Dhaka, September 18 :

Civil society groups in Bangladesh have planned demonstrations to oppose India’s river-linking scheme during the visit of the Indian Water Resources Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmushi.

Dasmunshi, who arrives in Dhaka tonight, is leading a 13-member delegation to the 36th meeting of the two countries that share 53 rivers. Dasmunshi’s counterpart Hafiz Uddin Ahmed will head a 14-member team at the meeting scheduled on September 19-20. The 35th joint river commission (JRC) meeting was held in New Delhi on September 29-30, 2003.

Civil society groups will stage demonstrations near the meeting’s venue, protesting India’s proposed river-linking plan and construction of a massive multipurpose barrage at Tipaimukh that Bangladesh claims will endanger its ecology and water flow.