Making Land in Bangladesh

The Urir Char land reclamation project has risen in priority and reduced in financial and political costs over recent decades. New Age covers it here.

May we learn from it in social ways
May it herald new ways of becoming
And Nurture national, local technological mojo.
May there be no water logging
May they refrain from calling it something awami like

Dam Tibet

News story on Chinese hydro electric plans for Tsang Po (China) - Brahmaputra (India) - Jamuna (Bangladesh)

This is setting up a gruesome hegemon hegemon on ganj interation.

The Deshi wonders what the impacts could be. How would flow from upstream be affected over the seasons? Would there be any benefits from reduced sediment transport (like less erosion)? What about the people displaced by construction? and the fish...

The Real Iranian Question

Why has not Iran souped up its oil refining capacity in the many years that it has had to do so?

Given so many years of sanctions, the imbalance between overseas mojo projection and internal custodianship of key internal challenges is more stark than ever. It seems very irresponsible from my armchair. Semi-autonomous technological development in the majority world is difficult at the best of times, you need long term political support, financial allies and technical expertise. Will, skill and the ability to foot the bill. Yet look at the technological direction.

Though of course, I don't know even have a smidgeon of the full picture in front of me. Perhaps its easier to make longish range surface to surface missiles of questionable accuracy than the surface to air variety that might have protected Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps pre-existing sanctions, and nefarious skullduggery that has complemented them, have indeed thwarted Iranian refinery making attempts.

But come on guys. WILL. Who battled so hard against drugs coming in through Afghanistan for so long? Who united Islamic and Leftist Mojo? albeit so breifly. Who has resisted the economic patsy urge to sell out for so long?

There is another question that I have. Are the US and EU still powerful enough to bribe, convince and scare the rest of the world, the majority world, to make Iran suffer for the security of Israel?

Towards Understanding the Tipaimukh Affair

So the Water Resources Minister of Bangladesh is a bit of a plonker. Plonker is a charitable description, because the other interpretation leads to a very dark place. He goes to India, declares that the Tipaimukh Dam is not a big issue to Bangladesh, and when questioned at to whether he visited the site, comes up with something along the lines of 'The weather was bad, couldnt get their in the helicopter'.

Clearly he cares very little for the 15 to 20% of the country's rice production that unfolds in Sylhet District. He has a BCom from Carmichael College in Rangpur, and is a businessman. If he doesn't understand water, you'd think he'd get by on brutal economistic logic. What is that they say about mutual self interest and rationality?

During periods like this, one wishes that Abdur Razzaq hadnt been shunted out of the Awami League's trusted circle. He had been water minister in the previous AL regime and pushed through a lot of Participatory Guidlines, a National Water Management Plan (Hello Halcrow and have-a-go- NGOs ) and a little destruction of Bangladeshi scientific capacity (Thankyou World Bank water sector Improvement). I mean, at the very least he'd have come up with a more convincing excuse.

Improving the living environment of Bangladesh is a very tricky task. Firstly there is a large 'ordinary' variability of the monsoon, then there is the Bangladeshi human impact, and the upstream modulations to rivers from India et al. On top of this another mysterious layer of climate impacts. The matter of Tipaimukh concerns upstream modulation, as Bangladesh constitutes a small areal proportion of the river basins that drain through its delta This is a Big Matter.

If any people needed to listen, adapt, assert, create and know the environment... I think it should be us. Yet you can see what political weight we give to the water sector by the quality of the present minister. Our previous battle to stop the Farrakha Barrage failed, and we see the devastating effects that barrage has had on the south east area of bangladesh. Some say that Farrakha was lost because Engineer Abbas and co were caught in a 'gratitude bind' with India. You see they had just liberated us and its hard to negotiate in that kind of action scenario.

Its funny how some within Bangladesh ask the question of 'prove to us that Tipaimukh is harmful'. I point you too whats happening on the Tista right now, and to the post-Farrakha impact. The Bangladesh Environment Network have issued this, if you are interested.

To ponder about:

• There are two impressive people in the Awami leage government, one with a calculating mind (finance minister, who is also from Sylhet) and another with courage (agriculture minister). Can they pull off some political moves?
• Can we get through to our indian neighbours of good will and express why this is the wrong this for their government to do.
• How can we improve the living environment of Bangladesh?
• Do we appreciate the natural systems in place, is this an Anti-Indian Mask issue?
• Can we ensure that the water resources sector gets a Minister capable of comprehending it and disciplining it?

I will write more about this matter as I learn more about its unfolding.