CPB against Tipaimukh Dam

By Razu Ahmed

The Communist Party of Bangladesh has called upon the government of India to stop the Tipaimukh Dam Project. India claims that the Dam is being constructed for producing electricity. Even if it is true, it is not acceptable. CPB President Manzurul Ahsan Khan and General Secretary Mujahidul Islam Selim in a statement further said that as an upper riparian country India will fully control and decide the volume of water flow. If they decrease or increase water flow according to their requirement, Bangladesh as a lower riparian country will face severe draught and unusual flooding in vast areas.

The leaders also said that the dam once constructed for production of electricity can easily be extended for turning it into an irrigation project. A risk will always be there that the Tipaimukh Dam can be turned into a barrage. If India proceeds with such a plan in future it will cause disaster for Bangladesh.

The CPB leaders said that the most important point is that, an upper riparian country cannot interfere with the water flow of any common river without discussions and consent of the lower riparian country. This is the international practice and law. But India has not supplied enough facts and materials to Bangladesh. They did not discuss and obtain consent. The Government of India is going forward with the plan of constructing the dam without consulting with Bangladesh. The statement also claimed that if the Dam is constructed, not only Bangladesh but also environment, nature and people of three eastern states of India will also suffer badly. This is why people of India are also opposing the Tipaimukh Project.

The Party Leaders said that the construction of Tipaimukh Dam will not only be damaging to Bangladesh environment and economy, it will also cause a deep dent in the Indo-Bangladesh relationship which is a matter of great concern. It is very important for the interest of the peoples of both the countries that friendly bilateral relationships prevail between them. It will be impossible to fight imperialist conspiracy in this region without friendly relationship between the two countries. Besides, the imperialists and the vested interest in both the countries always want deterioration of relationship between India and Bangladesh. Imperialism and the dark forces of conspiracy will use the deterioration of relations between the two countries, which will be an obvious outcome if India pursues its policy arrogantly. Indian government will be responsible for such an outcome.

Manzur and Selim in their statement called upon the Indian government to stop Tipaimukh Dam project in the interest of the people of both the countries. At the same time they appealed to progressive and democratic forces of India to raise their voice on this issue. They also called upon Bangladesh Government to take effective bilateral and diplomatic initiatives to stop construction of Tipaimukh Dam. The CPB leaders also called upon the people of Bangladesh to be active in protest against the construction of the Dam.


Source: http://www.groundreport.com/Opinion/CPB-against-Tipaimukh-Dam