Tipaimukh Dam : Mr. Meer Hossain's Response And My Submission

Bijon B. Sarma *

Mr. Meer Husain, P.G., Environmental Geologist, Kansas, USA in his writing "India's Hydro-Electric Project At Tipaimukh And The Hot Debate In Bangladesh-A Response to Professor Bijon Sarma" (dated : Monday July 27 2009), requested me, among others to review the article titled "Construction of Tipaimukh dam-A Threat to the national interest of Bangladesh", recently published in the NFB for a general idea about the advantages and disadvantages of hydro-electric dams".

Accordingly I went through those. The advantages and disadvantages of hydro-electric dam as mentioned in the article are given hereunder. The bracketed and underlined portions are my (Bijon B. Sarma's) addition.

(Quoted from the article : Construction of Tipaimukh dam - A Threat to the National Interest of Bangladesh by Meer Husain, Ref: Link here Monday July 13 2009).

ADVANTAGES :

01. Once a dam is constructed, electricity can be produced at a constant rate.
(What an discovery ?)

02. If electricity is not needed, the sluice gates can be shut, stopping electricity generation. The water can be saved for use another time when electricity demand is high. The build up of water in the lake means that energy can be stored until needed, when the water is released to produce electricity.
(This point is totally wrong and inapplicable in case of running rivers).

03. Dams are designed to last many decades and so can contribute to the generation of electricity for many years / decades.
(Excellent advise to be given to the children).

04. The lake that forms behind the dam can be used for water sports and leisure / pleasure activities. Often large dams become tourist attractions in their own right.
(Seems mockery in any serious discussion. These can never be the purpose of an expensive hydro-electric dam).

05. The lake's water can be used for irrigation purposes
(Let the children know).

06. When in use, electricity produced by dam systems do not produce green house gases. They do not pollute the atmosphere.
(Unnecessary. Such point may be raised when one is comparing a thermal and a hydro electricity plant).

07. Hydropower is a fueled by water, so it's a clean fuel source. Hydropower doesn't pollute the air like power plants that burn fossil fuels, such as coal, oil or natural gas.
(Unnecessary, repetition and wastage of time to mention).

08. Hydropower is a domestic source of energy, produced locally near where it is needed.
(Let the kids know).

09. Hydropower relies on the water cycle, which is driven by the sun, thus it's a renewable power source so long as the rain keeps falling on the dam catchment area.
(Excellent information for the kids).

10. Hydropower is generally available as needed; engineers can control the flow of water through the turbines to produce electricity on demand.
(Repetition. May be of interest to the kids).

11. Hydropower is not only a cleaner source of energy than oil but is it more cost effective as well. The most efficient coal burning plants are only able to convert around 50 percent of their energy into electricity, whereas modern day hydro power turbines convert up to 90 percent of their energy into electricity.
(Should have been mentioned when asked about better option).

12. Hydropower can cost less than a penny per kWh (Kilowatt Hour) compared to fossil fuel power plants at around 2 to 3 cents per kWh. That may not seem like a big difference, but when factored out over a year and the millions of kW h's Americans burn, it adds up to a huge savings.
(This calculation is USA based and has absolutely no value in India or Bangladesh).

13. Hydropower plants also have an added bonus as they create recreational opportunities for people as well as electricity. Hydro power dams provide not only water-based activities, but since much of the surrounding land is public they also encourage numerous other outdoor activities aside from boating, skiing, fishing, and hunting.
(Repetition. Unnecessary).

14. Hydropower plants provide benefits in addition to clean electricity. Impoundments hydro power creates reservoirs that offer a variety of recreational opportunities, notably fishing, swimming, and boating. Most hydro power installations are required to provide some public access to the reservoir to allow the public to take advantage of these opportunities. Other benefits may include water supply and flood control.
(Repetition. Unnecessary).

DISADVANTAGES :

01. Dams are extremely expensive to build and must be built to a very high standard.
(The children should know).

02. The high cost of dam construction means that they must operate for many decades to become profitable.
(Obvious, but why should one call it disadvantageous ? Who compelled you for quick profit ?)

03. The flooding of large areas of land means that the natural environment is destroyed.
(Flooding of large land may happen when the land is plain. For this reason dams are constructed only in terrain lands, like Chittagong hill tracts, Tipaimukh etc.).

04. People living in villages and towns that are in the valley to be flooded, must move out. This means that they lose their farms and businesses. In some countries, people are forcibly removed so that hydro-power schemes can go ahead.
(These are obvious. But these can be a subject of lesson for the students of elementary school and the NGO's who would find out ways of making money from it).

05. The building of large dams can cause serious geological damage. For example, the building of the Hoover Dam in the USA triggered a number of earth quakes and has depressed the earth\'s surface at its location.
(In this age, all those who go for constructing dams know and hence consider points).

06. Although modern planning and design of dams is good, in the past old dams have been known to be breached
(the dam gives under the weight of water in the lake).
This has led to deaths and flooding.
(Unnecessary point)

07. Dams built blocking the progress of a river in one country usually means that the water supply from the same river in the following country is out of their control. This can lead to serious problems between neighbouring countries.
(Dams "producing hydro-electricity and blocking water" may be something new that the world has not yet seen).

08. Building a large dam alters the natural water table level. For example, the building of the Aswan Dam in Egypt has altered the level of the water table. This is slowly leading to damage of many of its ancient monuments as salts and destructive minerals are deposited in the stone work from 'rising damp\' caused by the changing water table level.
(It is the example of a very specialized case having no general implication).

09. Hydro power dams can damage the surrounding environment and alter the quality of the water by creating low dissolved oxygen levels, which impacts fish and the surrounding ecosystems. They also take up a great deal of space and can impose on animal, plant, and even human environments.
(Good imagination).

10. Fish populations can be impacted if fish cannot migrate upstream past impoundments dams to spawning grounds or if they cannot migrate downstream to the ocean. Upstream fish passage can be aided using fish ladders or elevators, or by trapping and hauling the fish upstream by truck. Downstream fish passage is aided by diverting fish from turbine intakes using screens or racks or even underwater lights and sounds, and by maintaining a minimum spill flow past the turbine.
(Theoretical importance only. Kaptai lake has defied it long ago).

11. Hydro power can impact water quality and flow. Hydro power plants can cause low dissolved oxygen levels in the water, a problem that is harmful to riparian (riverbank) habitats and is addressed using various aeration techniques, which oxygenate the water. Maintaining minimum flows of water downstream of a hydro power installation is also critical for the survival of riparian habitats.
(Repeated)

12. Hydro power plants can be impacted by drought. When water is not available, the hydro power plants can't produce electricity.
(New invention ? )

13. New hydro power facilities impact the local environment and may compete with other uses for the land. Those alternative uses may be more highly valued than electricity generation. Humans, flora, and fauna may lose their natural habitat. Local cultures and historical sites may be flooded. Some older hydro power facilities may have historic value, so renovations of these facilities must also be sensitive to such preservation concerns and to impacts on plant and animal life.
(Repetition and unnecessary).

14. By 2020, it is projected that the percentage of power obtained from hydro power dams will decrease to around four percent because no new plants are in the works, and because more money is being invested in other alternative energy sources such as solar power and wind power.
(Unnecessary).

As per Mr. Meer Husain's advise I went though the above article in order to have "a general idea about the advantages and disadvantages of hydro-electric dams". After I finished I could understand that these were written by a high school student accustomed to writing repeated, and at times unnecessary points to fill his answer sheet.

Even though such answers may be "praiseworthy" for a student, mentioning these in a scientific article written by an Environmental Geologist is painful. It amused me to know that the answers were obtained from "Wikianswer.com".

Even though I use it at times to see and enjoy, what others say, I never advise my student to believe in answers from such unauthentic and often doubtful sources, where computer-crazy boys are the "source of knowledge". I thank the boy giving the above answers, but I cannot do the same to an Environmental Geologist, using those in a serious article.

In the said article Mr. Meer Hossain also mentioned the example of failure of a dam on May 12, 2008 in the Great Sichuan Earthquake in China that killed 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless. The incident is of course heartbreaking.

But no one would be astonished for its failure when they would know (quoted from Mr. Meer Hossain's article) : "The 511 foot high Zipingpu dam is(was) located (only) about 550 yards from the fault line and the epicenter of the earthquake was 3.5 mile away from the dam site."

If the engineers commit similar blunders in Tipaimukh, there will be disasters. But I am sure, they are more intelligent and would collect information from better and authentic sources. A country that goes for constructing a dam in its own land (at a distance of 150 kilometres from the border) knows how severely it will be affected due to its failure.

It is now known to all that like Chittagong, the Sylhet-Monipur region also is earthquake-prone, and that during earth quake the vast water of the reservoir creates additional momentum. The engineers know these phenomenons much better.

Also they know how to construct a befitting dam. If a country finds a potential site for producing hydro-electricity, in this age of science and technology, there is no reason to abandon the idea simply because "the region is earth-quake prone", specially when the appropriate solution is at hand.

The efficient running of Kaptai project should act as eye-opener for all.