Silence of govt, major parties slated

Construction of a dam will dry up the Surma and Kushiyara rivers in Bangladesh and initiate a desertification process in the Meghna basin, they said at the workshop on Tipai Mukh Dam: Aftermath

and Our Agenda, held at Shahid Solaiman Hall Tuesday afternoon. It was organised by Sylhet unit of Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD).

The speakers included BSD Convener Khalequzzaman, its local leaders Ujjal Roy, Barrister Arosh Ali and Abu Zafar; Workers Party leader Abul Hossain and district JSD general secretary Lokman Ahmed.

They said the Indian government's plan has also been protested by people in Indian states of Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.

Khalequzzaman said India being the upper riparian country can not unilaterally withdraw water from common rivers.

The project has been planned on the Barak river, which enters Bangladesh in Sylhet as Surma and Kushiyara.