Leaders of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) yesterday said India is going ahead with its InterRiver Linking Project with an uncompromising attitude as the political parties in Bangladesh remain divided and silent over the issue.

They said India has already completed feasibility studies on 14 rivers and Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on August 25 for linking the Ken and Betwa rivers, keeping Bangladesh in the dark.

on the other hand, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka is saying that the project is still at a conceptual level, said the Bapa leaders at a press conference in the city.

"India is making false promises that it will take final decision on the project only after discussions with Bangladesh and will not implement any project that will harm our interest. But it is going ahead with the project taking advantage of the division between our political parties," said renowned economist Prof Muzaffer Ahmad.

The Indian river-linking project aims to divert water from the downstream of the Ganges and Brahmaputra to the upstream, which will have a long-term negative impact on the environment and livelihood of the people of Bangladesh.

Prof Muzaffer called on all the political parties to forge a national consensus to stop the project, adding that the government should take the ultimate responsibility for any consequences.

Bapa is also ready to provide all kinds of project-related data to the government, if necessary, and to talk to the main opposition Awami League in this regard, he said.

Terming the project antihumanity, he said it will have most disastrous impact on the environment.

But, surprisingly, no political parties have so far staged any demonstrations against it or issued any statement, said Prof Muzaffer.

It is not only a question of a river or water, but of livelihood of crores of people in Bangladesh as well as in nine northern states of India, he said.

"We must be careful so that the

political division does not cause any harm to the long-term interest of the country," he warned.

Prof Asif Nazrul of Dhaka University said India is clearly violating the international river and environmental laws through this project.

Worryingly, India's unilateral decision in this regard is tantamount to the violation of the Ganges Water Treaty, 1996, he added.

Bapa will submit memoranda to the governments of India and Bangladesh protesting the India's recent move regarding the project and calling for immediate bilateral discussion between the two countries, said Dr Abdul Matin of Bapa.

Bapa General Secretary Mohidul Hoque Khan and Joint Secretary AK Baral also spoke.