India seeks to dispel fear without study
Without any environmental impact assessment on Bangladesh, New Delhi keeps assuring Dhaka that the Tipaimukh hydroelectric project will not harm the latter's interests.
In a statement posted on the website of its external affairs ministry, India yesterday said the proposed project had provisions to control floods and that it would not divert water for irrigation.
The statement also mentioned what Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said during his Bangladesh visit. “India would not take steps on the Tipaimukh project that would adversely impact on Bangladesh.”
However, New Delhi does not explain how it is convinced that its steps regarding the controversial Tipaimukh dam will not go against Bangladesh, as it has never conducted any study on the effects the hydropower project may have on the lower riparian country.
The Indian claim contradicts the 2005 study of the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) Bangladesh and also some expert analyses.
The study suggests that during a drier monsoon season, when Bangladesh will need water for fisheries and cultivation, the dam authorities will hold 27 per cent more water in June, 16 per cent in July, 14 per cent in August and 4 per cent in September than an average monsoon year.
The 390-metre long and 162.5-metre high dam will reduce the navigability of the Surma and Kushiyara downstream, it says.
Ainun Nishat, vice-chancellor of Brac University, said it was a common characteristic of the dams that they increased water inflow in summer.
"April-May is the time for boro harvest. Sudden release of water during this season would cause flash floods in the Sylhet region due to its geographical nature," he said.
The geological structure of the region, also known as Surma basin, is like a bowl where the water gets stuck for a longer period than it does on the plains, said Ainun, an eminent hydrologist.
If the water inflow becomes irregular, it would surely hamper agriculture, he added.
If the geological structure of the Sylhet region were like that of the rest of the country, the pre-monsoon water flow would not be a problem.
"In fact, people would have welcomed such water inflow during the summer," said Ainun Nishat.
The water expert also said the Tipaimukh dam could be useful for Bangladesh and could play a role in flood control if it were a joint project and managed in line with Bangladesh's requirements.
"But we know neither their construction plan nor their management plan."
Experts in Bangladesh predict the hydroelectric project will reduce the monsoon water inflow in the Barak river, which divides into two flows -- the Surma and the Kushiyara -- after entering the country.
They say the project will adversely affect the ecology of Bangladesh for centuries to come. The dam will lead to the loss of riverine habitats and species.
Another hydrological impact study conducted by the most authoritative water experts of Bangladesh says if India builds the dam on the Barak at Tipaimukh in Monipur, around 26 percent of haors in Sylhet and around 11 percent in Moulvibazar will run dry.
Prof Asif Nazrul, an expert on international river laws, is of the view that being a lower riparian country, Bangladesh has the right to be informed before any action relating to an international river is taken.
"It is also a duty of a good neighbour and international practice to inform its lower riparian country about any project on any shared river."
POLITICAL PARTIES PROTEST
Meanwhile, the Sylhet district and city units of the BNP have announced a weeklong agitation programme, including a daylong hartal in the district, for December 1, to protest the “deal signed on the Tipaimukh dam construction”.
M Ilyas Ali, Sylhet district BNP president, demanded immediate cancellation of the project, saying it would wreak serious havoc on the northeastern region.
In the capital, Ganosamhati Andolan brought out a procession before the Jatiya Press Club in protest at the Indian move to build the Tipaimukh dam “without informing Bangladesh”.
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