Speakers and water experts at a discussion camedown heavily on some ministers and officials of the country for telling that the Tipaimukh dam would notbe harmful for Bangladesh.
They have urged theconcerned ministers of Bangladesh andIndia to arrange a joint meeting wherethey will prove how disastrous and detrimental would be the impact of thiscostly dam on the economy andbio-diversity of Bangladesh.
Only for generating 400MW of electricity, India would notimplement this kind of expensive and risky project defying international lawand ignoring objections of water specialists. There must a hidden agenda behindthis controversial project against Bangladesh, they maintained.
They were speaking at a discussion on " Downteameffects of headstream intervantion onrivers and Tipaimukh Dam" held at the Jatiya Press Club on Friday.
A keynote paper was presented on the occasion by professorof Arakans University of USA Adel Mia while former vice-chacellor ofJahangirnagar University and president of Bangladesh Farakka Committee (BFC) prof Jasim Uddin Ahmed was in thechair.
Former United Nation's specialist on water Dr S I Khan,senior vic-president of ( BFC) AwladHossain, Shamsuzzaman Milon and Mostofa Anowar Khan, among others, spoke at the function. Editor of The NewNation and co-ordinater of International Farakka Committee ( IFC) Mostafa KamalMajumder moderated the discussion.
The function was arranged jointly by International FarakkaCommittee (IFC) and Bangladesh Farakka Commity (BFC).
Dr S I Khan said India has constructed dam over 42 of the 52 rivers flowing through Bangladesh. India alone is not the owner ofthese international rivers and it has been accepted by all international laws,heopined.
" Rivers arethe main resources of our country. If they die,there will be no cultivation of crops in Bangladesh andconsequently lack of food security willpose a serious threat to our country, he warned.
Dr.Khan called for building national unity sinking pettydifferences to safeguard the interest of the country.
Prof. Adel Mia said Bangladesh would be crippled on theeconomic front and fish production willdecline heavily for lack of water inthe aftermath of the Tipaimukh dam.Consequently, the people of the countrywould be deprived of the source of nutrition, he noted.
Dr.Adel further said the world's biggest reservoir will bein place with the building of this particular dam.As a result, the control ofthe water flow of the river Meghna would be at the command of the damauthorities.Again, the normal flow of water in the Meghna would be disrupted during the summer and excesswater would be released during therainy season much to the detrimentof our country, he pointed out.
Mostafa Kamal said water specialists should beincluded in the discussions on water distribution and theTipaimukh issue forsolving the water sharing problems with India.
