India's arbitrary withdrawal of water from the Ganges-Brhamaputra basin would seriously affect the economy and ecology of Bangladesh, said noted environmentalists and economists at a press briefing yesterday.

They said a three-day international conference on 'Trans-boundary rivers: Impact of the Indian riverlinking project' will be held in Dhaka on December 17 to 19 to bring together experts from South Asian region and other parts of the world to examine the adverse impact of the project.

The press briefing was organised by Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa), Bangladesh Environment Network (Ben), Bangladesh Economic Association (Bea), Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) and University of Dhaka (DU) at Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium.

"India's water diversion plan is a

threat to Bangladesh's national security," said Dhaka Wasa Managing Director ANH Akhtar Hossain."It will leave dreadful impact not only on the north-eastern region but also on the country's middle region."

"We must mobilise international support in favour of our national concerns as India has been lobbying the international community saying that it will withdraw only the excess rainwater through its river-linking project," said Prof. Feroze Ahmed of Buet.

Vice-Chancellor of BRAC University and Bapa President Prof. Jamilur Reza Chowdhury said the conference would make efforts to find out the best possible way to ensure its due share of water in trans-boundary rivers.

Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad of Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad, engineer Kamrul Islam Siddiqui, Dr. Abdul Matin, member- secretary of the organising committee of the conference, and IEB Vice-President Nurul Huda also spoke.