By IANS,
Dhaka : A team of lawmakers and experts from Bangladesh will visit the Tipaimukh project in India’s northeast to study if it could adversely affect the flow of river Barak that is common to both the South Asian neighbours.
The team was being dispatched by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following a proposal mooted earlier this month by India through its high commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty.
The Tipaimukh river project in Assam became controversial after environmentalists here raised objections to it.
Opposition leader Khaleda Zia has also joined in questioning Hasina government’s ‘silence’ on the issue.
Bangladesh Commerce Minister Faruk Khan Tuesday said the team of MPs and experts will make a first hand study of the gigantic 6×250 MW hydroelectric project.
Talking to media, he deplored that “those who are talking much on the issue actually talk without knowing the facts”, the Daily Star newspaper said Wednesday.
He said the team will see as to “how Bangladesh can derive benefit from the Tipaimukh dam”.
“If Tipaimukh dam is not beneficial for Bangladesh, then it will not be put in place. Bangladesh will not give its clearance for the project,” Khan was quoted as saying.
He was speaking at a seminar on South Asian regional cooperation organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Saarc CCI), entitled “Regional Connectivity: Potential for Infrastructure Development and Energy in South Asia”.