Hush-hush govt approach creates confusion about Tipai dam: experts It is not possible for anyone to assess the situation by going through the printed documents on such a big project The government's hush-hush approach over information on India's Tipaimukh dam project is deepening confusion about its possible environmental impact on Bangladesh, water experts and environmentalists alleged. Some government MPs, including the water resources minister, reportedly said that data received from India on the proposed dam are insufficient to make any assessment on its adverse bearing on the country. Water experts however feel that Dhaka did not seek relevant data from New Delhi on the proposed dam to be built on the river Barak in the eastern Indian state of Manipur.Water resources secretary SM Wahid-uz-Zaman told New Age on Saturday that they had requested for the basic information about the project which India sent last month. Responding to a query whether the information were sufficient to assess the dam's impact on Bangladesh, the top official of the ministry said, 'It is not possible for anyone to assess the situation by going through the printed documents on such a big project. That is why the parliamentary delegation is going to visit the site in India. Wahid said that during the visit the Bangladesh delegation would first meet Indian water resources minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in New Delhi and afterwards visit the project area. Officials of the foreign and water resources ministries said that India had provided some information about the dam project through Bangladesh mission in New Delhi in June. 'We've been requesting them (New Delhi) to provide us technical date on the project since early 2007. We finally got their response only last month,' said an official. Referring to India's latest communication, a foreign ministry official told this correspondent that India has sent a document containing some data as well as maps of the project. In a brief note, the Indian government mentioned that Tipaimukh dam project would be constructed some 210 km upstream on the river Barak off the Indo-Bangladesh border. The proposed dam with a capacity of containing 15,000 MCM water and having a length of 165 metre is being designed to produce hydro-power. The project aims at producing some 1,500 megawatt electricity and would not have any component for irrigation by withdrawing water from the dam.The document also mentioned that Tipaimukh hydro-electric project would reduce the danger of floods through the monsoon flow of Borak river while increase the flow of water during the dry season. At present the river is almost non-navigable during the non-monsoon period and the project will ensure navigability of Barak, according to the Indian document, as quoted by an official.The proposed Tipaimukh dam project is said to include 12,756 sq kilometres of catchments area to preserve rain water. Ainun Nishat, country representative of International Union of Conservation of Nature, told New Age that he was not aware of what kind of data Bangladesh had sought from India on the Tipaimukh dam project or what sort of information India provided to Bangladesh. The environment expert opined that for evaluating any impact on a lower riparian country after the construction of such dam, Bangladesh would need to have specific technical data including operational modalities of the proposed project. 'Without having two reports—one on the environmental impact assessment and the other on operational and management plans for the proposed Tipaimukh dam—it won't be possible for giving any expert opinion on its possible impact on Bangladesh,' he added. http://www.newagebd..com/2009/jul/12/front.html |
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