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Dhaka to seek jt study on impact of Tipai dam

JS team leaves for Delhi today

Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh will seek Indian assurance that water from transboundary rivers will not be diverted, and will propose a joint study for assessing the impacts of controversial Tipaimukh dam, as Dhaka sends a parliamentary delegation to examine the dam site today.
The delegation also expects to get from the Indian authorities a firsthand appraisal of the geo-environmental impacts of the largest hydroelectric project in the eastern part of that country.
On the eve of departure for India, delegation head Abdur Razzaq also chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on water resources, met the prime minister at the latter's official residence Jamuna, and apprised her of their readiness for the visit
Emerging from the meeting, Razzaq told The Daily Star that the premier directed him to get a clear picture of the Indian dam plan, for removing all confusions about it The visit takes place amid mounting concerns both in Bangladesh and northeastern India over the probable environmental cost of the high dam to be constructed 500 metres downstream of the confluence of Tuivai and Barak rivers in the Indian district of Churachanpur near the Manipur-Mizoram border.
Barak is the source of water for both the Surma and Kushiyara two major rivers that enter Bangladesh through Sylhet borders, meeting together further downstream to constitute the Meghna river.
India plans to complete constructing the dam in 87 months at a cost of 5,855.83 crore Indian rupees to generate up to 1,500 megawatts of hydroelectric power.
While India dispels environmental concerns claiming to have no intention to retain and redirect the normal water flow of the trans-boundary river, Bangladesh is concerned about the prospect that India might build a barrage as a part of theTipaimukh project, 100 kilometres downstream at Fulertal, for using the Barak water for irrigation purposes.
Abdur Razzaq leads the 11 -member delegation sans representation from the main opposition BNP that refrained from participating, with an accusation that water experts of their choice were not included in the team.
The Ione opposition participant Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad was also uncertain about his visit, as he told The Daily Star that he was not in the best of physical state, requiring consultation of a doctor at a hospital in the capital.
Razzaq, also an ex-water minister, earlier hinted that Dhaka will seek assurance from India that water of common rivers will not be diverted for irrigation purposes, and will propose a joint study to assess the impact of the proposed dam on both sides of the Indo-Banglaborder.
The delegation leaves Dhaka for New Delhi at 10:00am today by a let Airways flight and is scheduled to meet Indian foreign and energy ministries officials later in the day. The delegation will also make courtesy calls on the Indian foreign minister and energy minister tomorrow.
On Friday, they will fly to Guwahati, the capital of Indian state Assam, and then to the proposed dam site.
"We are likely to return to Delhi on August 2, and likely to return home the next day," AL lawmaker ABM Anwarul Haque, who is also one of the delegates, told The Daily Star.
The parliamentary delegation will submit a report to the prime minister upon its return from India.
Other lawmakers included in the delegation are Awami League’s Abdur Rahman, and AKM Fazlul Haq, Jatiya Party's ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader, and an independent lawmaker Fazlul Azim.
The expert delegates are Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Professor Monwar Hossain, and Sajjad Hossain of I Bangladesh-India Joint Rivers
Commission. The water resources secretary, and a director general of the foreign ministry are also in the team.
About the ambit of the delegation's investigation, Razzaq said, "We will try to assess how much damage to our environment the proposed dam is likely to cause. We will ask our experts to assess the matter."
"We will also try to find out whether any structure has already been built on the Barak river," he said adding that the delegation will try to know the exact nature of the project as well.
On Sunday, Razzaq told reporters that the extent of the Bangladeshi delegation's access to the site will depend on how much its counterpart is willing to allow.
"We will not be able to roam around at will while visiting the Tipaimukh dam site, as we will be guided by the Indian counterpart," said Razzaq.
The delegation chief also said the team's strength has been weakened due to the main opposition's refusal to be part of it.