Having suffered a major electoral defeat in Bangladesh’s general elections, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islaami appear to be looking for a handle with which to beat the Awami League government. They have found one in the Tipaimukh dam in Manipur on the Barak/ Meghna, which is awaiting financial closure before commencement of construction after long years of gestation. Bangladesh has not to this day been able to use its share of lean-season flows under the 1996 Ganges Treaty for the intended purpose of resuscitating the Gorai and saving Khulna from “desertification”. Meanwhile, agreement on Teesta sharing still awaits Dhaka’s consent. Altogether, this seems to be a sorry case of river blindness affecting millions.

The Barak rises in India’s Northeast and flows into Bangladesh to form the Meghna. The river submerges the Sylhet depression for many months, though this renders it a valuable fishery. When the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission was formed in 1972, Dhaka requested an early solution to the Barak/ Meghna floods. Early on, the JRC jointly surveyed the Barak as a result of which the 162 m high Tipaimukh dam was proposed, with a storage of 10 billion cubic metres (larger than Bhakra) to moderate floods and generate 1500 MW of power. Interest thereafter moved to the Ganges and Teesta. With security problems in India and inter-state differences and internal controversies over submergence and displacement in Manipur, progress was stalled till most problems on the Indian side were recently resolved. However, the idea of a downstream barrage and associated irrigation was abandoned and Tipaimukh emerged as a purely flood moderation-cum-power project.

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