Gaining Public Acceptance: Tipaimukh Dam in India, Concerns of Bangladesh

The construction of Tipaimukh Dam by India on the international Barak river raises a number of questions in relation to successful implementation of World Commission on Dams (WCD) recommendation on Gaining Public Acceptance (GPA) for large dams. The government of India has never officially informed the lower riparian state of Bangladesh about the construction of the dam although experts fear that the dam would have adverse environmental impact on Bangladesh that share the same river basin.

This paper by Zakir Kibria, Executive Director of the NGO BanglaPraxis, investigates the international nature of the river basin and possible impact of the project on Bangladesh. The paper also evaluates some of the principles of Gaining Public Acceptance and searches for mechanisms for participation of the local communities in the process.