Resolving Tipaimukh issue in right earnest

Already climate-induced changes have hit Bangladesh hard and now if the Tipaimukh Dam is constructed, its adverse impact on the country might be devastating and the loss may well be an irreversible one, argues Shafiqul Alam According to media reports, the government of the Indian State of Manipur, has finalised a deal with a view to setting up the controversial hydroelectric power plant and Tipaimukh Dam on Barak River. Although NIPKO was assigned by the Indian government to start construction of Tipaimukh Dam a few months ago, no activity was visible in this regard. However, after a break of a few months, the Indian government has started a fresh move on the project. This comes as a shocker to people of Bangladesh who have by and large been against the building of the project from its inception. According to international and local experts, the dam would bring catastrophic consequences both for Bangladesh and India's north-east region. Already climate induced changes have hit Bangladesh hard and now if Tipaimukh dam is constructed, the adverse impact of the dam on the country might be devastating and the loss may well be an irreversible one. Surma and Kushiara rivers might turn dry, which in turn would cause incalculable damage to agriculture, irrigation, navigation, etc. Our agriculture, which is a source of survival for many and which depends on surface as well as ground water, might be affected fatally. An increase of water scarcity due to Tipaimukh Dam would in turn trigger river erosion. On the other hand, in case of heavy rainfall, huge quantity of water might be released threatening to unleash severe floods in the Surma and Kushiara channels. Fishermen, river transportation workers and owners and many others whose livelihood is closely linked to uninterrupted flow of Surma, Kushiara and Meghna rivers have raised their voice over the attempt to build the Tipaimukh Dam as it would cost the livelihoods of thousands of river transport workers and entire fisher folk communities. Environmentalists, both local and foreign along with lawyers have also expressed concern over the move to build the controversial dam. What is of concern is that there is not enough reliable data on the probable impact Tipaimukh Dam would have on the environment. Questions have also been raised in north-east India regarding the dam and people in India have not been assured that the dam would do no harm to them. So, the mutual benefit of Bangladesh and India, as expressed by Indian prime minister during his visit to Bangladesh, is certainly suspect. Another point to be noted that--does Bangladesh have enough resources to offset the adverse effects of Tipaimukh dam that people of Bangladesh would likely to suffer in the Kushiyara, Surma and Meghna basins? The problems that could very well end up threatening long-term ecological disaster for Bangladesh need to be properly studied by international experts, if needed. Worse still, the Indian government did not take Bangladesh into confidence regarding details of the Tipaimukh Dam during Indian prime minister's visit to Bangladesh. In fact the only solace it did get was that nothing would be done against the interest of Bangladesh. In reality, India is going to break its promise and recent steps point to a gross violation of international norms and the Treaty between India and Bangladesh. The control of an international river by India alone is a matter of serious concern. Again, once the dam is built, it might so happen that India would decide how much water they will release and when they will release it. As such, serious flaws are there and without having any concrete information about the amount of water to be released from Tipaimukh Dam, no one can predict what would be the situation in the downstream location in Bangladesh. However, given the history of Indo-Bangladesh bilateral relations, there is no guarantee that pledges to release water during lean period will be kept. It is highly likely that if a win-win agreement is not done on Tipaimukh Dam, Bangladesh and its millions of people are likely to pay a heavy price. This would create massive unemployment, harm the environment and harm our economic lifeline that is our agriculture and more importantly we might have to witness of our land turning arid for many years. Earlier, our government failed to reach an agreement on Teesta which hurt the people most and now Tipaimukh Dam is simply adding insult to injury. Finally, it is the government's part to take the initiative, in right earnest, to resolve the issue and save the country from the ensuing dangers of Tipaimukh Dam. The writer can be reached at Email: shafiqul0032@yahoo.com