Expert opinion
http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2011/11/26/119253
On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 10:16 AM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
Pinaki RoyThe Tipaimukh Dam will decrease water flow in the Barak river during the monsoon, reduce the navigability of the Surma and the Kushiyara, dry up some beels and haors and increase riverbank erosion 100-150km downstream.
The impact of the dam, like reduced water flow during the monsoon, will be visible immediately after the dam is operational; but the impact on ecology will continue for the next few centuries, a hydrological impact study has noted.
If India builds the dam on the Barak at Tipaimukh in Monipur, around 26 per cent of haors in Sylhet and around 11 per cent in Moulvibazar will become dry, the study claims.
The Barak enters Bangladesh territory and splits into two tributaries, the Surma and the Kushiyara.
The study says that the water inflow during monsoon will be reduced up to 10 per cent in June, 23 per cent in July, 16 per cent in August and 15 per cent in September at Amalshid point on the Kushiyara.
At Kanairghat and Sylhet station on the Surma, average water level will drop by 0.75 metre and 0.25 metre, in those months, the study titled 'Hydrological Impact Study of Tipaimukh Dam Project' has said.
The study was conducted by the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) Bangladesh in 2005.
The report summarised the overall nature of impact in six categories, including hydrological impact, impact on flooding patterns and on river-floodplain-wetland ecosystem, impact on morphology, impact on water quality, dam-break and overall in general.
The study says that during a drier monsoon season when Bangladesh will be needing water for fish and cultivation, the dam authorities will hold 27 per cent more water in June, 16 per cent in July, 14 per cent in August and 4 per cent in September than an average monsoon year.
The study predicts that the 390-metre-long and 162.5-metre-high dam will change the hydrological pattern of the Barak, the second largest drainage system in northeast India, and reduce the navigability of the Surma and Kushiyara downstream.
The dam will add to the overall deposition on the riverbeds of the Surma and Kushiyara and both the rivers will loose navigability and erosion will continue over a hundred kilometres downstream.
The study further says that the pre-monsoon water inflow in April and May will increase up to 25 and 15 per cent due to release of water from the dam just ahead of the monsoon.
It says that it will cause moderate to severe floods in some parts of the Sylhet region in April and May and inundate boro fields at harvest time.
The impact on the river-floodplain-
-wetland will destroy the natural integrity of the ecosystem and the consequences of this will induce the loss of habitat for many species and even cause extinctions in the north-eastern region of Bangladesh.
Dam break is another big issue for the downstream region, the study expressing concern quoted Joseph Ellam, Pennsylvania state director of dam safety, "With the exception of nuclear power plants, no man-made structure has a greater potential for killing a large number of people than a dam."
The government of India has never officially informed the Bangladesh about the content of the study until now.
Ainun Nishat, vice-chancellor of Brac University and an eminent hydrologist of the country, yesterday said, "The dam should have been a project of both the countries and if it was properly designed and managed, India and Bangladesh would have benefited.
"We don't know what India is now doing."
Quoting Indian foreign ministry officials, a Bangladesh foreign ministry press release yesterday said India is to provide details of the development on Tipaimukh Dam once the offices open today.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=211030
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Prf Asif Nazrul's article:
http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2011-11-21/news/202422
http://amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2011/11/21/118476
http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2011-11-21/news/202579
http://amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2011/11/21/118450
http://amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2011/11/21/118456
http://jugantor.us/enews/issue/2011/11/21/news0295.htm
On Sun, Nov 20, 2011 at 11:14 AM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
Disaster in the making
Warn experts; no steps that will adversely affect Bangladesh, insists Delhi; we're in constant touch with India, says Dhaka
Ignoring bilateral agreements and international laws and conventions, India presses ahead with plans to build the controversial Tipaimukh dam on the Barak river in its northeastern Manipur state, causing worries to millions in lower riparian Bangladesh.
Environmental experts keep warning that the dam will spell disaster for the environment and induce an economic crisis downstream.
Since Barak-Surma-Kushiyara is an international river, Bangladesh should have an equitable share of its water and access to detailed information about the project, as per United Nations conventions and other international water-related laws.
Article 9 of the Ganges water sharing treaty, signed by Bangladesh and India in 1996, states that both sides will implement a no-harm policy and refrain from taking unilateral steps concerning any shared rivers.
An impact assessment on the Surma-Kushiyara river systems, conducted by the Bangladesh Institute of Water Modelling in 2005, says that a dam like Tipaimukh will surely cause long- and short-term effects.
"Some of the effects will be noticed even after a few hundred years," notes the study, titled "Hydrological Impact Study of Tipaimukh Dam Project".
The dam will certainly lead to the loss of riverine habitats and species. The free-flowing Surma and Kushiyara will run dry and remain so for a major portion of the year (Nov-May), badly affecting agriculture, irrigation, navigation and drinking water supply, the impact assessment says.
But the latest developments on the Indian side -- signing of an agreement to set up a joint venture company to implement the Tipaimukh project without any joint study -- worries Bangladesh.
New Delhi, however, seeks to allay Dhaka's anxiety by saying that it will not do anything on the Tipaimukh project that will adversely affect Bangladesh.
Shameem Ahsan, director general of the foreign ministry's external publicity wing, yesterday told The Daily Star, "We are in constant touch with the Indian external affairs ministry. Our high commission in New Delhi is also in touch with the Indian government, and the Indian side has assured us that it will not do anything harmful to Bangladesh."
On October 22, an investment agreement was signed among NHPC Ltd (formerly National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and India's premier hydropower company), the Manipur state government and another state enterprise SJVN (formerly Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd) to form a joint venture company to build the 1,500-MW Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak river.
The website of SJVN says the dam will be 162.80 metres high.
It also says the project has been conceived as a multipurpose storage project with the main objectives of hydropower development and flood moderation at its downstream regime.
The project will deliver a large number of socio-economic benefits to people living in and around the project area.
Back in 2003, India had started construction of the Tipaimukh dam on the Barak to generate electricity. But it had to stop the work in the wake of national and international uproar and resistance against probable environmental degradation in and outside India.
Talking to The Daily Star last night, Asif Nazrul, an expert on international water treaties, said India had shown the same attitude while building the Farakka barrage on the Ganges.
"The government of newly independent Bangladesh conveyed several strong protests to the then Indian government against the Farakka barrage, but it could not get any information regarding Farakka. The Indians had bilateral talks with Bangladesh only after the completion of the project," he added.
Though Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has held out the assurance several times that his country will not harm Bangladesh, Asif Nazrul said, "We cannot rely on his statements as his government has yet to take any steps along that line."
In joint declarations made after summits between the two prime ministers in 2010 and 2011, Manmohan assured Sheikh Hasina that New Delhi would not take any step regarding the planned Tipaimukh Dam that might harm Bangladesh.
The Convention of Biological Diversity, ratified by both Bangladesh and India, states a country will not take any measures that could be harmful to the biodiversity of its neighbour.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=210846
On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 3:31 PM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
http://sonarbangladesh.com/blog/shakilmunni/76002
Agreement for Tipaimukh project signed
NEW DELHI, Oct 28 – Despite opposition, the National Hydro Power Company has inked a Promoter's Agreement with SJVNL and Government of Manipur for execution of the 1,500 MW Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Project in Manipur.The Promoter's Agreement was signed in the presence of Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh by chairman and managing director, NHPC ABL Srivastava here on October 22.
NHPC signed the Promoter's Agreement with SJVN Limited and Government of Manipur for setting up a Joint Venture Company (JVC) for implementation of the project in Manipur.
The Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Project has been conceived as a multipurpose storage project on the Barak river with the main objective of hydropower generation along with flood moderation of downstream area.
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=oct2911/oth07
On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 12:04 PM, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
India will build Tipaimukh dam: Bangladesh in darkDuring his visit to Dhaka in September, Dr. Manmohan repeatedly assured Bangladesh that India wouldn't do anything harmful to Bangladesh. The project's work is progressing silently without taking Bangladesh on board.
When contacted, a high official of the Ministry of Water Resources preferring anonymity told The New Nation that they are not aware about such deal.He said the joint communiqué signed by Bangladesh and India during the Bangladesh's Prime Minister's visit to Delhi, said that India does not do anything at Tipaimukh without notifying Bangladesh
http://thenewnationbd.com/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=23331
http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2011-11-19/news/202026
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