“Gaining Public Acceptance (GPA)” for Large Dams on International Rivers: The Case of Tipaimukh Dam in India and Concerns in Lower Riparian Bangladesh

The construction of Tipaimukh dam by India on the international Barak river has 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 had 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 investigates the international nature of the river basin and possible impact on the Bangladesh in the light of co-riparian rights and evaluates some of the principles of GPA and searches for mechanism for participation of local communities in the process. [Submitted to the workshop on the WCD recommendation on “Gaining Public Acceptance (GPA)”, organized by Dams and Development Project (DDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi, Kenya].