Tipaimukh dam to destroy ecology in Meghna basin
Speakers say at Bapa roundtable in Sylhet
India, being an upper riparian country, cannot unilaterally withdraw water from the common rivers and any such move should be effectively dealt with at home and abroad, speakers said at a roundtable in Sylhet city yesterday.
Implementation of a gigantic project like Tipaimukh dam that will cause withdrawal of huge water in the Barak river near the common borders of north-eastern Indian states of Manipur, Mizoram and Assam, the entire Meghna basin in the downstream will face desertification, they said.
Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan (Bapa) with the assistance of Sylhet Paribesh Andolan (Sypa) organised the roundtable on 'Rivers in Sylhet and Tipaimukh bundh' at a city hotel.
The speakers called upon all concerned to resist at any cost the implementation of the dam that would mean another Farakka, seriously affecting livelihood in the north-eastern regions in Bangladesh.
They said the Indian government is going ahead with the implementation of the project ignoring protests even in Manipur state where devastating effect of the project is feared.
"We are heading towards a war on water in near future. Major portion of our water comes from outside the country. Water from rivers in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet flow through Bangladesh," Bapa founder chief AMA Muhit said as chief guest.
"Over the issue, we have to coordinate with people on movement in Manipur. Issues like flood control, forestry, preparedness for disaster etc can be discussed on joint forums with the neighbouring countries like India, Nepal and Bhutan."
Decisions taken through working jointly would be more effective, he said.
Forty-two rivers on the Meghna basin including 21 in greater Sylhet region have already lost 80 per cent of their navigability while the region's fishery, bio-diversity and agriculture are at a stake due to the critical situation, the speakers said at the roundtable.
Bapa Secretary General Dr Md Abdul Matin, also Coordinator of the National Rivers Saving Movement, read out the keynote paper at the roundtable chaired by Vice Chancellor of Sylhet International University Prof Sadruddin Ahmed Chowdhury.
Prof Abdul Awal Biswas and Dr Akhtarul Islam Chowdhury of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, AHM Fokhrul Islam, executive engineer of Water Development Board, Abdul Karim Kim, secretary of Sylhet Paribesh Andolan, Dr Zillul Haque, secretary of Moulvibazar Paribesh Andolan, Engineer Padmasen Sinha, chief of Manipuri Kalyan Samity, advocate Bedananda Bhattacharya, advocate Zakir Ahmed and journalist Al-Azad also spoke on the occasion.
Located at Tipaimukh in Churachand district of Manipur, the project area is close to the borders of Assam and Mizoram states and about 100 km off the Bangladesh border. Work on the four-year project is scheduled to start from 2008 at a cost of 6,000 crore rupees.
The project poses threat of ecology disaster and eviction of a large number of people, especially aborigines in the surrounding areas.
Amid strong protests from environmentalist groups in the north-eastern Indian states of Manipur, Assam and Mizoram, the authorities laid the foundation of the mega project last year.
The Indian authorities initiated the barrage project for a 1500 MW electricity plant a decade ago, but could not go ahead with its implementation in the face of protests.
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