The river originates in the Cachar belt of Assam, flows through Manipur, and joins the mighty Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. Tipaimukh is designed to regulate floods and generate electricity. It is about 500 metres downstream of the confluence of the Barak and Tuivai in Manipur’s Churachandpur district near the Manipur-Mizoram border.
Bangladesh being a lower riparian country is concerned about lean period water availability in the Surma, Kushiara and Meghna rivers. Its worry is about the impact on agriculture, fisheries and environment – all justified.
There is no substitute to ground level studies to allay apprehensions. Both sides have agreed on the modalities of the study. To facilitate the study by Bangladesh, leader of the Indian delegation, Devendra Sharma gave a copy of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) to his Bangladesh counterpart Mir Sajjad Hossain. Sharma is commissioner (Ganga), Ministry of Water Resources and member, JRC.
The proposed study on the downstream impact provides Dhaka an opportunity to satisfy itself of the veracity of Indian assurances. The Delhi meeting finalised the terms of reference for the impact study. Accordingly, the study will examine not only the location of the dam, it will look at the impact on catchment areas, flora and fauna, biodiversity and ecology on the Bangladeshi side.
Tipaimukh project was conceived a long time ago. It also got into environmental controversy in India as it involved felling of more than 78 lakh trees. Environmental clearance came in four years only though the long delay pushed up the costs.
ASSURANCE ON TEESTA
Prime Ministers of the two countries, who are presently in Tehran for the NAM summit, had a bilateral meeting. It lasted forty minutes. Manmohan Singh assured Sheikh Hasina of his commitment to the "completion of action" on the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) and the Teesta water treaty. While the LBA is held up on account of parliamentary logjams, Teesta agreement has not made progress because of opposition from the West Bengal government. In democratic milieu, government cannot afford to bulldoze its way. It has to show patience and work for a consensus, which is time consuming. But the result will be long enduring.
