Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Bir Bikram. File photo

SANGSAD BHABAN, April 15,2026 (BSS) – Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Bir Bikram,  today termed the installation of the Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak river in Manipur state of north-eastern India  a ‘disaster’ for us  created by our own as  it has been launched by the neiboring  country after the request of Bangladesh.

“The Tipaimukh Dam, a proposed 1,500 MW hydroelectric project on the Barak River in Manipur, India, was introduced by that country with the request of the then foreign minister Abdus Samad Azad and it was a disaster created by our own effort”, said the speaker.

The Speaker said this while Environment, forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo replying to a query raised by treasury bench lawmaker Abdul Malique of Sylhet-3 on the adverse impact of the Tipaimukh dam on the north-eastern district Sylhet during question-answer session in the  JS.

“ As I was Water Resources Minister so, I have a little experience that India has started the dam with the request of the  then Awami League foreign minister Abdus Samad Azad  and thus we have brought our catastrophe with our own  effort,”  said the Speaker while drawing the attention of the lawmaker when the minister concluded his answer.

India started the construction of this controversial Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak in 2003 to generate electricity. The construction halted due to national and international uproar and resistance against probable environmental degradation in and outside India.

It resumed construction in late 2008. In joint declarations made after summits between the premiers of Bangladesh and India in 2010 and 201. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that New Delhi would not take any step regarding their planned Tipaimukh Dam that may harm Bangladesh.

The Tipaimukh Dam is located near the confluence of the Barak and the Tuivai rivers in the Tipaimukh sub-division of the Churachandpur district of Manipur. This area is close to the Manipur-Mizoram-Assam border, and therefore the project involves the three states in Northeast India. The Barak River which flows downstream to meet the Surma river system in Bangladesh is considered to be the lifeline of the Sylhet region in Bangladesh.