Call to boycott Indian goods

Staff Reporter

Leaders and workers of Sylhet Division Development Student Action Council (SDDSAC), Dhaka University yesterday gave a call for boycotting Indian goods protesting the construction of Tipaimukh dam.

They also burned some Indian goods including saree and Anadabazar newspaper of India in front of Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka University. A large number of students and people of Sylhet living in Dhaka participated in the programme with Indian goods to burn.

When the Indians goods were burning, enthusiastic people gathered at the venue and supported it with clappings.

Before burning the goods, a demonstration programme was held which was addressed among others, by President of Sylhet Division Development Action Council Advocate Abed Raza, General Secretary of Bharatia Kalyan Samity Mozammel Haque Palash, Convener of DU Nirjatan Protirod Chhatra Andolan Khumeni Ehsan, Convener of Tipaimukh Dam Protirod Chhatra Andolan Nasir Uddin Shahin, leaders of the student organisation Shahin Ahmed Khan, Joynul Islam, Md Nijam Uddin and Abu Bakar Siddique, Captain (Retd) Mizanur Rahamn, Najimuddin and Ansar Ali.

Speakers said that to save a large region of the country from desertification we have to intensify movement to resist construction of Tipaimukh Dam at any cost. They urged the government not to delay taking necessary steps to stop India from going ahead with the move of construction of Tipaimukh Dam.

Speakers at the demonstration also demanded immediate withdrawal of Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakrabarty for his controversial remarks about Tipaimukh Dam.

Source: http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/07/12/news0653.htm

Tipaimukh Documents

The Prothom ALo reported that the information Bangladesh has so far been given by India about Tipaimukh is meager. Water resources minister earlier said that the info given to Bangladesh recently has only the height, width of the bridge. Per the above report, current Foreign Minister and Leader of the proposed delegate team, Mr A Razzaque have some 2005 info. However they do not have the much sought after comprehensive Environmental impact assessment.

The ten member, much hyped, high powered MP and expert panel will visit Dam site only to see whether they can obtain the environmental impact assessment (EIA). But it is very unfortunate and at the same time puzzling to find that, the data Bangladesh is seeking for so long and we are sending ten MPS and experts to request for the data, is already available in public websites of different Indian agencies.

I was able to obtain the 2007 update of the environmental impact assessment as well as important government documents like clearance from state pollutions boards of Monipur and Mizoram, newspaper clips of public hearing kept in Indian governments dossier on Tipaimukh dam. A simple google search made it possible for me.

This is a large document comprising many section. There are hundreds of pages.I glanced through part of it. By reading, it becomes clear that the whole dossier is a govt report aimed at smooth approval of the project. So the focus was on showing positive side of it. Totally missing from the analysis is any study on downstream effects in BD.

There are some very short statement with intentional positive spin. e.g. the one below…

…In a study made to examine the environmental and economic impact at the down stream at pre and post project scenario, it is found that average water availability at down stream for monsoon season at post dam condition will decrease by 30% in comparison to pre-dam condition and thereby will provide relief to down stream population from recurring annual flood havoc. Similarly, due to regulated flow from reservoir, the non-monsoon flow will increase by 110 percent, which will provide irrigation benefit for Rabi crops…

It clearly does not say what will happen with 30% reduction of flow in those years when there is no flood. Plus 110% increase in flow of water in winter season in Sylhet Surma/ Kushiara basin will be disaster, as those areas get one crop a year. The crops are cultivated in the dried up haors. If haors are not dried up during lean season, boro can not be cultivated during winter season. It also does not clarify how Shurma, Kushiyara, Meghna would deal with 30% reduction of water during Monsoon.

Another excerpt says,

Tipaimukh site is seismically located in Zone-V of Seismic Zoning Map of India. As per available records, about 16 earthquakes of magnitude greater than 7.0 have occurred in this region, of which 2 are of world’s greatest earthquake with magnitude more than 8.5.

This excerpt is also in sharp contradiction with what Mr Pinak Ranjan said about earthquake.

It also has great detail of compensation/ promises for people affected by the flood, catchmnet area, down stream area in Nagaland, Mizoram and Monipur. The promise of reserving power, giving jobs in plant construction, .. a big numbered list of bribes for angry locals.

This dossier clearly states the intention of building a irrigation barrage in Fulertol area but mentions that the Fulertol project is not part of Tipaimukh hydroelectric project and hence beyond the scope of this dossie.

Below are some of the documents for your reading pleasure. Will will publish more during the coming days.

Interested readers can go through the address below to get some documents about Tipaimukh dam.

http://unheardvoice.net/blog/2009/07/12/tipaimukh-documents/

Tipaimukh Dam : The Impact Assessment

By- Diganta
July 10, 2009

In my previous posting I complained about India hiding the data. I am proved wrong. The data on Tipaimukh is there – open for everyone on the internet. Now I hardly find a ground to accuse Government of hiding anything. It looks like the Environment Impact Assessment is open from 2007. It can be accessed here.

At the same time, I found Bangladesh also did impact assessment of Tipaimukh dam way back in 1993. The report was prepared as a part of Flood Control Project (part 6) and covers upside and downside of the project in details. As the earlier one, this is also open in the Internet for years. It’s me to get the blame as I didn’t search enough before I conclude anything.

Since the debated effects are mostly in Bangladesh side, we can go over what the impact assessment says. It was prepared by Sara Bennett and Mujib Huq as part of SNC Lavalin International & Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Ltd. Let’s go inside it.

In summary, it mentions -

“Operation of the proposed Tipaimukh Dam/Cachar Plain Project on the Barak in India would moderate flows along the Kushiyara River and upper Surma River, decreasing monsoon flood levels and substantially increasing dry season flows. Impacts during reservoir filling could be even more significant. Ramifications for biophysical and socioeconomic environmental components include changes in monsoon cropping, reduced infrastructure and homestead flood damage, slower post-monsoon drainage, increased dry season in-channel fisheries habitat and improved migration access in the pre- and post-monsoon seasons, and so on.”

The same was best dealt with in section 8 of the plan. Section 8.3.2 deals with the impacts which is detailed in 8.7.2. It says -

“The Tipaimukh Dam/Cachar Plain Project on the Barak in India will substantially alter discharges of the Barak where it enters Bangladesh at Amalshid. Available information suggests that monsoon peak flows would decrease by about 30% (from 5250 to 3500 m3 s-1). Winter flows would double or triple, increasing 100 to 200% (from between 170 and 250 to 500 m3 s-1). Of the monsoon peak decrease, monsoon flow in the Surma and Kushiyara Rivers would decrease by 800 m3 s-1. Surma-Kushiyara and Surma-Sarigoyain floodplain discharges would decrease by the remainder of 1150 m3 s-1.

The Surma and Kushiyara Rivers along their entire lengths, and part of their tributaries, are also affected. At Fenchuganj on the Kushiyara, for example, model monsoon peak flows decreased by about 20% (from 2900 to 2400 m3 s-1). Peak levels decreased by 1 m (Regional Plan Figure 21A). Model winter flows increased by about 80% (from 250 to 450 m3 s-1). Levels increased by almost 2 m.

Further downstream in the Kalni-Kushiyara, model water levels increased by as much as 0.3 m in the monsoon and 1.5 m in the winter and pre-monsoon periods, as a result of sediment deposition. The affected reach extends as far as Ajmiriganj. By Bhairab Bazar, model flows and levels are almost unchanged from current conditions. In a simulation based on a drier year than 1991, however, model winter flows might increase significantly; simulated discharge hydrographs show that Bhairab Bazar winter flows are highly variable due to tidal effects.

Similar but somewhat smaller changes occur on the Surma (Regional Plan Figure 21B). At Kanaighat, model monsoon levels decrease by 0.5 m, while winter levels increase by 1 m or more. At Sukdevpur model water levels are almost unchanged from current conditions. …

The potential Tipaimukh Dam/Cachar Plain Project, which the model indicates would decrease upper Surma and upper Kushiyara monsoon peak levels by 1.5 m and increase winter discharges by 100 to 200%, for conditions similar to those in 1991.Expected sediment deposition in the Kalni and lower Baulai, which the model indicates would increase pre-monsoon and post-monsoon water levels by as much 1.5 m.”

Under 8.5 it mentions -

“Projects which would be significantly affected by dam implementation are Upper Surma-Kushiyara, Surma Right Bank, Surma-Kushiyara-Baulai Basin, and Kushiyara-Bijna Interbasin“

It’s good to add that all the above mentioned projects were for controlling the flood. They will be irrelevant if flood is prevented upstream. The potential hazards are all mentioned in 8.8.1 and 8.8.2. The first of these is the Earthquake and next one is the any other dam failure condition.

“The region is known to be vulnerable to earthquakes. These events, though relatively rare are extreme in intensity, and can reverse existing morphologic trends and even induce re-configuration of the drainage system. The likelihood that during 1991-2015 the region would experience an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 (similar to the 1918 event, return period of 30 to 50 years) is between 40 and 60%; of magnitude 8.7 (similar to the 1897 event, the largest on record, return period of 300 to 1000 years) is perhaps 2 to 5%, assuming the events are random and can be described with a simple binomial probability model. … The Tipaimukh reservoir is huge (15,000 Mm3) compared with experience reported in the literature. In the event of a significant unplanned discharge, the river system in Bangladesh would respond (drain) rather slowly, as characterized by the outflow rate relative to the floodplain storage volume), such that most of the water released would remain ponded over the Northeast Region for some time. Assuming a release volume of 10 Mm3 and a ponded area of 100 km2, the depth of flooding would be an average of 1.0 m above the normal flood level. … we show modelled flood waves for a test case of a instantaneous failure, 50 m wide extending to 100 m below the crest of the dam. Discharge and water level hydrographs are presented for three locations (Figure 11): at the exit from the mountain valley (km 80), at Silchar (in the middle of the Cachar plain, km 140) and at Amalshid (km 200). It can be seen from this that substantial attenuation of the flood wave would occur upstream of Amalshid and that the flood wave at Amalshid is a long-duration event.”

The other impact is mentioned in section 9.2.1. It notes -

“Dredging of the Kalni and Baulai appears to mitigate the effect of higher discharges in the post-monsoon season due to Tipaimukh Dam. Actual impacts would have differed if other upstream dam/irrigation scenarios had been adopted in the simulations.”

Now if one moves to the Indian EIA document, the entire 3.9 section would be found to deal with these issues. It covers almost all possible conditions. They have to be the same since it is Science.

If anyone is interested, he can go through those docuements and provide valuable feedbacks. I am not an expert and would not like to be one in short term. However I read both of them and I was satisfied with the mitigation effort and planning published in EIA and EMP documents. Whether all of them will be implemented – is another question needs to be dealt with.

Confusion over Tipai visit date: Water Minister says govt sets July 15 as tentative date

Staff Correspondent

Confusions have arisen regarding the date for the visit to the Tipaimukh dam site in India by a special committee of lawmakers and experts.

"We have set July 15 as a tentative date for the visit. But the schedule could be delayed by one week for Nam summit," Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen yesterday told The Daily Star over telephone.

He also said the date for visiting Tipaimukh will be confirmed after Awami League lawmaker Abdur Razzak, chairman of the nine-member committee, returns from his visit to London.

On July 6, Ramesh had told journalists at his secretariat office that the committee would decide the date on July 13.

Razzak, former water resources minister, will lead the delegation to Tipaimukh to assess its impacts on Bangladesh. The team will also meet some Indian high-ups to talk about the dam.

The parliamentary standing committee on water resources ministry formed the special committee on June 16. Apart from Razzak, it comprises AL lawmakers Abdur Rahman, AKM Fazlul Haque and ABM Anwarul Haque, Jatiya Party lawmaker Ruhul Amin Hawlader and Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Hamidur Rahman Azad.

The main opposition BNP is yet to announce its representatives for the committee.

The Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker is actually representing the BNP-led four-party alliance, Ramesh said yesterday during a visit to Kurigram.

Three water resources experts will be included in the committee.

Without sharing any technical information, India is all set to construct a dam at Tipaimukh in Manipur state on the Barak river, which has triggered huge public concerns in Bangladesh.

Experts told The Daily Star that construction of the dam will cause a great environmental threat to Bangladesh as four major rivers in the Meghna basin--the Meghna, Kalini, Surma and Kushiyara--lie downstream the Barak.

The prime ministers of both the neighbouring countries are scheduled to attend the Nam summit in Cairo, Egypt, from July 15.

Source: Daily Star

India invites Bangla politicos to inspect contentious dam

NEW DELHI: India will attempt to assuage Bangladesh's concerns on a proposed hydropower dam in Manipur by inviting a multi-party group of

politicians and opinion leaders from Bangladesh (including members from BNP and Jamaat) to come to India, see the proposed site for themselves and get briefed by Indian experts.

The Tipaimukh project on the Barak river is emerging as the latest tension spot with Dhaka, though India has been at pains to reassure Bangladesh that nothing would be done to endanger the country. It was a message that was given by both foreign minister S M Krishna and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to visiting Bangladeshi foreign minister Dipu Moni, who was here on Thursday on a day-long visit.

Moni spent the morning in talks with Krishna, as preparation for formal bilateral talks scheduled in the coming weeks. She also handed over a letter of invitation for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from Sheikh Hasina inviting him to Dhaka. Sheikh Hasina is also expected to visit here soon.

Sources said Bangladesh reiterated its interest in rebuilding a trade and commercial relationship with India besides asking for assistance in infrastructure projects and technical expertise.

The invitation to the Bangladesh delegation is a sign that India wants to do business differently with its eastern neighbour. But the Tipaimukh project is also part of internal Bangladesh politics, because the Opposition BNP is using this to slam the government for "selling out" to India. The Asian highway project is another, where BNP is accusing the Awami government of giving transit to India through the multilateral highway.

Basically, India will have to work very hard to get any traction in Bangladesh, because all issues with India become part of political polarisation within the country. The key to this is the fear within Bangladesh that an Awami government is pro-India and India makes little attempt to go for a more equitable relationship with a bigger political spectrum.

Hasina is trying to defuse tension over Tipaimukh, but it's not working very well. "All the problems can be solved through talks. We have signed the historic Ganges Water Treaty, ensuring fair share of its water. We will be able to resolve the Tipaimukh issue also," she told parliament this week.


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India-invites-Bangla-politicos-to-inspect-contentious-dam/articleshow/4759511.cms


'Nirvik' long march against Tipaimukh Dam on July 17


Staff Reporter


'Nirvik', an environmental NGO has announced its schedule of long march programme towards Barak valley at Bangladeshi part of Amalshid under the Zakiganj Upazila of Sylhet district on 17 July demanding stoppage of the Tipaimukh dam project in India.

The long march programme-led the by Chief Coordinator of Nirvik ATM Kamal would begin at 9:00am on 17 July from Muktangang in the Dhaka city and end at Amalshid via Chittagong road, Narsingdi, Bhairab, Madhabpur, Shrimangal, Moulibazar, Fenchuganj, Sylhet, Surma and Kadamtali.

Nirvik will also hold roadside meetings and view exchange meetings with participation of socio-cultural and environmental organisations and personalities, local media men and elites at different important places during its long march programme.

ATM Kamal urged the people to rise to thwart conspiracy of deserting the country by building dams and barrages at upper riparian part of the joint-rivers in India.

Source: The New Nation


Tipaimukh dam will be resisted if harmful: Sen

Kurigram, July 10 (bdnews24.com)

The erection of Tipaimukh dam across the Barak will be resisted by people if it runs counter to Bangladesh's interests, the water resources minister said on Friday.

"None will be allowed to do anything harmful to Bangladesh. India cannot erect Tipaimukh Dam without our consent," Ramesh Chandra Sen asserted.

"Our parliamentary delegation will go to India on July 15 [to visit the dam site]. They will visit [the site] to survey and get all data," he told reporters after visiting river erosion-hit areas in Kurigram.

"A decision on the issue will come only after the experts examine those."

Embankments along with other permanent protection system will be taken to prevent the river erosion, he said.

In addition, rivers will be dredged in the current fiscal year.

The minister said work to dig 280 kilometres strech from Chilmari to Chandpur in Kurigram will start this fiscal year to restore navigability in the rivers.

The minister tourted Char Newaji, Char Sajai, Korttimari in Rajibpur Upazila, Shaheber Alga in Ulipur Upazila, and Mogolbachha, Panchgachhi, Kadamtalam Chowdhury Para, Bhogdanga in Kurigram Sadar and Borobhita in Fulbari Upazila.

He visited the erosion-hit area from 8:30am to 7pm, and listened to problems raised by locals.

He left for Lalmonirhat at 8pm.

The minister was accompanied by MPs Mohammad Zafar Ali, Moinul Islam Mukulm, Zakir Hossain, Ahmed Nazneen Sultana, Water Development Board chief engineer in the northern zone Aminul Haque, deputy commissioner Mohammad Asaduzzaman and superintendent of police Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman, among others.

BNP to take up Tipaimukh issue with foreign governments

July 10th, 2009

Bangladesh’s main opposition party will write to foreign governments and international organisations to protest the proposed Tipaimukh dam in northeastern India on grounds that it will hurt the environment.


Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia had last month written to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him to desist from constructing the dam on Barak river in Manipur state.

Her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has so far stayed away from a parliamentary team that will visit the dam site in the third week of this month.

The BNP announced its decision to write to various governments on a day Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni met her Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi to work out details of the team’s visit.

Keen to resolve the issue through talks, Dhaka and New Delhi have decided that the Bangladeshi parliamentary team will meet Indian Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal before visiting the dam site.

“Country’s environment will be affected seriously if the dam is built,” Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, member of BNP’s standing committee, Thursday told The Daily Star.

“So we want to draw attention of international community to Tipaimukh dam,” Rahman added.

The committee also asked the government to make public all data and information on Tipaimukh dam provided by India.

It urged the government to make people aware of the probable impact of the dam and said some contradictory comments made by the ministers have raised questions among the people regarding the issue, New Age newspaper said.

The party slammed the government for “cracking down” on anti-dam activists who have protested outside the Indian High Commission.

Since it lost badly in last December’s election, Zia and her allies have stayed away from the parliament most of the time and have taken to streets on various issues.

Tipaimukh dam

Shafiqul Islam, NY

Whatever my rivals do are bad and whatever we do are good. We also believe, whatever we say and whatever we preach, the people overwhelmingly believe and support us. So, the people are with us always and will remain so, all the time. Anything good done by other than us for peoples' welfare is not acceptable to the people because they do not understand their own good or bad. We love the country most while the others are out to sell out the very interest of the country. We still believe the election result of 29 Dec'08 was managed, people actually voted for us but others were declared elected with the help of some foreign hands.

The BNP has no confidence in other experts except their own five whom they can trust. So, they have forwarded five names of experts who should be included in the fact finding team to study the after effects of Indian projected Tipaimukh dam. I suggest the government accept their demand.

Tipaimukh dam is not a new project of India. The Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka has categorically said that the BNP did not raise any objection while they were in power. Suddenly, their love is spilling over for the country and they are trying to mobilise support against the dam. The BNP leader has reportedly written a letter to the Indian Prime Minister to stop the work. Is it not her crocodile tears to draw cheap sympathy from the public?

Some so-called intellectuals helped them change the course of history. These intellectuals' love for the country is undisputed. So their love for their leaders is absolute. They can deliver services to the people by serving their leaders with guidelines.

I believe the suggested water experts will render a good service by creating more confusion than and good as did those die-hard supporters of the BNP.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=96146