Tipaimukh may cause a disaster

Environmentalists yesterday said Bangladesh must immediately assert that India's proposed Tipaimukh dam will be a disaster for Bangladesh's river system, livelihood and environment.

India must also consult with Bangladesh on the proposed dam and comply with the international conventions before embarking on construction of the dam over the cross-boundary river Borak for its Tipaimukh Hydropower Project, they said.

Addressing a press conference organised by Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) at the National Press Club in the city, they raised their voice against the proposed dam.

“We demand for detailed design and other technical information on the proposed dam,” said Bapa general secretary Abdul Matin in his keynote presentation.

Bangladesh must register its protest against the dam before it is built, he said, adding that Surma, Kushiara and Meghna rivers would dry up and Sylhet region would be flooded during rainy season if India constructs the dam.

“What is power-luxury for India is a life-and-death question for Bangladesh,” said Bapa president Prof Muzaffer Ahmad. “Energy cannot be more important than human disaster.”

He condemned recent statements by a couple of ministers that the damage would be assessed after the dam is built. “Refrain from utterances that may harm interests of the country and the people,” said Prof Ahmad.

Responding to commerce minister's comment that people are talking of the dam without knowing about it, Prof Ahmad said, “We have been working on Tipaimukh dam issue since 2004 and we invite the minister to have a share of what information we have.”

Tipaimukh is going to be more disastrous than Farakka barrage that has destroyed river Padma and ecology in the country's southwestern region, he said.

ASM Shahjahan, former advisor to a caretaker government and Bapa vice-president, said that the government must forge a consensus among all political parties to deal with the issue.

Construction of river dams is contradictory to global combat on climate change, said Bapa Secretary General Matin.

The proposed dam is to be built 100 kilometres upstream of the confluence of Surma and Kushiara rivers at Jokiganj border in Sylhet. The dam will be 1500 feet long and 500 feet high. Expected power generation capacity of the dam is 1500 megawatt. Indian authorities have targeted to complete the project by 2012, said Matin.

Bapa central leaders Taqsem A Khan, architect Iqbal Habib and Sharif Jamil among others were present.