It serves as the cover for once again hosting anti-Indian separatists, which could in turn provoke the implied threats from India that the post-coup authorities initially hoped to generate via mob violence against the Hindu minority and thus create the pretext for giving a base to the US.
While Bangladesh government has its hidden agenda as spoon-fed by another country half an earth away, I would focus on the dam and dam management. Reference: many floods in China in recent years are traced to dam management. You can look for news everywhere. All dams have a couple of obvious problems: (1) weight of accumulated water causing geological pressure (2) soil and other nutrients intercepted up stream to deny farm land refreshment downstream (3) extremely hostile to any species with a natural drive to go upstream for full life cycle (4) Hydraulic power generation is usually among key benefits, but when to release water and when to intercept water are usually at odds in purpose and in timing.
I claim it is for the same reasons, India, Bangladesh and other countries hold strong doubt about China building dams upstream in Yunnan and Tibet. If all other risks can be mitigated or tolerated, there is one cannot be, due to national security reasons, due to dam releasing water at wrong time. Once you consider the typical way Chinese managing dams, most likely all other downstream countries will feel cold spines. IMHO, building dams on any river which flows through multiple countries must have an international agreement and monitoring. China's has caused great damage by building the Three Gorges Dam. And the coming one in Tibet close to India, Nepal, Bangladesh is a more difficult and more disastrous one, from geological point of view.
Twenty or even thirty years ago I heard the judgment of Egypt, the former bread basket of North Africa, has not had a good year in harvest since the completion of Aswan Dam. Reason is soil replacement from upstream is intercepted. The Nile Delta no longer floods annually, but the soil is quickly exhausted such that more and more fertilizer and irrigations pumps are needed, to the point sea water has infiltrated into underground water layer in the Delta.
Serious, intelligent comment. Thank you. The underlying realities of damming water on a river with multiple nations with their individual investments in riparian rights make political conflicts inevitable.
While Bangladesh government has its hidden agenda as spoon-fed by another country half an earth away, I would focus on the dam and dam management. Reference: many floods in China in recent years are traced to dam management. You can look for news everywhere. All dams have a couple of obvious problems: (1) weight of accumulated water causing geological pressure (2) soil and other nutrients intercepted up stream to deny farm land refreshment downstream (3) extremely hostile to any species with a natural drive to go upstream for full life cycle (4) Hydraulic power generation is usually among key benefits, but when to release water and when to intercept water are usually at odds in purpose and in timing.
I claim it is for the same reasons, India, Bangladesh and other countries hold strong doubt about China building dams upstream in Yunnan and Tibet. If all other risks can be mitigated or tolerated, there is one cannot be, due to national security reasons, due to dam releasing water at wrong time. Once you consider the typical way Chinese managing dams, most likely all other downstream countries will feel cold spines. IMHO, building dams on any river which flows through multiple countries must have an international agreement and monitoring. China's has caused great damage by building the Three Gorges Dam. And the coming one in Tibet close to India, Nepal, Bangladesh is a more difficult and more disastrous one, from geological point of view.
Twenty or even thirty years ago I heard the judgment of Egypt, the former bread basket of North Africa, has not had a good year in harvest since the completion of Aswan Dam. Reason is soil replacement from upstream is intercepted. The Nile Delta no longer floods annually, but the soil is quickly exhausted such that more and more fertilizer and irrigations pumps are needed, to the point sea water has infiltrated into underground water layer in the Delta.
Serious, intelligent comment. Thank you. The underlying realities of damming water on a river with multiple nations with their individual investments in riparian rights make political conflicts inevitable.