My Humble Questions to the Bangladesh High Commissioner to India
Wednesday April 04 2012 19:56:45 PM BDT
By Dr. Miah M. Adel, USA
Recently, two politicians from AL – Obaidul Qadir and Suranjit Sen - were rewarded by giving ministerial positions for being vocal against the opposition leader. The Indian diplomat-turned Tipaimukh expert Mr. Pinak Ranjan, too, was promoted in rank in Indian government for his very successful service in publicizing the Tipaimukh Dam as harmless for Bangladesh. I guess one such aspiration has made our New Delhi High Commissioner very unrest that he goes to the point of certifying the Tipaimukh Dam a boon for Bangladesh. I am directly asking him some questions. I expect the answers with appropriate references if he has not been directly involved in the study:
1. Which district of Bangladesh do you come from?
2. What was your field of study?
3. Where is the location of the Tipaimukh Dam and Reservoir?
4. What is the seismic characteristics of that area?
5. How much water will the Tipaimukh Reservoir hold?
6. What is the source of water for filling the reservoir?
7. What is the annual rainfall in the Barak basin?
8. Could you produce a hydrograph of the Barak River?
9. Could you produce hydrographs of the Surma and the Kusiara Rivers?
10. What is the Indian government’s schedule (time-wise and quantity-wise of water)of filling the reservoir?
11. What is the Indian government schedule (time-wise and quantity-wise of water) of releasing the water from the reservoir?
12. What is the weight of the water held in the reservoir?
13. How much additional stress does this weight of water create on the reservoir bottom?
14. Is the land feature strong enough to withstand this stress?
15. Earthquakes of up to what magnitudes can it withstand?
16. What is the percentage of land and water in the Surma-Kusiara basins?
17. Have you surveyed the surface water bodies in the Surma-Kusiara basin?
18. What is the source of water for the water in the surface water resources?
19. How much the Surma-Kusiara flows be impacted (be specific)when the reservoir is being filled?
20. Have you studied the inaccessibility of water to different surface water bodies in the event of the drop of the flow in the Surma-Kusiara ?
21. Have you made any inventory of the biodiversity in the Surma-Kusiara basin?
22. Have you studied their sensitivity to the variation of water availability in the basin?
23. Have you studied their sensitivity to climate variations?
24. Can you supply plots of the percentage drop from the normal flow in the Surma-Kusiara basins vs inaccessibility of water to different surface water bodies?
25. Have you studied the aquatic and amphibian species supported by these surface water bodies?
26. What is the role of these species in the maintenance of the ecosystem health in the Sylhet region?
27. How the life cycle of these species are dependent upon the availability of the right amount of water at the right time in the surface water bodies?
28. What is the annual rainfall in the Sylhet region?
29. How is the rainfall impacted by the presence of the surface water bodies?
30. What is the annual silt deposit from the Surma-Kusiara flows?
31. What are the salient features of the Sylhet region flora and fauna?
32. What role do the surface water resources play to sustain them?
33. How hardy are they to withstand climatic extremes?
34. What are the different species of fishes available in these water resources?
35. What are the breeding times of these fishes?
36. What has to be the available amount of water, its temperature, its oxygen content, its pH during the breeding season of each of the species of fishes?
37. What nutrients do the spawns need for their growth?
38. What water level is required for their growth and safety from the predators?
39. What is/are the source/sources of the nutrients?
40. What are the temporal and spatial characteristics of these nutrients?
41. What percent of the population’s livelihood in the Surma-Kusiara basin is public fishing?
42. What nutrients do fish supply the people?
43. What percent of the population has sufficiency and deficiency in those nutrients that fishes supply?
44. What is the impact upon the people’s livelihood (fishermen, fishing weapon makers, boatmen, public fish catchers, etc.), nutritional intakes, and economy of the region for interruptions in the natural fish breeding and drop in fish production?
45. What diseases people can suffer from due to the deficiency of the nutrients supplied by fish?
46. Is/are the substitute source/sources of those nutrients cheaper or costlier than the fish source?
47. Have you surveyed the public’s recreational facilities like angling, swimming, etc.
48. How will be the public’s recreational facilities like angling, swimming, etc. affected?
49. How will the observation of religious festivals, particularly, for the minority group be affected?
50. What are the climatic characteristics of the Sylhet region?
51. What is the role of surface water resources in maintaining the climatic characteristics?
52. How much drop in water availability can cause what variations in summer and winter temperatures and relative humidity?
53. What has to be the climatic characteristics for the tea production is the Sylhet region?
54. How sensitive is the tea production to climatic variations?
55. What is the impact upon the economy in the event of the failure of tea production?
56. How sensitive is the orange production to climate variations?
57. How will the crop cycle be affected due to the variation of water availability in season and out of season?
58. Will there be any economic impact due to the crop failure?
59. How long is the inland navigable routes?
60. How will the inland navigability be impacted with controlled release of water?
61. What will be the economic impact?
62. What is the current levels and spatial extent of the saline waterfront intrusion inland?
63. How do these depend on the Surma-Kusiara flows?
64. What is the overall impact of the saline waterfront’s inland intrusion?
65. What is the current level of arsenic in the Sylhet region groundwater?
66. Has the presence of arsenic ores been surveyed in the alluvium in the Surma-Kusiara river basins?
67. What is the spatial picture of the arsenic ores in that region?
68. What societal problems can arise due to arsenicosis among the people?
69. What is your water drinking habit?
70. Can you cut down your personal and family’s water budget of water?
71. Don’t you consider the ecosystem’s water needs on a par with your water needs?
72. Had you been living in Sylhet, will you trade in your water demand with your electricity demand in your personal as well as family life?
73. Do you know the story of the barber-turned surgeon in our culture?
74. Are you not behaving like a diplomat-turned Tipaimukh Dam expert as Pinak Ranjan does pose?
75. Did you consider the above issues in your vision?
If you can certify the Tipaimukh Dam to be a boon, you can respond each question satisfactorily. You must admit that water is elixir, electricity is not. Do not trade in electricity for water. Work for solar and wind energy if no other sources of energy are available. Flooding has its own benefits. Solve your own flood problem. Do not depend on the solution of the flood problem by India whose track record has never been trustworthy.
The PM said that if the dam is harmful for Bangladesh, she will not let it build. If she does not have the results of a thorough study of different issues relating to the Dam, how can she know if the dam will harmless? What can she do after its construction?
Dr. Miah M. Adel
Professor of Physics & Researcher of River Dams and Barrages
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff,
USA
E Mail : adelm@uapb.edu
1. Which district of Bangladesh do you come from?
2. What was your field of study?
3. Where is the location of the Tipaimukh Dam and Reservoir?
4. What is the seismic characteristics of that area?
5. How much water will the Tipaimukh Reservoir hold?
6. What is the source of water for filling the reservoir?
7. What is the annual rainfall in the Barak basin?
8. Could you produce a hydrograph of the Barak River?
9. Could you produce hydrographs of the Surma and the Kusiara Rivers?
10. What is the Indian government’s schedule (time-wise and quantity-wise of water)of filling the reservoir?
11. What is the Indian government schedule (time-wise and quantity-wise of water) of releasing the water from the reservoir?
12. What is the weight of the water held in the reservoir?
13. How much additional stress does this weight of water create on the reservoir bottom?
14. Is the land feature strong enough to withstand this stress?
15. Earthquakes of up to what magnitudes can it withstand?
16. What is the percentage of land and water in the Surma-Kusiara basins?
17. Have you surveyed the surface water bodies in the Surma-Kusiara basin?
18. What is the source of water for the water in the surface water resources?
19. How much the Surma-Kusiara flows be impacted (be specific)when the reservoir is being filled?
20. Have you studied the inaccessibility of water to different surface water bodies in the event of the drop of the flow in the Surma-Kusiara ?
21. Have you made any inventory of the biodiversity in the Surma-Kusiara basin?
22. Have you studied their sensitivity to the variation of water availability in the basin?
23. Have you studied their sensitivity to climate variations?
24. Can you supply plots of the percentage drop from the normal flow in the Surma-Kusiara basins vs inaccessibility of water to different surface water bodies?
25. Have you studied the aquatic and amphibian species supported by these surface water bodies?
26. What is the role of these species in the maintenance of the ecosystem health in the Sylhet region?
27. How the life cycle of these species are dependent upon the availability of the right amount of water at the right time in the surface water bodies?
28. What is the annual rainfall in the Sylhet region?
29. How is the rainfall impacted by the presence of the surface water bodies?
30. What is the annual silt deposit from the Surma-Kusiara flows?
31. What are the salient features of the Sylhet region flora and fauna?
32. What role do the surface water resources play to sustain them?
33. How hardy are they to withstand climatic extremes?
34. What are the different species of fishes available in these water resources?
35. What are the breeding times of these fishes?
36. What has to be the available amount of water, its temperature, its oxygen content, its pH during the breeding season of each of the species of fishes?
37. What nutrients do the spawns need for their growth?
38. What water level is required for their growth and safety from the predators?
39. What is/are the source/sources of the nutrients?
40. What are the temporal and spatial characteristics of these nutrients?
41. What percent of the population’s livelihood in the Surma-Kusiara basin is public fishing?
42. What nutrients do fish supply the people?
43. What percent of the population has sufficiency and deficiency in those nutrients that fishes supply?
44. What is the impact upon the people’s livelihood (fishermen, fishing weapon makers, boatmen, public fish catchers, etc.), nutritional intakes, and economy of the region for interruptions in the natural fish breeding and drop in fish production?
45. What diseases people can suffer from due to the deficiency of the nutrients supplied by fish?
46. Is/are the substitute source/sources of those nutrients cheaper or costlier than the fish source?
47. Have you surveyed the public’s recreational facilities like angling, swimming, etc.
48. How will be the public’s recreational facilities like angling, swimming, etc. affected?
49. How will the observation of religious festivals, particularly, for the minority group be affected?
50. What are the climatic characteristics of the Sylhet region?
51. What is the role of surface water resources in maintaining the climatic characteristics?
52. How much drop in water availability can cause what variations in summer and winter temperatures and relative humidity?
53. What has to be the climatic characteristics for the tea production is the Sylhet region?
54. How sensitive is the tea production to climatic variations?
55. What is the impact upon the economy in the event of the failure of tea production?
56. How sensitive is the orange production to climate variations?
57. How will the crop cycle be affected due to the variation of water availability in season and out of season?
58. Will there be any economic impact due to the crop failure?
59. How long is the inland navigable routes?
60. How will the inland navigability be impacted with controlled release of water?
61. What will be the economic impact?
62. What is the current levels and spatial extent of the saline waterfront intrusion inland?
63. How do these depend on the Surma-Kusiara flows?
64. What is the overall impact of the saline waterfront’s inland intrusion?
65. What is the current level of arsenic in the Sylhet region groundwater?
66. Has the presence of arsenic ores been surveyed in the alluvium in the Surma-Kusiara river basins?
67. What is the spatial picture of the arsenic ores in that region?
68. What societal problems can arise due to arsenicosis among the people?
69. What is your water drinking habit?
70. Can you cut down your personal and family’s water budget of water?
71. Don’t you consider the ecosystem’s water needs on a par with your water needs?
72. Had you been living in Sylhet, will you trade in your water demand with your electricity demand in your personal as well as family life?
73. Do you know the story of the barber-turned surgeon in our culture?
74. Are you not behaving like a diplomat-turned Tipaimukh Dam expert as Pinak Ranjan does pose?
75. Did you consider the above issues in your vision?
If you can certify the Tipaimukh Dam to be a boon, you can respond each question satisfactorily. You must admit that water is elixir, electricity is not. Do not trade in electricity for water. Work for solar and wind energy if no other sources of energy are available. Flooding has its own benefits. Solve your own flood problem. Do not depend on the solution of the flood problem by India whose track record has never been trustworthy.
The PM said that if the dam is harmful for Bangladesh, she will not let it build. If she does not have the results of a thorough study of different issues relating to the Dam, how can she know if the dam will harmless? What can she do after its construction?
Dr. Miah M. Adel
Professor of Physics & Researcher of River Dams and Barrages
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff,
USA
E Mail : adelm@uapb.edu
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