No harm if Tipaimukh dam goes ahead : Rizvi

Prime minister's adviser Gowher Rizvi has rubbished the idea that construction of Tipaimukh dam on the Barak River in the Indian state of Manipur would harm Bangladesh, reports bdnews24.com. "Notions about the adverse impacts of Tipaimukh dam on Bangladesh are groundless" Rizvi said Monday, after meeting Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday to discuss apprehensions among certain quarters here about the project. Many environmentalists fear the dam would adversely impact, and possibly even drown areas in Sylhet. On the other hand, if the dam stops water, Meghna, Surma and Kushiara and other branches of these rivers in Bangladesh will dry up in lean season, according to environmentalists. But Rizvi said the hydroelectric plant, being constructed at Tipaimukh, can in fact help Bangladesh. He said the project is estimated to generate 1500 megawatt electricity and Bangladesh can also invest in the project. He also communicated Singh's assurance that the dam will do not have any adverse impact on Bangladesh. Rizvi said India has also assured help to Bangladeshi experts if they want to examine the project to get rid of their apprehension. Bangladesh became concerned over possible negative impact of the project after the BBC published a report to that effect on Nov 18. Dhaka also sent a letter to New Delhi, seeking details of the project. In response, New Delhi said the proposed Tipaimukh hydroelectric plant would not harm Bangladesh since the dam and the power plant will not stop the normal flow of Barak river. Meanwhile, UNB adds: BNP has suggested that it has little confidence in the words of Manmohan Singh who told Khaleda Zia that anything harming Bangladesh will not be done in the Tipaimukh hydroelectric project that will dam the Borak river. The party spokesman has said "the people of the country cannot trust the top Indian leaders' assurance." The opposition chief had written to the Indian prime minister on November 21 calling for a joint survey on the 1,500-megawatt (mw) power project. BNP called a press briefing Monday to share details of Singh's reply, received nine days ago, and once again demanded a joint survey before launching the project that is feared to reduce the Barak river water flowing into Bangladesh's northeastern region. Acting secretary-general of the party Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir quoted Singh as saying in the letter, "The Tipaimukh project will basically play an assisting role to control flood, it is not an irrigation project. The Indian government will not do anything in the project that will cause harm for Bangladesh." Singh, during talks with senior Bangladesh government officials, had also assured that his government is not going to do anything harmful for Bangladesh. "Bangladesh has its right to the flow of the river. The people of the country can't trust the top Indian leaders' assurances. Similar assurances had been made while building the Farakka barrage," Alamgir said. The letter mentioned that a parliamentary delegation from Bangladesh visited the Tiapaimukh project area at the invitation of Indian government in 2009 and the delegation was apprised of that Tipaimukh dam will not cast adverse impact on any area of Bangladesh. He said not the Opposition, but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government should have play role over this issue for national interest but the government has miserably failed to perform the responsibility. Fakhrul said the Indian government is going to implement the Tipaimukh project without discussion with Bangladesh which would be very harmful for Bangladesh. He said according to technical reports of the national and international water experts, if Tipaimukh dam project is implemented that may affect the livelihood of nearly 30 million people of 10 districts of north-east region of Bangladesh, agriculture, economic growth, fisheries resources, environment and ecology.