Thaindian News

Dhaka, Nov 23 (IANS) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday that a special envoy would be sent to India soon to discuss the Tipaimukh Dam to be built on the Barak river, that flows down into Bangladesh, in India’s Manipur state.

Speaking during a question-answer session in the national parliament, Hasina said her government had already sought clarification from Indian government about the reports on “Promoters’ Agreement” on the Tipaimukh Dam Project, Xinhua reported.

Stating Bangladesh must be included in the survey if conducted by India on the Tipaimukh Dam, the prime minister said: “Unilateral survey (by India) will not be acceptable.”

Earlier, Bangladesh’s leader of opposition Khaleda Zia urged the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to allow a survey by experts before proceeding with the dam project in northeast India.

Khaleda, also chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), made the request in a letter written to the Indian prime minister Tuesday in the wake of growing resentment in her country over the recent signing of an agreement for the construction of Tipaimukh dam and a hydroelectric project on a common river Barak in India’s Manipur state, said Shimul Biswas, special assistant to Khaleda Zia.

The proposed dam is to be constructed near the confluence of Barak and Tuivai rivers in Manipur and within 100 km of Bangladesh’s border.

A pact in this regard was inked Oct 22 among India’s National Hydroelectric Power Corporation, or NHPC Ltd, the Manipur state government and another state enterprise Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVN) to form a joint venture company to implement the project.

The project, estimated at a cost of $1.7 billion, is aimed at producing 1,500-megawatt hydropower. It’s site is located in India’s Manipur state that borders Bangladesh.

Water experts and environmentalists in Bangladesh say the proposed Tipaimukh project would adversely impact on Bangladesh.