, the main Barak river opposite to Tuivai river is also controlled by Barak-Makru Thrust Fault.

Barak river course and its tributary system are controlled by faults and fractures causing localized shifting and deflection of main river course rendering such faults as potential focal or epicenters of earthquakes.

Thus, having considered the issue of high seismic risk with basic co-efficient of 0.08, past records of earthquakes in the region over last 200 years, the volume and weight of water containment up the Dam at 16 m cu m and weight load of rocks of the Mega Dam at 25 m MT (app.), Tipaimukh Dam's axis falling on a 'fault line' likely to be the epicenter, an earthquake of 7 plus Richter scale dimension will play most devastating havoc with the load and onrush of 16 m cu m water of the reservoir followed by heavy rush of upstream water and weight load of 25 m MT rocks frictioned to pieces, up and down, rushing towards Bangladesh at great speed and thus, pose a threat and might as if that of the "Dooms' Day"

(To be continued)

Source: http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/06/27/news0214.htm

Naga bodies demand scrapping of Tipaimukh project

Senapati, June 26 2009: Frontal Naga based organisations in Manipur have fervently demanded for the scrapping of the Tipaimukh Project immediately.

Aram Pamei who is the convenor of the the Committee on Land and Natural Resources (COLNAR) termed the move of the Central and the State Governments as insensible.

COLNAR is a body constituted by the United Naga Council (UNC), Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Naga Women Union, Manipur (NWUM) and All Naga Students Association, Manipur (ANSAM).

COLNAR today reiterated the call for the total cancellation of the Tipaimukh Hydroelectric (Multipurpose) Project that has been proposed to be constructed in Barak river at Tipaimukh village.

"COLNAR seriously expresses the insensitivity of both the Central Government and the Government of Manipur for refusing to recognise the inherent rights of the indigenous peoples over their land and natural resources.

The process towards the Tipaimukh Mega Dam has been a history of violations of all established national and international norms and standards for development projects including human rights violations, procedural and legal defects in gaining environmental clearance, etc," Aram Pamei pointed out.

The voice and desire of the people to control the use of their land and natural resources and to determine their own ways of development in accordance with their wishes and aspirations were clearly conveyed during the five public hearings on Tipaimukh Dam, aside from sending hundreds of representations to the Central and State Governments and project proponents, COLNAR reminded.

"Instead of honouring the wishes of the people, the project authority and Governments have taken many undemocratic measures including the use of force (the Assam Riffles, a state paramilitary wing deployed in North East India for counter insurgency operations now extensively provide security for the project) that have resulted in more rights violations and militarization of the area," COLNAR alleged.

"The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in its 70th session (CERD/C/IND/19) observed in relation to the Tipaimukh Dam Project to seek the free, prior and informed consent of the affected people.

Again on August 15, 2008, the Chairperson of CERD requested the government of India to report back on the steps taken by it in this regard, however, the Indian government failed to do so.

Again on March 13, 2009, CERD expressed concern with regard to the construction of several dams and its impact on the indigenous communities of the India's North East region," the COLNAR cited.

The committee then appealed the Governments at the Centre and of the State to lend ears to the voice and inspiration of the common people who have been demanding for the cancellation of the Tipaimukh Hydroelectric (Multipurpose) Project and to stop the "militarisation of the area, and also to end all efforts that will ruin the indigenous peoples lives and their land by constructing the proposed Tipaimukh Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project".

Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Friday, June 26, 2009

U.S. For Bangladesh-India Talks On Tipaimukh Dam

Siddique Islam - AHN Correspondent

June 25, 2009

Bangladesh should hold talks with India to settle the ongoing dispute over the construction of Tipaimukh dam, the United States envoy said in Dhaka on Thursday.

"I urge the people and the government of Bangladesh to discuss with India to settle this [Tipaimukh dam] issue," U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh James F Moriarty said at a discussion on 'Engaging South Asia: Obama's South Asia Policy,' held in the capital, Dhaka.

However, the U.S. diplomat categorically ruled out his country's intervention in the water row between the two countries.

India started the construction of Tipaimukh dam on the river Barak in Manipur in 2003 to generate electricity. It halted the project following national and international uproar and resistance against probable environmental degradation inside and outside the South Asian country's territory. But India resumed the construction work in 2008.

On water disputes in South Asian region, the U.S. envoy said, "Obviously that needs to be worked out through dialogue with the countries engaged."

Moriarty said beyond a 3D (democracy, development and denial to terrorism) basis of U.S.-Bangladesh relations, the new administration in Washington, also included issues like climate change and food security in its ties with Dhaka.

He said South Asia is now at the 'center stage' of the new policy of the Obama administration, which also revised its strategy for troubled Pakistan and Afghanistan exploring allies' support to contain terrorism while the US engaged with India on the basis of common concerns like threats of terrorism.

The Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) organized the discussion moderated by its director general, retired major general ANM Muniruzzaman.

Source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7015608089

IAB asks govt to stop construction of Tipaimukh Dam

Staff Reporter

Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB) yesterday said that it would be getting ready for a long march towards Tipaimukh Dam if the government fails to take strong measures to stop its construction.

Addressing a press conference at the IAB office at Purana Paltan, the IAB leaders also demanded immediate withdrawal of the Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakrabarti for his "objectionable" remarks cantering the Tipaimukh Dam issue. The Indian envoy has been making comments on the issue violating diplomatic norms, they said.

They also demanded the resignation of Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni and Water Resources Minister Romesh Chandra Sen saying that they failed to protect the country's interest on Tipaimukh dam issue.

Ameer of IAB Syed Md Fazlul Karim, who is also Pirsaheb Chormonai, read out a written statement at the press conference. It was attended, among others, by General Secretary of IAB Principal Moulana Yunus Ahmed, Presidium Members Moulana Nurul Huda Fayezi and Moulana Syed Musaddek Billah Al Madni, Prof Md Mahbubur Rahman, Prof Moulana ATM Hemyet Uddin, Prof Syed Belayet Hossain, Moulana Ahmed Abdul Kaiyum and Mohammad Monirul Islam.

Pirsaheb Chormonai said that the independence and sovereignty of the country is now threatened due to its weak-kneed foreign policy.

He also said that the government wants to give corridor to India in the name of the Asian Highway Network. If the government signs the agreement to be connected with the highway, they would launch a strong movement, he warned.

He called upon the people to be united against the construction of Tipaimukh dam and Asian Highway in the interest of the country and said these are not any political issue.

Replying to a question, the IAB leaders said that they would strongly oppose if the government signs any agreement on Tipaimukh dam issue like Farakka as per the announcement of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Meanwhile, President of Bangladesh National Awami Party (NAP) and former minister Shafikul Gani Swapan and Acting General Secretary KM Gulam Mostafa protested the remarks of Indian High Commissioner stating that the remarks were the violation of diplomatic conduct.


http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/06/26/news0114.htm

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Preparations for long march towards Tipaimukh dam

Ehsanul Haque Jasim


Different organisations of the country particularly those in Sylhet division have been taking preparations for long march towards Tipaimukh Dam to voice their demand for stopping its construction across river Barak in the Monipur state of India.

The long march of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and some other organisations including Bangladesh Jatiya Party, Jatiya Gonotantrik Party, National People's Party, National Democratic Party, Muslim League and Bangladesh Islamic Party is likely to be led by BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.

Former Water Resource Minister Hafiz Uddin Ahmed has been given responsibility to collect all necessary documents about the dam and he has already done it, party sources said.

The BNP Chairperson has already written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Monmuhan Singh calling for stopping the construction of Tipaimukh dam at upper reaches of the rivers Surma and Kushiara to save Bangladesh from desertification.

If the Indian government does not stop the construction of the dam, BNP would announce the programme of long march within a short time. The long march programme of BNP may be announced next month or first week of August.

Meanwhile, the leftist parties of the country also have been seriously opposing the construction of the dam. They are also planning a long march programme towards Tipaimukh dam.

Seven-left parities under the banner of Gonotantrik Bam Morcha may announce the long march programme soon. Now they are forming human chain and holding protest rally and demonstration against the dam.

The Islamic parties, which are active against the construction of Tipaimukh dam, include Bangladesh Jamate Islami, Islami Oikkya Jote and Khelafat Majlish. Jamate Islami is opposing the dam by organising different programmes in Sylhet. Already, it has held demonstration on the issue at every upazila headquarters of Sylhet Division. Now the party is taking preparations for long march programme within a short time, according to party insiders.

Chairman of Islami Oikkya Jote Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini recently said at a meeting at Engineers Institution that if the government did not protest the construction of the dam strongly, they would be getting ready for the long march programme.

The social and environmental organisations particularly in Sylhet region are more vigorous on the issue.

The Dhaka based Sylhet Division Development Action Council and Jalabad Association, Surma Kushiara Meghna Bachao Andolan, Acid Santrash Nirmul Committee of Sylhet, Ongikar Bangladesh, Sochetan Nagorik Samaj and Sylhet Division Students & Youths Welfare Foundation have been opposing the dam tooth and nail.

Sylhet Division Development Action Council and its student wing already protested the dam project strongly by organising human chain, protest rally, demonstration in Dhaka and Sylhet.

They also submitted memorandum to Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Water Resources Minister calling to take initiatives to stop the construction of the dam.

Source: http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/06/25/news0011.htm

Sen says all Tipai data will be made public




Dhaka, June 24 (bdnews24.com)—Water resources minister Ramesh Chandra Sen told parliament Wednesday that he would disclose all information about India's planned Tipaimukh dam over the Barak river in Monipur state, upstream of the Meghna, one of Bangladesh's major waterways.

He alleged that some quarters were campaigning against the Awami League government.

"The opposition parties and some opposition-backed media are campaigning against the government over the construction of the Tipaimukh dam," Sen told parliament, while delivering his speech on the proposed new budget.

He said a parliamentary team, headed by the standing committee on water resources would visit India and have talks with the India government.

"After receiving the relevant date and information, I will let the Jatiya Sangsad and people know all about it," said Sen.

However, foreign minister Dipu Moni on June 19 told journalists that India had already provided Bangladesh with data on the planned dam.

She said her ministry had sent the information to the water resources ministry for review.

But the data has yet to be made public.

The dam, according to environmental experts in Bangladesh, may be catastrophic for the greater Sylhet region. It also faces opposition by Indian environmental groups.

Khaleda Zia can send her own team to see Indian dam: Hasina



Dhaka (IANS): Opposition leader Khaleda Zia is free to send her own team to see the Tipaimukh dam project in India, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said while reiterating her decision to send an all-party parliamentary team to look it up.

Accusing her political rival of seeking political mileage out of the proposed dam project on Barak river in India's Manipur state, Ms. Hasina assured that her government would study the reports submitted by both teams and decide "in the best interest of the country".

"I request the BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) to send its own team there and submit its report to parliament after returning. The parliamentary standing committee team too will go there and submit its report. The Awami League government will then decide what will be good for the country," she said on Wednesday at a function to mark completion of 50 years of her Awami League.

"The government will go through the two reports and then decide what steps could be taken as regards the Tipaimukh dam project in the best interest of the country," New Age newspaper quoted her as saying.

Ms. Hasina also accused Ms. Zia of not cooperating with the formation of the parliamentary team.

"We wanted names from the opposition for inclusion in the parliamentary standing committee to visit the project site, but they proposed the names of some experts. Now they should take an initiative on their own to send (their chosen) experts to the Tipaimukh project site," she said.

Ms. Hasina alleged that the BNP was trying to make the Tipaimukh dam a political issue to mislead people. "But I have my belief that people of Bangladesh will not be misled," The Daily Star quoted her as saying.

The proposal for a parliamentary team accompanied by experts came from India last month and the Hasina government agreed to it. Zia-led BNP has since sent its own list of 'neutral' experts to join the team.

Mohammed Anshul, one of the experts on the BNP list, however, told BBC later that he had no connection with any political party and was "embarrassed" to find his name on the BNP list.

Ms. Hasina's counter-suggestion came even as the BNP demanded 'withdrawal' of Indian high Commissioner here, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, who while participating in a discussion, denied that India had been 'secretive' about the project details and had not consulted Bangladesh.

Bangladesh and India have in the past sparred over the Ganga river at Farakka in India's West Bengal state. The long dispute was resolved in 1998 with the signing of the Ganga Water Treaty during Ms. Hasina's earlier tenure as the prime minister.

Referring to the signing of the Ganga water treaty with India, Ms. Hasina expressed the confidence that the present government would also succeed in finding a solution to the Tipaimukh dam issue, protecting Bangladesh's interest.

Barak flows from Manipur into Bangladesh to eventually join the Meghna.

Bangladesh says it is the lower riparian state and must be consulted by India. It says that the dam project upstream on the river affects its environment and the water flow adversely.

Source: The Hindu

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Khaleda asks Manmohan not to build Tipai dam

Staff Correspondent

Opposition leader and former premier Khaleda Zia yesterday despatched a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting not to construct Tipaimukh dam on the river Barak considering the negative impacts on Bangladesh, reports UNB.

Meanwhile, in a letter to the parliamentary standing committee on water resources Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abedin Farroque proposed names of five experts in the parliamentary delegation on BNP's behalf for visiting the dam site.

Chairman of the committee Abdur Razzak yesterday expressed disappointment over BNP's proposal for including names of experts instead of lawmakers in the all-party delegation.

“The proposal for including five experts instead of your party lawmakers for the parliamentary delegation frustrated me,” he said in a letter to Zainul Abdin.

In his letter Razzak said the standing committee had approved to send a 10-member parliamentary delegation including a member of Joint River Commission and a water resources expert of BUET.

In addition Razzak mentioned that Zainul had--first verbally and then in writing--requested him to include one of their party [BNP] lawmakers but in a letter to him on June 21 Zainul proposed the names of experts.

One of the BNP's proposed experts Ainun Nishat, country representative of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in his interview with the BBC said he felt embarrassed and sorry to find his name in the BNP proposal.

“At first I was embarrassed as my name was proposed by BNP as a member of the delegation. I am not affiliated with any party politics. I am a technician and I talk about the matters that emerge from my analysis,” said Ainun.

Ainun told the BBC that he wanted to provide policymakers with the technical knowledge he had and did not want any politics over this matter

Manipur team voices Tipai fear in Sylhet

Staff Correspondent, Sylhet

A five-member delegation from the Indian state of Manipur and Assam yesterday urged Bangladeshi nationals--at home and abroad--to be united and protest against the much-talked-about Tipaimukh dam project.

They were addressing at a "Sanghati Samabesh" (solidarity meeting) at the seminar hall of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) yesterday afternoon.

The team reached Sylhet Sunday to express solidarity with the anti-Tipaimukh dam campaign in Bangladesh.

The delegation includes Prof RK Ranjan Sinha of Earth Science Department of Manipur Central University, environmentalists Ramananda, Joseph Marr, Vikramjit and Arnab Dutta. Engineer Muhammad Hilal Uddin, coordinator of the Jatiya Tipaimukh Bandh Protirodh Committee accompanied the team to Sylhet.

The speakers said 57 percent dams in the world responsible for environmental degradation are in India and China. Now things are to be dealt internationally because Tipai project would just wreak havoc on Bangladesh

"We are here to express our solidarity with Bangladeshi people'' said Prof Sinha. The project is not at all a viable one, he said, adding, "We want Bangladesh to sit with the Indian authorities to discuss the crucial issue. Besides, it is an issue of common rivers and India cannot make decisions alone.

A documentary on the protests against Tipaimukh project since its preparatory work began 10 years ago was also presented.

The speakers said there should be strong awareness against the Tipaimukh project. Disasters caused by our imprudent activities throughout the world have put the nature's balance at risk, they added

Emphasising the need for mutual interests they said as an upper riparian country India should consider Bangladesh's interest on moral ground since Indians would also be badly affected by the project. "We have to raise strong protest at home and abroad against the mega project for our survival," they asserted.

They further said the inhabitants of the country's northeast region including greater Sylhet and Mymensingh as well as whole Bangladesh and the Indian states of Assam and Manipur should raise strong protest against the project, since it would create catastrophe in the whole region. Already several Indian groups had registered their voice against the much talked about project. The speakers added that there should be a greater agitation against the controversial attempt.

The river bifurcates its way by the names of Surma and Kushiyara entering into Bangladesh territory. People of greater Sylhet region had been protesting the project since the news of approval of the project came to light years ago

Ilyas uddin Biswas of Sust chaired the programme while Sushanta Kumar Das, Aktarul Islam, Prof Kamal Ahmed Chowdhury, Yasmin Haque, CPB-District President Bedananda Bhattacharya and district Awami League Vice-president Abdus Jahir Chowdhury Sufian spoke, among others. MA Gani conducted the programme.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=93807

Monday, June 22, 2009

National unity on Tipaimukh issue urged: India should shun big brotherly attitude




Staff Reporter


June 22, 2009


Speakers at a discussion yesterday emphasised the need to forge unity of the nationalist forces to protect the country's interest. They also said that India should avoid big brotherly attitude to help improve bilateral relations with Bangladesh.

This observation came at a discussion on ' Indo- Bangladesh Relations: Recent Developments' organised by Centre for Strategic and Peace Studies (CSPS) at CIRDAP auditorium in the capital.

Barrister Moudud Ahmed MP was present as chief guest in the discussion while Prof Emajuddin Ahmed, former vice chancellor (VC) of Dhaka University presided over.

Prof MA Rob, VC of Manarat International University presented keynote paper and Shah Abdul Hannan, former secretary and chairman of CSPS moderated the discussion.

It was also addressed, among others, by Abul Hasan Chowdhury, former state minister for foreign affairs, Mohammad Qumaruzzaman, assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e- Islami Shafiul Alam Prodan, president of Jatiya Ganotantrik Party (JAGPA), Sheikh Sawkat Hossain Nilu, president of National People's Party (NPP), Prof Tareq Shamsur Rahman, Prof Abdul Latif Masum, Dr Sukamal Barua, Major (Retd) Abdur Rob, Jainal Abedin and Col (Retd) Ashraf.

Barrister Moudud Ahmed said some cabinet ministers of the government do not want to see the construction of Tipaimukh Dam but under pressure from a certain quarter they cannot express their views.

Terming the parliamentary committee formed by the government to visit Tipaimukh Dam as 'one sided' since there was no representative from the opposition parties.

"There is no representative of BNP in the parliamentary committee. BNP would not go to the site of Tipaimukh Dam without experts. Visiting there by parliamentary committee means giving endorsement the construction of Tipaimukh Dam," he noted.

Prof Emajuddin Ahmed said there was no alternative of consensus of the national issues.

He said that it was a matter of regret some ministers have passed such comments as if they were serving other country's interests.

"India does not need to make agents of her own rather a section of people of our country are keen to be their agents," he observed.

Mohammad Qumaruzzaman said India's attitude towards Bangladesh today seems worse than it was with its arch rival Pakistan.

Abul Hasan Chowdury said the Asian Highway and Tipaimukh Dam are not merely political issues rather these are issues of great national interest.

"There is no reason to consider ourselves as citizens of small country as the people of the country are known how to fight with unity for protecting their interests. We must unite ourselves for resolving the present crisis with our neighbours bilaterally and multilaterally," he said.

Shafiul Alam Prodan said conspiracy is on to destroy our patriotic armed forces.

Sheikh Sawkat Hossain Nilu said India is interfering in the internal affairs of Bangladesh.

Prof Tareq Shamsur Rahman said India should stop carrying out anti Bangladesh propaganda and the country should not yield to the pressure of India on transit issue.

Prof MA Rob said Bangladesh has to take a 'realistic policy' towards India for protecting its national interest.

Source: http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/06/22/news0724.htm

India consulted Dhaka, no law can stop Tipai dam: envoy

Dhaka, June 21 (bndews24.com)—Indian high commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty has said his country had consulted Bangladesh over the construction of the controversial Tipaimukh dam on the Barak river.

He says there is no international law that could stop India from implementing the Tipaimukh dam, perceived to wreak huge environmental disaster on Bangladesh.

The envoy has taken a swipe at the BNP-led alliance for opposing against the Bangladesh-India Ganges water-sharing treaty and anti-India comments, which he said were aimed at gaining "political mileage"

Chakravarty has trashed the allegation that India is depriving Bangladesh of due share of the Ganges waters as an "empty political slogan".

"Recently, there has been a lot of agitation on the question of the Tipaimukh dam. I would like to reiterate that it is a hydro-electric multi-purpose project to produce electricity," Chakravarty said at a seminar on South Asian connectivity at the Sonargaon Hotel on Sunday.

"It is also helpful to some extent for flood control. The project has no component of irrigation purpose,"

Bangladesh-India Friendship Society organised the seminar attended by foreign minister Dipu Moni as chief guest.

The high commissioner said the Bangladesh-India Joint Rivers Commission at its 1972 and 1978 meetings recoginsed the construction of a storage dam on the river Barak, which entered Bangladesh as Kushaira and Surma.

"So, to say that India has not consulted Bangladesh is really thorough lie and totally false."

"All of you should know that there is no international treaty. There is a UN convention on the non-navigation and uses of water resources made in the late 1990s," he said.

He said the convention, approved and ratified by 17 countries so far, needed signing and ratification by 35 countries to be made into an international law.

He sharply criticised people who said the Tipaimukh dam would cause environmental disasters in the greater Sylhet region in Bangladesh.

"It is unfortunate that there are some so-called water experts who make comments without considering some of the issues.

"(They) are basically attempting to poison the minds of friendly people of Bangladesh against India."

The high commissioner said both Bangladesh and India were getting due share of waters as per the Ganges water treaty singed by the previous Awami League government in 1996.

"Some people in the country are trying to derive political mileage over the water share of common rivers.

"During the 2001 general elections in Bangladesh, there were voices raised for the annulment of the treaty. However, after the elections those voices were not heard anymore.

"We were expecting that maybe we will receive a letter that the treaty would be annulled or at least reviewed. But that did not happen," he said.

Chakravarty, who did not name the main opposition BNP, said they realised that the treaty was good for both sides.

The BNP-Jaamat-e-Islami alliance in their election manifesto had said that the Ganges treaty would be reviewed.

The high commissioner also said the flow of the Ganges shrunk due to climate change, population increase, and high number of irrigation projects along the river.


"Unfortunately, criticism of India and India phobia have become an instrument for deriving political mileage for a particular section," the envoy observed.

Common river Barak carries seven to eight percent of Bangladesh's water supply. Hundreds of small rivers and water bodies are dependent on the river for water supply.

Environmentalists in Bangladesh fear that the drying up of the water bodies will lead to the unemployment of millions of people dependent on the water bodies.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Indian dam will create regional chaos

Habib Siddiqui


Anyone who has visited a hydroelectric power facility knows that there is tremendous ecological impact felt on either side of the dam. One side gets flooded while the other side only sees trickling water flowing downstream, unless sluice gates are opened periodically to release and control water flow. If the flow of water is managed solely by a hostile government such can create a devastating effect on the surrounding territories, especially those living in the downstream of the river. Such a unilateral decision to construct a dam is criminal when the river is international with its water flowing through multiple countries, i.e., not limited to the country of origin.

In the 1940s and ’50s many hydroelectric dams were built in the western world to produce cheap electricity. However, with time many developed countries have abandoned the process altogether and moved into more safer and environment-friendly alternatives. Nuclear technology has become one such alternative to address growing energy demand.

Unfortunately, as with almost any new technology these days, the western world has a monopoly in the nuclear technology also. Thus, while these countries know about the devastating effect of fossil fuels to our atmosphere and the grave ecological impact of hydroelectric power generation plants, they are not willing to transfer the much-needed environment-friendly nuclear technology to technologically weaker countries. Not only that as we have seen even when a developing country like Iran likes to pursue this technology to meet its growing energy needs, let alone ensuring a cleaner atmosphere, they are barred entry into the caste-ridden nuclear club. [See this author's article on "Letter from America - Obama, Israel and Iran" or "Will Obama Capitulate to Netanyahu" - for a discussion on why the USA , in particular, is against Iran 's pursuit of nuclear energy.]

Suspicion runs so deep among these paranoid nuclear-Brahmins that they think that one day the untouchable nomo-Sudras will take revenge upon them, let alone demand the same Brahmin status. And this they can’t allow by hook or crook. As a result of this tug of war, there has not been much progress to either technology transfer or lowering of the green-house effect. Consequently, more vulnerable countries like Bangladesh are forced to deal with devastating effect of global climate change. To these low lying countries, natural calamites like the Sidr and the Aila are now becoming regular yearly features to deal with! Experts tell us that by the middle of this century, Bangladesh will have 30 million people that will be uprooted from their homes in the coastal areas requiring relocation elsewhere. They will add to the misery of the country.

In the last several years, populous countries like India and China that have already joined the nuclear club, and yet feel that they are looked down as the nomo-Sudras by the traditional blue-eyed, white nuclear-Brahmins, have tried to extract some advantage in the form of technology transfer by promising reduction in carbon emission; but not always successfully. And as far as the real untouchables are concerned - countries that have failed to join the nuclear-club yet - there is not much that they can bargain for. They are simply ignored. And worse yet, their worst nightmares are the former nomo-Sudras like India .

Indian government’s desire to construct the Tipaimukh Dam in the North-east India is not only arrogant it is criminal to the core. It will have lasting devastating impact in the entire region. It will adversely affect millions of Bangladeshis living down south in the north-east corner of the country, weakening their means of livelihood, forcing them to become internally displaced people, and thereby worsening Bangladesh ’s overall economy. It will harm bilateral relationship between the two neighboring countries. Bangladeshi people have already suffered miserably from the Farrakah Barrage and cannot afford to see another one built to threaten them. The proposed dam is also unpopular in the Manipur State where it is being constructed. Experts there have rightly termed it a geo-tectonic blunder of international dimensions.[1]

The Indian government decision seems too short-sighted and can only antagonize people on either sides of the border. If India cares about meeting energy needs in the north-eastern corner she would better serve the interest of her people by choosing the nuclear alternative.

India has several nuclear power plants that are operating in various parts of India .[2] It is inconceivable that she cannot afford to build one extra plant in the north-east corner of the country to meet her energy demand.

Tipaimukh project: all trust and no verification

Omar Khasru

This committee, largely devoid of opposition members of the parliament, seems all set to enjoy official Indian hospitality, do a bit of sightseeing and perhaps some shopping and come back and grant legitimacy to this project so that India can commence and proceed with the construction
work.

‘TRUST, but verify’, a translation of the Russian proverb ‘doveryai, no proveryai’, was a signature phrase of Ronald Reagan, the two-term (1981-88) popular and admired American president, credited with the demolition of the mighty and once invincible Soviet socialist empire to effectively end the cold war with a thumping US triumph.

Reagan was fond of repeating the Russian adage during the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty negotiations with his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev, the last general secretary of the Communist Party of Soviet Union (1985-1991), and also the last head of state of the USSR (from 1988 until its collapse in 1991). Gorbachev proved to be a pliant and accommodating negotiating partner. The current absolute supremacy of the United States as the single dominant superpower is a testimony to that.

The overbearing and Orwellian big brother control freak neighbour, India, cannot be termed as an accommodating, amenable, gracious or even pleasant and responsive negotiating partner by any stretch of fertile and fancy imagination. But the persistent stance and approach of the current Sheikh Hasina government in bilateral dealings, and in resolving bitter and acrimonious disputes, oddly and inexplicably, have been obedient and acquiescent, with the implicit ‘your wish is my command’ submissive and deferential posture. What should be the primary and, perhaps, the sole steadfast and indisputable consideration, the best interest of the country, seems to have taken an insignificant backseat and put in the backburner.

There appears to be an unsavoury competition among assorted ministers and Awami League bigwigs to appease, support and go gaga over the attitude and utterances of Indian government representatives and mouthpieces regarding bilateral conflicts and impending significant and crucial strife, India’s unilateral and arbitrary decision to build a dam on the river Barak at Tipaimukh in Assam, 200 kilometres upstream of the Bangladesh border. There seems no concern or care for the adverse effect on this country, its ecology and environment, survival of animals and plants, water flow in the lean seasons and various other harmful impacts.

The appalling competition to please and praise India at the expense of vital national interests seems to be especially keen among the commerce minister, water resources minister, and shipping and inland transport minister. The alarming and puzzling one-upmanship contest seems to be heading for a photo finish, with other ministers and big shots chiming in. The latest to join the fray has been Abdur Razzak, the current chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the water resources ministry, and former water resources minister during the earlier 1996-2001 Awami League regime.

This genuflecting deferential policy and posture towards India had started during the last interminable, illegal and unconstitutional caretaker regime. The then foreign affairs adviser claimed that he was launching an irreversible ‘friendship forever’ policy towards India, come what may. A landmark of the policy was the visit of the then army chief Moeen U Ahmed, the virtual and de facto chief of the military-dominated regime with a civilian façade, consisting of a group of subservient and inept advisers. His India trip and the Indian gift of white horses seemed to have provoked an extreme adoration for the neighbouring country with an implicit pledge to preserve and uphold India’s interests on a priority basis. The ostensible Indian backing of the caretaker regime and the apparent support for the army chief might have played a pivotal role in the policy formulation. This government seems to have inherited and carried on with this appeasement mindset.

It was during the tenure of Razzak as the water resources minister in the previous Awami administration that the latest Farakka Barrage Ganges water sharing agreement was signed with plenty of fanfare and hoopla. The rest is history. Bangladesh has never received its legitimate share of water because the water sharing accord was fatally flawed. It lacked a viable, acceptable and unbiased method of resolving India’s unwillingness to release sufficient water during the lean season or put into practice significant portion of the deal.

Razzak was asked back then how, in the absence of any provision for impartial third party arbitration, the two countries would solve the inevitable disagreements and difference of opinion regarding the quantity of water that would flow past the deadly and detrimental Farakka barrage. His glib answer was that he would pick up his VIP telephone and call the Water Resources Minister of India and the row would automatically and magically be solved through mutual conciliation with symbiotic benefits. That unfortunately proved to be cheap talk and pointless blather. Razzak might have called his Indian counterpart on many other things but there is no record that he ever called regarding the chronic shortfall in the agreed amount of water for Bangladesh during the dry season. Even if he did, there is no evidence that India took any compensating measure to alleviate the situation.

Sheikh Hasina, the usually garrulous and strongly opinionated prime minister, has decided largely to keep her mouth shut regarding Tipaimukh. Her only significant comment has been that her regime will decide after the tour of the project site by a parliamentary committee and the resultant recommendations. Some of her ministers and henchmen are matching and even surpassing callous and insensitive comments of Indian High Commissioner, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, in denouncing the detractors of the project. Others in the top echelon of the ruling alliance are mostly acting like Gandhi’s three monkeys with the ‘say no evil, hear no evil and see no evil’ viewpoint. This is weird, shocking and puzzling because vital national interests are at stake here.

Now Razzak, as the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on water resources ministry, is about to lead a fact finding delegation of parliamentarians and experts to Tipaimukh to inspect the controversial project and assess the possible effects on Bangladesh. But his mind seems all made up already and we will be waiting for the last nail on the coffin. He has joined in the chorus with the commerce minister and the others in denouncing the critics of the Tipaimukh project. This committee, largely devoid of opposition members of the parliament, seems all set to enjoy official Indian hospitality, do a bit of sightseeing and perhaps some shopping and come back and grant legitimacy to this project so that India can commence and proceed with the construction work. Razzak had failed the country back then in the Farakka water sharing treaty and he seems all set to fail the country again.

The problem with the upcoming trip is that India so far is yet to handover vital information and documents, feasibility study, pros and cons and other relevant information regarding Tipaimukh project to Bangladesh. There is no clear indication that it will provide the important documents or facts any time soon or ever. So the delegation will be acting and making recommendations based mainly on Indian assurances, promises and rose coloured glasses added to the predetermined ideas and programmed opinions, most of which already seem favourably disposed towards the project.

This is a clear case of proverbial ‘fox guarding the chicken coop.’ It is no wonder that the New Age editorially commented on June 18, 2009 that Tipaimukh team had lost its credibility before inspection. As the editorial points out, there seems to be complete trust in Indian assurance that it would not divert water from the dam, the dam would not harm Bangladesh and that Bangladesh stands to be benefited. This country really should be wary and suspicious of such Indian pledges, especially in the light of past bitter experiences in Farakka and elsewhere. The government big shots seem all trust and, unlike Ronald Reagan, no urge to verify.

The first Awami League regime after independence had granted the permission to India to start the Farakka Barrage on an ‘experimental basis.’ The current Awami League regime seems all set and primed to grant the go-ahead to Tipaimukh project with potential to cause extreme and lasting harm to the Northeastern third of the country just as Farakka did to the Northwestern third. Once fertile Ganges delta now is unable to produce a third of the grains each year. The untold ecological damage and economic harm to the people are evident for all to see. Most experts feel that Tipaimukh project, if completed, will offer a parallel set of impacts and experiences, despite hollow and vacuous ‘assurances’ from India, and brazen cronyism and toadyism by government ministers and party functionaries to the contrary.

Let me end with a quote from the dearly departed Ronald Reagan, ‘Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.’


Source: http://www.newagebd.com/2009/jun/21/oped.html#1

Tipaimukh project: all trust and no verification

This committee, largely devoid of opposition members of the parliament, seems all set to enjoy official Indian hospitality, do a bit of sightseeing and perhaps some shopping and come back and grant legitimacy to this project so that India can commence and proceed with the construction
work, writes Omar Khasru

‘TRUST, but verify’, a translation of the Russian proverb ‘doveryai, no proveryai’, was a signature phrase of Ronald Reagan, the two-term (1981-88) popular and admired American president, credited with the demolition of the mighty and once invincible Soviet socialist empire to effectively end the cold war with a thumping US triumph.

Reagan was fond of repeating the Russian adage during the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty negotiations with his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev, the last general secretary of the Communist Party of Soviet Union (1985-1991), and also the last head of state of the USSR (from 1988 until its collapse in 1991). Gorbachev proved to be a pliant and accommodating negotiating partner. The current absolute supremacy of the United States as the single dominant superpower is a testimony to that.

The overbearing and Orwellian big brother control freak neighbour, India, cannot be termed as an accommodating, amenable, gracious or even pleasant and responsive negotiating partner by any stretch of fertile and fancy imagination. But the persistent stance and approach of the current Sheikh Hasina government in bilateral dealings, and in resolving bitter and acrimonious disputes, oddly and inexplicably, have been obedient and acquiescent, with the implicit ‘your wish is my command’ submissive and deferential posture. What should be the primary and, perhaps, the sole steadfast and indisputable consideration, the best interest of the country, seems to have taken an insignificant backseat and put in the backburner.

There appears to be an unsavoury competition among assorted ministers and Awami League bigwigs to appease, support and go gaga over the attitude and utterances of Indian government representatives and mouthpieces regarding bilateral conflicts and impending significant and crucial strife, India’s unilateral and arbitrary decision to build a dam on the river Barak at Tipaimukh in Assam, 200 kilometres upstream of the Bangladesh border. There seems no concern or care for the adverse effect on this country, its ecology and environment, survival of animals and plants, water flow in the lean seasons and various other harmful impacts.

The appalling competition to please and praise India at the expense of vital national interests seems to be especially keen among the commerce minister, water resources minister, and shipping and inland transport minister. The alarming and puzzling one-upmanship contest seems to be heading for a photo finish, with other ministers and big shots chiming in. The latest to join the fray has been Abdur Razzak, the current chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the water resources ministry, and former water resources minister during the earlier 1996-2001 Awami League regime.

This genuflecting deferential policy and posture towards India had started during the last interminable, illegal and unconstitutional caretaker regime. The then foreign affairs adviser claimed that he was launching an irreversible ‘friendship forever’ policy towards India, come what may. A landmark of the policy was the visit of the then army chief Moeen U Ahmed, the virtual and de facto chief of the military-dominated regime with a civilian façade, consisting of a group of subservient and inept advisers. His India trip and the Indian gift of white horses seemed to have provoked an extreme adoration for the neighbouring country with an implicit pledge to preserve and uphold India’s interests on a priority basis. The ostensible Indian backing of the caretaker regime and the apparent support for the army chief might have played a pivotal role in the policy formulation. This government seems to have inherited and carried on with this appeasement mindset.

It was during the tenure of Razzak as the water resources minister in the previous Awami administration that the latest Farakka Barrage Ganges water sharing agreement was signed with plenty of fanfare and hoopla. The rest is history. Bangladesh has never received its legitimate share of water because the water sharing accord was fatally flawed. It lacked a viable, acceptable and unbiased method of resolving India’s unwillingness to release sufficient water during the lean season or put into practice significant portion of the deal.

Razzak was asked back then how, in the absence of any provision for impartial third party arbitration, the two countries would solve the inevitable disagreements and difference of opinion regarding the quantity of water that would flow past the deadly and detrimental Farakka barrage. His glib answer was that he would pick up his VIP telephone and call the Water Resources Minister of India and the row would automatically and magically be solved through mutual conciliation with symbiotic benefits. That unfortunately proved to be cheap talk and pointless blather. Razzak might have called his Indian counterpart on many other things but there is no record that he ever called regarding the chronic shortfall in the agreed amount of water for Bangladesh during the dry season. Even if he did, there is no evidence that India took any compensating measure to alleviate the situation.

Sheikh Hasina, the usually garrulous and strongly opinionated prime minister, has decided largely to keep her mouth shut regarding Tipaimukh. Her only significant comment has been that her regime will decide after the tour of the project site by a parliamentary committee and the resultant recommendations. Some of her ministers and henchmen are matching and even surpassing callous and insensitive comments of Indian High Commissioner, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, in denouncing the detractors of the project. Others in the top echelon of the ruling alliance are mostly acting like Gandhi’s three monkeys with the ‘say no evil, hear no evil and see no evil’ viewpoint. This is weird, shocking and puzzling because vital national interests are at stake here.

Now Razzak, as the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on water resources ministry, is about to lead a fact finding delegation of parliamentarians and experts to Tipaimukh to inspect the controversial project and assess the possible effects on Bangladesh. But his mind seems all made up already and we will be waiting for the last nail on the coffin. He has joined in the chorus with the commerce minister and the others in denouncing the critics of the Tipaimukh project. This committee, largely devoid of opposition members of the parliament, seems all set to enjoy official Indian hospitality, do a bit of sightseeing and perhaps some shopping and come back and grant legitimacy to this project so that India can commence and proceed with the construction work. Razzak had failed the country back then in the Farakka water sharing treaty and he seems all set to fail the country again.

The problem with the upcoming trip is that India so far is yet to handover vital information and documents, feasibility study, pros and cons and other relevant information regarding Tipaimukh project to Bangladesh. There is no clear indication that it will provide the important documents or facts any time soon or ever. So the delegation will be acting and making recommendations based mainly on Indian assurances, promises and rose coloured glasses added to the predetermined ideas and programmed opinions, most of which already seem favourably disposed towards the project.

This is a clear case of proverbial ‘fox guarding the chicken coop.’ It is no wonder that the New Age editorially commented on June 18, 2009 that Tipaimukh team had lost its credibility before inspection. As the editorial points out, there seems to be complete trust in Indian assurance that it would not divert water from the dam, the dam would not harm Bangladesh and that Bangladesh stands to be benefited. This country really should be wary and suspicious of such Indian pledges, especially in the light of past bitter experiences in Farakka and elsewhere. The government big shots seem all trust and, unlike Ronald Reagan, no urge to verify.

The first Awami League regime after independence had granted the permission to India to start the Farakka Barrage on an ‘experimental basis.’ The current Awami League regime seems all set and primed to grant the go-ahead to Tipaimukh project with potential to cause extreme and lasting harm to the Northeastern third of the country just as Farakka did to the Northwestern third. Once fertile Ganges delta now is unable to produce a third of the grains each year. The untold ecological damage and economic harm to the people are evident for all to see. Most experts feel that Tipaimukh project, if completed, will offer a parallel set of impacts and experiences, despite hollow and vacuous ‘assurances’ from India, and brazen cronyism and toadyism by government ministers and party functionaries to the contrary.

Let me end with a quote from the dearly departed Ronald Reagan, ‘Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.’


http://www.newagebd.com/2009/jun/21/oped.html#1

Parliamentary body on Tipaimukh Dam an eyewash: Moudud

Staff Correspondent

BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed MP alleged that the parliamentary committee on Tipaimukh dam was formed to legitimise the construction of the dam by India as the committee did not include any member of parliament from the BNP.

He was addressing a roundtable discussion titled ‘Independence and security of Bangladesh: Lessons from Palashi’ hosted by ‘The weekly Sonar Bangla’ at the National press club yesterday morning.

“The committee on Tipaimukh dam is just an eyewash and it is aimed at validating the Indian move. The committee did not include any member from BNP. How could it be an all party committee?” Moudud said.

He demanded for sending a national level expert committee to have their opinion about the issue. “We want formation of a national level expert committee to assess the possible impact of the project to be implemented by India on Barak river. After getting their opinion, we will be able to take a stand against India’s move.” The government must make public all the finding of the expert committee on the Tipaimukh hydro-electric project and people should raise its voice against such an ecologically destructive project in the country’s interest, the former law minister said.

He said a strong political consensus is required to launch a tougher movement demanding cancellation of the Tipaimukh project. Construction of the planned Tipaimukh dam by India will escalate socio-economic and political tension in Bangladesh, and imperil the ecology of the country’s north-eastern parts, he said.

The BNP leader repeatedly demanded trial of just retired Army chief general Moeen U Ahmed for his controversial role in harassing politicians in the name of eradicating corruption from the society during caretaker regime. The Pilkhana incident was orchestrated by a certain quarter to hide the failure of immediate past caretaker regime, he alleged.

Meanwhile secretary general of the party Khandaker Delwar Hossain alleged that extra judicial killings are on the rise soon after this government assumed office.

“It is the government’s duty to ensure security to the people of the country. But the government has failed to ensure people’s security over the last six months. Extra judicial killings have increased alarmingly. If we go through the reports of different Human Rights organizations, we will find the actual facts of extra judicial killings,” Delwar told reporters after seeing dead body of Manjur Morshed Shipu, an activist of Mohammadpur thana BNP, at Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue yesterday.

Source: www.thebangladeshtoday.com

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Bangladesh team to Tipaimukh could face militants

[Inpui-news&info feature]

The Bangladesh parliamentary team is to visit the proposed Tipaimukh dam site in India this month, said Ramesh Chandra Sen, water resource minister of Bangladesh, on Wednesday.

The Bangladeshi team will have no representative from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which have voiced objections to the controversial mega-hydropower project.

What the Bangladesh team probably don't realized is that a visit to Tipaimukh dam site (in Hmarram) could be extremely dangerous. The area is the a stronghold of many heavily armed militants, among them the Hmar People's Convention(D) and Hmar National Army.

There are also talks of Minipuri (valley-based) militants trying to get back into Tipaimukh area after they were flushed out by the army some years ago.

Many people are trying to reap political gains: Muhith

Dhaka, June 19: Many people are trying to reap political gains from the so-called Tipaimukh Dam movement, the finance minister AMA Muhith has alleged.

Speaking at National Tipaimukh Dam Conference 2009 at the auditorium of Institution of Engineers, Banglaesh in the capital on Friday, he proposed a regional forum based on river basin to resolve crisis involving river.

Muhith said three things should be kept in mind while constructing Tipaimukh Dam-– whether biodiversity will be affected, whether the risk of an earthquake will increase because of a big dam and whether the natural flow of Barak river will be affected or not.

He said he would know about these things after the visit of the parliamentary representative committee at Tipaimukh lead by Awami League MP leader Abdur Razzak.

Foreign minister Dipu Moni told the reporters on Friday that a delegation would soon visit India.

At the same time she said India had recently provided Bangladesh with information on the proposed Tipaimukh Dam

Some political parties as well as water resource experts apprehend an environmental disaster in the greater Sylhet region of Bangladesh in the wake of the proposed Tipaimukh Dam

But New Delhi holds that the hydroelectric project would not pose any barrier to the availability of water downstream.

He said the talk of constructing Tipaimukh dam was first raised at the meeting of the Joint River Commission in 1972 and 73.

Later in the meeting of the commission in 2003 and 2005 the opinion of Bangladesh was sought about the plans of India. But the then government did not say anything, he said

"In 2004, we opposed this project in the trans-boundary river convention. But now we observe that many are trying to curry favour in the name of movement.

Muhith proposed an 'executive board on river basin' to monitor the river basins of the region including those of Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal and China.

"They are opposing Tipaimukh from the viewpoint of opposing India. We will have to be aware of them," he said.

"The issue of our right over water flow will supersede our loss in the construction of Tipaimukh Dam," said Workers Party chief Rashed Khan Menon MP, elected from Awami League-led Grand Alliance.

The vast regions of Manipur, Mizoram and Assam will be damaged along with Bangladesh, said general secretary of Bangladesher Communist Party Mujahidul Islam Selim.

"The Indian government will have to bear the consequences if the bilateral ties between the two countries are at stake," he cautioned

"This dam will cause disaster to the agro-based culture of riverine Bangladesh," said Hilal Uddin, chief coordinator of the preparation committee of the convention.

"There are many dangers of a big dam. It drowns human habitation, increases the risks of water-borne diseases and earthquake, causes diseases from gas created from water logging and decreases siltation," he said

Uddin said the natural flows of the rivers Surma, Kushiara and Meghna will also be affected because of the dam.

Source: www.bdnew24.com

Dhaka parties spar over Tipaimukh Dam

Dhaka, June 19: Bangladesh's political parties continue to spar over a river valley project India is planning in its northeastern region as New Delhi awaits a parliamentary team accompanied by experts to visit the project site.

Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith Friday urged "all to be aware" of any movement against the Tipaimukh dam project "by a certain quarter to gain its political interest," Star Online web site said.

Muhith criticised the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for not protesting against the Indian plans although the latter had completed the design and detailed studies and floated an international tender during the BNP-Jamaat rule (2001-06).

Addressing the "National Tipaimukh Dam Conference 2009", the finance minister, among the most experienced ministers in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government, said public opinion could have been mobilised earlier.

India is planning to build the dam over the Barak river in Manipur state, upstream of Bangladesh where the river, part of the gigantic Brahmaputra river system, is called Meghna.

The minister joined the debate as opposition parties, environmentalists and NGOs are building up protests that are similar that raged for long over India's dam over the Ganga at Farakka.

The two South Asian neighbours signed a bilateral treaty in 1997 that provides for India releasing more water to the lower riparian neighbour, particularly during the summer months.

The BNP, led by opposition leader and two-term prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, has accused the Hasina government of a "sell-out" and working against the national interest - a common refrain on projects and issues pertaining to India.

BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain last Tuesday asked people to raise their voices against the Hasina government "as it is mum about the Indian plan", the website of the Daily Star newspaper said.

Tipaimukh is linked to the Asian Highway, an United Nations - Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) project that Dhaka is preparing to join, upturning the earlier policy of the Zia government.

Hossain alleged that the Hasina government "is now trying to help (India to) complete them (the projects)".

India has in the last four years "refrained from sharing technical information" with Bangladesh, "triggering public uncertainty and outcry over its possible negative impact on the neighbouring country" (Bangladesh), the website said.

The proposal for a visit by a parliamentary team was made last month by New Delhi and accepted by Dhaka.

While India has not started construction, it floated an international tender in 2005 and opened the bid in 2006.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

Friday, June 19, 2009

India finally sends info on Tipaimukh dam

Dhaka, June 19 (bdnews24.com)—India has finally provided Bangladesh with information on the proposed Tipaimukh Dam after Dhaka's repeated requests, foreign minister Dipu Moni has said.

The information package has been forwarded to the water resources ministry and the Joint Rivers Commission, she told reporters on Friday.

"The government will now analyse the data received and sift through the information," she said after inaugurating a fair organised by the Foreign Office Wives' Association in the morning at the state guest house 'Padma'.

In case the proposed dam emerges to be seriously threatening Bangladesh's environment and ecology, the government will do everything in its power to oppose it and stop its construction, she added.

She, however, was sanguine that the Indian government will not do anything that might harm Bangladesh.

The minister said, "Our parliamentary delegation will soon visit the project site in India and submit a report to the government on return."

"The government will take necessary decision after reviewing relevant data and the report of the parliamentary delegates."

India began the construction work of Tipaimukh project damming the Barak river in 2003. It started the construction later last year without consulting Bangladesh.

Bangladesh environmentalists are concerned about the dam's impact on the Meghna greater Sylhet region in northeast Bangladesh.

Bangladesh gets 7 to 8 percent of its total water from the Barak in India's northeastern states. Millions of people are dependent on hundreds of water bodies, fed by the Barak, in the Sylhet region for fishing and agricultural activities.

The Barak assumes the name Kushiyara upon entering Bangladesh territory which travelling further downstream gets to be known as the Surma.

India says that the hydropower project will not harm Bangladesh.

According to some reports, the proposed Tipaimukh dam across the river Barak in the Indian state of Monipur will be 162.5 metres high and 390 metres long to create a reservoir by permanently submerging some 2.75 square kilometres of land.

India expects to generate around 1500 megawatt of hydropower from the project.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

"Dam"aging India-Bangladesh Relations

by- J. Sri Raman

Ever since India's general election, ending in the rout of the far right, international and regional attention has been focused on the country's relations with Pakistan and the prospects of their improvement. Unnoticed, meanwhile, is the ongoing damage threatened by India's proposed hydroelectric dam to its relations with Bangladesh, which an earlier ballot had promised to boost.

In the Bangladesh general election of December 2008, the Awami League (AL) of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed won a landslide victory despite attempts to pin the pro-India tag on her by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and her fundamentalist ally Jamaat-e-Islami (Jei). India seemed to have disappeared from the Bangladeshi political debate for some time, with the proposal for war crime trials threatening only to put Pakistan in the dock again.

India, however, figures in unflattering slogans at public rallies and street demonstrations staged over the past weeks. These are protests against the proposed dam, which seem as inimical to both the economy and environment of Bangladesh. The project is also resented as a display of big-brotherly disdain by India for the sensibilities of its eastern neighbor.

The BNP, with the support of almost all non-AL parties, has threatened to move the United Nations over the Tipaimukh project. The dam is being built across the Barak river on the border of India's northeastern States of Manipur and Mizoram, just 100 kilometers away from Bangladesh. The Barak becomes Meghna in Bangladesh, which the dam will reduce to the status of a lower riparian state.

Originally designed only to contain floods in the lower Barak Valley, the revised project aims to meet the power needs of India's rebellious northeast with an installed generating capacity of 1,500 megawatts. The dam is expected to submerge permanently an area of 275.50 square kilometers.

The protests can strike a popular chord because the bitterness caused in Bangladesh by an earlier Indian river project has yet to be erased. Fresh in the smaller neighbor's memory is the very unpleasant experience of the Farakka project.

The Farakka Barrage, completed in 1975 over the Ganga (a major river system shared by the two countries), led to a fierce controversy that continued for years. Built with the stated aim of diverting the Ganga into the Hooghly River of India's State of West Bengal during the dry season (January to June) in order to flush out silt, the dam came to be opposed for denying water to Bangladesh.

Unbiased accounts have largely corroborated the complaint. According to one finding, the water diversion caused this extremely poor country annual losses of over $4 billion. According to another, in some affected areas of Bangladesh, villagers had to "dig wells as deep as 200 feet to obtain drinking water."

In a recent article titled "From Farakka to Tipaimukh - the Dams that Kill," Bangladeshi human rights activist Habib Siddiqui, no friend of the BNP, recalled the history of the Farakka Barrage that should fill no Indian hearts with pride.

Siddiqui notes that Far?kka was the foremost subject on the agenda of the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) from the birth of Bangladesh to early 1975, when the joint body discussed it 90 times. In April 1975, Dhaka agreed to a 41-day trial operation of the barrage on the condition that Bangladesh was assured of a water supply of 40,000 cusecs during the dry season. What followed, in his own words, was this: "Unfortunately, soon after (Father of Bangladesh) Sheikh Mujib's (Mujibur Rahman's) assassination in August 15, 1975, taking advantage of the political change in Bangladesh, India violated the agreement ... by cheating and diverting the full capacity of 40,000 cusecs unilaterally."

The issue went to the UN General Assembly. On November 5, 1977, an agreement was signed, assuring 34,500 cusecs for Bangladesh. The five-year treaty expired in 1982 and, after many shorter extensions, lapsed in 1989.

Siddiqui points out: "The JRC statistics shows very clearly that Bangladesh did not get her due share during all those years (1977-91). There was no improvement of the situation during the first Khaleda Zia Administration (1991-96) with average water share reduced to 10,000 to 12,000 cusecs ..."

Then, Hasina replaced Khaleda as the elected prime minister. She visited India and signed a treaty with her then counterpart Deve Gowda in December 1996. "The treaty addressed the heart of the conflict: water allocation (35,000 cusecs) during the five months of the dry season (January-May). During the rest of the year, there is sufficient water that India can operate the Farakka diversion without creating problems for Bangladesh."

According to Siddqui, however, India did not keep "her side of the bargain." He cites JRC figures again in support of his statement.

This record, as Siddiqui more than suggests, raises eminently warranted misgivings about the Tipaimukh project, for which the foundation stone was laid in December 2006..

As for the environmental dimension to the debate, several experts agree that the Farakka Barrage raised salinity levels, contaminated fisheries and posed a threat to water quality and public health in Bangladesh. According to some, the lower levels of soil moisture along with increased salinity also led to desertification. A study of 1997 estimated that it would take 50 to 60 years to repair the environmental damage with extensive international assistance.

India's West Bengal has not been spared the damage, say some experts. The South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), in its report of November 1999 to the World Commission on Dams, is quoted as saying: "(The Farakka project) has resulted in massive devastation in Malda on its upstream and Murshidabad on its downstream in West Bengal. Huge sedimentation, increasing flood intensity and increasing tendency of bank failure are some of its impacts. Erosion has swept away large areas of these two districts causing large-scale population displacement ..."

The Tipaimuk project threaten similar consequences as well, say environmentalists. Objections to the project on this score have already been voiced in Manipur.

New Delhi's response to the protests has been to deny any ground for the grave apprehensions voiced about the project. The Hasina government, for its part, has promised the opposition that an all-party delegation will be sent to the site for an on-the-spot study of the project.

Siddiqui, however, speaks for many Bangladeshis. including supporters of the Hasina regime, when he wonders: "Given India's long history of dishonoring her agreements on Farakka with Bangladesh, can she be trusted for keeping any new promise? Are the UN and/or the ICJ (International Court of Justice) only options Bangladesh has to redress her grievances?"

It must be hoped that the option of bilateral discussions is preferred and that these are carried to a conclusion acceptable to common Bangladeshis. India's far right and Bangladesh's fundamentalists are waiting in the wings to take advantage of a failure of such efforts.