Dhaka wants more information from Delhi on Tipaimukh dam

October 8th, 2009 DHAKA - India has assured that it neither plans irrigation nor would it withdraw water from a dam that it plans to build on Barak river in Manipur state, says a report tabled in parliament. To be located at Tipaimukh, 200 km upstream of Bangladesh's border, the dam will be for flood control and power generation only.

September 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Ahead of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's trip here later this year, India and Bangladesh will hold talks Tuesday on sensitive issues like the contentious Tipaimukh hydroelectric project and discuss steps to invigorate trade and combat terrorism. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni arrived here Monday on a four-day visit - her first official visit to New Delhi after Sheikh Hasina rode to power in Dhaka following a landslide victory in December polls last year.

September 6th, 2009 DHAKA - A "congenial ambience" between Bangladesh and India would be of help when issues like Tipaimukh dam, trade and transit are taken up during the visit of Foreign Minister Dipu Moni to New Delhi in the coming week. Political and diplomatic observers see a congenial ambience in place with an Awami League government in Dhaka and a Congress-led government in Delhi.

August 13th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni will be in India early next month to discuss the Tipaimukh dam issue and to follow up on assurances given to a parliamentary delegation that went to study the site. Moni told the media Wednesday that details of her visit were being worked out and that the visit could be in the first week of September.

August 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.

July 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.

July 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.

July 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.

July 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.

July 10th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh's main opposition party will write to foreign governments and international organisations to protest the proposed Tipaimukh dam in northeastern India on grounds that it will hurt the environment. Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia had last month written to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him to desist from constructing the dam on Barak river in Manipur state.

July 5th, 2009 DHAKA - At least 10 people, including five policemen, were injured Sunday when the members of a rights body clashed with the police outside the Indian high commission here, protesting the construction of Tipaimukh dam in India's Manipur state. The clash took place around 11:30 a.m.

July 2nd, 2009 DHAKA - Asking India not to start work on the Tipaimukh dam project, Dhaka said it was sending a team of lawmakers and experts next month to visit the site before taking up the contentious issue with New Delhi. Foreign Minister Dipu Moni made the announcement even as pressure mounted against the Sheikh Hasina government to take "political measures" against India to stop building the Tipaimukh dam on Barak river in Manipur state.

June 19th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh's political parties continue to spar over a river valley project India is planning in its northeastern region as New Delhi awaits a parliamentary team accompanied by experts to visit the project site. Finance Minister A.M.A.

May 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.

April 14th, 2009 DHAKA - India has invited Bangladesh to send a delegation to visit the construction site of the proposed Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak river to allay Dhaka's fears. New Delhi made the gesture Monday during a 'surprise' visit by Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, media reports said Tuesday.