Dhaka wants more information from Delhi on Tipaimukh damAugust 23rd, 2009 DHAKA - Ahead of Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni's visit to India Sep 7, Dhaka wants more information on Delhi's plan to build Tipaimukh dam in Manipur state, a senior official has said. Foreign Secretary Mirajul Quayes described last month's visit to India by a parliamentary team as "useful" and said the data supplied by India was being examined by a committee of experts, New Age newspaper reported Sunday.
Zia criticises India's Tipaimukh dam project againAugust 3rd, 2009 DHAKA - The battle lines have been drawn in Bangladesh against India's proposed Tipaimukh dam with opposition leader Khaleda Zia accusing the Sheikh Hasina government of hatching "a foreign conspiracy" and blessing a "long march" against the dam. Zia alleged at a rally Sunday that India was building the dam "step by step", contravening a promise its Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made to his counterpart Sheikh Hasina at a meeting on the sidelines of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit that New Delhi would do nothing to hurt Dhaka's interests.
Bangladeshi delegation visits Manipur to assess hydel projectJuly 31st, 2009 IMPHAL - A 10-member Bangladeshi parliamentary delegation visited the Tipaimukh dam in India's Manipur Friday following the opposition in Dhaka over the hydel project's possible ecological impact. The delegation, led by parliament water resources standing committee chairman Abdur Razzaq, held a meeting with Indian Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in New Delhi Thursday before arriving in Manipur Friday.
Bangladesh seeks joint study on India's Tipaimukh damJuly 28th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh will insist on a joint study to determine any adverse impact on its ecology that a dam India proposes to build near its border, a senior politician said Tuesday. A day before a Bangladesh team's departure for New Delhi, former Water Resource Minister Abdur Razzak was quoted by bdnews24.com as saying that pending such a study, he would seek a assurance that India will not go ahead with the project, nor divert water from the river that is common to both neighbours.
China supports Bangladesh-India talks on Tipaimukh damJuly 24th, 2009 DHAKA - China has expressed support for talks between Dhaka and New Delhi over the proposed construction of Tipaimukh dam in India's Manipur state. The Barak river, on which the dam is to be built, flows from China into India and then goes to Bangladesh.
'Bangladesh opposition misleading public on Indian project'July 19th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh's main opposition is "misleading" the people on the proposed Indian dam at Tipaimukh with data and information that is "flawed", said the head of the parliamentary team that will visit the project site in Manipur late this month. Joining the battle on behalf of the government, Abdur Razzak, a freedom fighter and former water resources minister, hit out at the opposition leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia for campaigning against the project on the basis of information that was "incorrect, imaginary and motivated", Star Online reported.
Dhaka postpones team's visit to Indian dam siteJuly 14th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh has postponed the visit of a team of lawmakers and water resources experts to the site of the Tipaimukh dam project in India as it awaits the finalisation of the tour dates after their leaders meet during the NAM summit. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has left for Egypt's Sharm-al-Shaikh town to attend the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, is expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on its sidelines, media reports said Tuesday.
Hasina to discuss controversial dam with Manmohan SinghJuly 13th, 2009 DHAKA - The prime ministers of Bangladesh and India are expected to meet this week on the sidelines of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit to discuss New Delhi's plan to construct the Tipaimukh dam in Manipur, a move that has triggered protests in Dhaka. Dhaka and New Delhi have indicated their willingness to talk on the issue as pressures have mounted on the Sheikh Hasina government, with opposition parties joining environmentalists to allege that the dam on the Barak river would deny Bangladesh its share of water and have deleterious effect on the environment.
No impropriety by Indian envoy: Bangladesh ministerJuly 3rd, 2009 DHAKA - The Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh has not committed any diplomatic impropriety while speaking 'frankly' during a discussion on the Tipaimukh dam project, a minister has said. The Indian high commissioner had allegedly called Bangladeshi water resources specialists protesting India's Tipaimukh dam project "so called experts" June 3.
We will solve Tipaimukh issue through talks with India: HasinaJune 30th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed confidence over resolving the controversy over the Tipaimukh dam project in India's northeast through talks with New Delhi. She reminded parliament Monday that she had resolved the dispute over the Ganga water by signing a bilateral treaty with India during her earlier tenure in 1997.
Zia seeks Hasina's help for team's visit to Tipaimukh dam siteJune 29th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia Monday sought the help of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for sending a separate team to visit the Tipaimukh dam project site located in India's northeast. She accepted a suggestion made last week by Hasina that the opposition was free to send its own team, Star Online reported.
Zia can send her own team to see Indian dam: HasinaJune 25th, 2009 DHAKA - Opposition leader Khaleda Zia is free to send her own team to see the Tipaimukh dam project in India, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said while reiterating her decision to send an all-party parliamentary team to look it up. Accusing her political rival of seeking political mileage out of the proposed dam project on Barak river in India's Manipur state, Hasina assured that her government would study the reports submitted by both teams and decide "in the best interest of the country".
Stop building Tipaimukh dam, Zia writes to Manmohan SinghJune 23rd, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh's main opposition leader Khaleda Zia has written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that India should stop building the Tipaimukh dam in its north-eastern region. The Tipaimukh dam on the Barak river is in India's Manipur state.
Protests mount in Dhaka against Indian river projectJune 14th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh's main opposition has threatened to move the United Nations as the Sheikh Hasina government has called for talks over a river valley project India is planning in its north-eastern region. Protests are gaining momentum even as a Bangladeshi parliamentary delegation, accompanied by experts, prepares to visit the planned Tipaimukh project on the Barak river in India's Mizoram state later this month.
Dhaka to send lawmakers to study Indian river projectMay 27th, 2009 DHAKA - A team of lawmakers and experts from Bangladesh will visit the Tipaimukh project in India's northeast to study if it could adversely affect the flow of river Barak that is common to both the South Asian neighbours. The team was being dispatched by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following a proposal mooted earlier this month by India through its high commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty.
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July 19th, 2009 at 3:04 am
The issue of sending a delegation to India was discussed at the seminar in which Khaleda Zia spoke. There was a consensus that it should be a team of experts rather than a team of MPs. Since the dam only exists on paper, a parliamentary team would be of little use.
July 25th, 2009 at 6:57 am
Dhaka, Dec 30 (UNB) - A two-day international conference on ‘Tipaimukhi Dam’ began here Friday urging India not to implement the Tipaimukhi dam project in the interest of ecological balance in the South Asian region. Angikar Bangladesh Foundation (ABF), a Dhaka-based environmental organisation, organised the conference at the seminar room of Institution of Engineers Bangladesh with a slogan ‘development in harmony with nature’. Eminent writer and Professor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Dr Mohammad Zafar Iqbal opened the conference as chief guest. Chaired by Professor Khalequzzaman of Bangladesh Environment Network, the opening session was addressed, among others, by environmentalist Dr Inun Nishat, ActionAid country director Nasrin Haque, Dr Abdur Razzak MP, two Indian representatives Debapriya Roy and Dr RK Ranjan and engineer Md Hilaluddin. Dr Mohammad Zafar Iqbal said the proposed Indian Tipaimukhi dam in Monirampur would cause environmental disaster to Bangladesh as it might prompt earthquake, desertification and loss of navigability of rivers. “We’ll have to live with the nature preserving it in every possible way, not harming it. Blocking the natural flow of water may invite natural disaster,” he told the conference. Prof Khalequzzaman said India has so far built 4,291 dams on different
waterbeds along the Indian-Bangladesh border without any discussion with Bangladesh. “Implementation of Tipaimukh dam by India will reduce the water flows in rivers Meghna, Kushiara of Bangladesh and Borak of India by nearly 17,354 qusecs,” he said. Inun Nishat said the Tipaimukh dam would cast a far-reaching adverse impact on Bangladesh, particularly on its water management. About sharing of water of common rivers, he said, “Water is a social resource, not economic or geographical resource. ”
ActionAid country director Nasrin Haque termed the decision to construct the Tipaimukh dam as nothing but a “political” one.