Tipaimukh Dam is a proposed

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...

on the river

Barak Barak ( or ; he, בָּרָק; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; ar, البُراق ''al-Burāq'' "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephraim, ...

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

state

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, first commissioned in 1983. The purpose of the dam is flood control and hydroelectric power generation. It has been subject to repeated delays as the project developed, as there has been controversy between India and Bangladesh over water rights, in addition to questions of environmental effects of the huge project, as well as the need to relocate indigenous

Hmar people Hmar, also spelled as Mar, are one of the ethnic peoples of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo living in Northeast Indian state of Manipur and Mizoram, western Myanmar (Burma) and eastern Bangladesh. Population Manipur In the 2011 census, there were 49,081 H ...

to make way for a vast reservoir. In 2013, the governments of India and Bangladesh announced further delays, as the latter nation undertakes additional studies about expected effects and mitigating measures.

Technical features

The dam is planned to be 390m long and 162.8m high, across the

Barak River The Barak River flows through the states of Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Assam in India. Further it enters Bangladesh where it bifurcates into the Surma river and the Kushiyara river which converges again to become the Meghna river before for ...

, which enters Bangladesh below the proposed dam location. The dam's crest elevation will be at an altitude of about 180 m. above mean sea level, with a maximum reservoir level of 178 m. The dam was originally designed for flood control, to contain waters in the lower

Barak valley The Barak Valley is located in the southern region of the Indian state of Assam. The region is named after the Barak river. The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam - namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi. The ...

. Hydro-power generation was later incorporated into the project. The project will have an installation capacity of 1500 MW, supplied by six 250 MW

Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The proces ...

-generators.

Controversies

Bangladeshi experts have said the massive dam will disrupt the seasonal rhythm of the river and have an adverse effect on downstream agriculture and fisheries. The government of Bangladesh has decided to send an expert team to the dam area to examine the features and likely impact of the dam on the flow of water into the Surma and the Kushiara. Another is the environmental factor. The Tipaimukh area lies in an ecologically sensitive and topographically fragile region. It is within one of the most seismically volatile regions on the planet. A major earthquake of magnitude of 6.6 on the

Richter Scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...

rocked Manipur-Myanmar border on 6 August 1988 at the epicenter of lat. , northeast of the dam site."Dam or No Dam"
WordPress. In 2013 the two governments announced up to a 2-year delay, to allow Bangladesh to complete additional environmental studies.

References

External links

Tipaimukh Project
NHPC
Gowher Rizvi"Tipaimukh: A plea for rational and scientific discussion"
''Daily Star'' -
Md. Khalequzzaman, "Impact of Tipai Dam on the haor regions"
''Daily Star'' {{Authority control Hydroelectric power stations in Manipur Proposed hydroelectric power stations Proposed dams in India Dam controversies Dams in Manipur Embankment dams Proposed renewable energy power stations in India