Bangladesh seeks assurances on Indian hydro scheme

By Nizam Ahmed

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh said on Saturday it would give clearance for India to build a hydro-electric dam only if it received assurances the project would not affect the flow of a river system shared by the two countries.

India has approved a plan for a 1,500 megawatt project at Tipaimukh on the Barak River which flows into Bangladesh before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

Experts say that if the dam were built, two Bangladeshi rivers downstream, the Surma and the Kushiara, would dry up.

Tipaimukh is in India's Manipur, northeast of Bangladesh.

"We will take up the issue diplomatically to see that the dam would not hinder the natural flow of the river," Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told reporters.

Politicians and experts have urged the Bangladeshi government to ask India not to go ahead with the project.

Leaders of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party at a news conference on Saturday asked the government to protest against the project in strongest possible terms.

The Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty told reporters the planned Tipaimukh Dam would not block the flow of the river since water used to drive the generator would be released after use.

Bangladeshi experts say such dams create dual problems: disrupting the flow in winter and causing floods downstream by releasing extra water during the monsoon.