Kamran Reza Chowdhury
bdnews24.com senior correspondent
Dhaka, Aug 4 (bdnews24.com)—Members of a Bangladesh delegation, back from India, say the proposed Tipaimukh dam, which has triggered environmental concerns, is only at the "conceptual stage" and its future construction is not even certain.
Landing back in Dhaka on Tuesday, members of the parliamentary delegation also said they were "100 percent convinced" that India would not implement any project that would harm Bangladesh.
But, they said, Bangladesh is seeking further data from the Indian government on the still controversial dam project.
Head of the delegation, Abdur Razzak, told reporters at Zia International Airport on their return from New Delhi that his parliamentary delegation met with India's foreign and power ministers who "categorically" assured them that their country would not work against Bangladesh's interests.
"India said the Tipaimukh dam was solely a power generation project," said Razzak, who is also head of the parliamentary standing committee on water resources.
"They categorically stated that there would be no water diversion downstream of the Barak River as the project had no irrigation component to it," he said.
He said the ministers had told him the project would in fact mitigate flooding in northeastern India and Bangladesh.
"India said if there was any environmental disaster, it would first affect India and then Bangladesh, since the site is 210 kilometers upstream from Bangladesh," said Razzak.
"We are 100 percent convinced by their assurances," he said.
The delegation left for New Delhi on July 29 to meet Indian ministers before departing for the site of the proposed Tipaimukh dam in the northeast state of Manipur.
Razzak and five other members of the 10-strong delegation stayed back in New Delhi an extra day on Tuesday, after failing to land at the dam site due to bad weather.
The team failed to visit the site on two attempts, on July 31 and Aug 2, as their helicopter could not land. But members of the team said they had been able to view the site from the air.
Dam's construction 'uncertain'
They said there was no structure yet at the proposed dam site upstream of Bangladesh's Sylhet region.
Delegation member ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader said India had not yet started any construction at the Tipaimukh site.
"I can say for sure that there is no structure yet on the site there."
"The future of the project is not even certain," he said.
Hawlader said an Indian air force helicopter took them over the project site for two consecutive days. "But we could not land at the hilly spot owing to rough weather."
He said "a BBC journalist" who had travelled to the Tipaimukh site and taken photographs told the Bangladesh delegation that India was yet to start the construction.
"The journalist showed us the photos of the site. The photos showed that there was no structure other than a foundation stone and a small tin shed room."
Echoing Razzak, Hawlader said, "India will never implement any project against Bangladesh's interests."
"This project will not harm Bangladesh ... And I don't even think the project will be implemented during my lifetime", said Hawlader, a Jatiya Party MP.
Awami League's Abdur Rahman, another member of the delegation, said, "The project is still at conceptual stage. There was no construction there".
"We are confident and convinced with the Indian assurances," said Rahman.
Independent MP and member of the delegation Fazlul Azim said the project site was so mountainous that it was almost impossible to take construction materials there.
More data
Abdur Razzak said he and his delegation members had sought more data on the planned dam and Indian government officials agreed to provide Dhaka with all relevant information.
"We have demanded data from India over the last 20-22 years, but they never agreed," said Razzak, a former water resources minister.
"This is the first time Delhi has provided data on the Tipaimukh dam. They also agreed to provide more in future."
This is one of the successes of the mission," said Razzak.
The dam would be situated over the cross border Barak river, which enters into Bangladesh as the Surma and Kushiara rivers. The two rivers are lifeline for hundreds of water bodies in the greater Sylhet region of Bangladesh.
The delegation's aim, Razzak told bdnews24.com before leaving for India, was to obtain India's firm word that the dam would not be used for irrigation purposes that could divert precious water resources from Bangladesh.
India had already said on a number of occasions the dam would not withhold water as it is part of a power generation project and not intended for irrigation purposes, but the people of Bangladesh, as well as Manipur state, remain concerned over the impact of the contentious project.
The members of the parliamentary team included Awami League MPs Abdur Razzak, Abdur Rahman, ABM Anwarul Haq and Jahir Hossain, Jatiya Party's ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader MP and independent Fazlul Azim MP.
It also has two experts, BUET professor Monwar Hossain and Sajjad Hossain of the Bangladesh-India Joint Rivers Commission.
The other two members are water resources secretary Waheduzzaman and foreign ministry director general Emran Ahmed.
Jamaat-e-Islami MP Hamidur Rahman Azad did not join the delegation at the last moment as he fell ill.
Bangladesh's main opposition BNP failed to name two members for the team, even though the party has been among the loudest critics of the Indian dam in recent months.
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