Features | Environment | South Asia

India’s Worrying Plans for Dams on Transboundary Rivers Shared with Bangladesh 

At least seven hydroelectric projects on two transboundary river systems are in the pipeline in the northeast Indian state of Meghalaya.

On Google maps, a deep green stretch about 100 kilometers long along the India-Bangladesh border, right north of the northeastern corner of Bangladesh, draws special attention. It is a densely forested hilly terrain on the Khasi hills in the northeast Indian state of Meghalaya. It includes the Cherrapunji-Mawsynram reserve forest, one of the wettest places on earth. 

From the right side of that deep green patch, the Myntdu river, which flows through the Jaintia hills in Meghalaya, enters the Bangladesh plains, where it is called Sari-Goyain. From the left, the Kynshi river enters Bangladesh and becomes known as Jadukata. Both flow into the Surma river, which is part of Bangladesh’s Meghna river system. Surma, too, is a transboundary river known as Barak in India. 

If Meghalayas’s hydropower development plan materializes as envisaged, there will be at least seven hydropower projects on the Myntdu and Kynshi. 

India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers. The waters of these transboundary rivers has been one of the major bones of contention between the two nations; the sharing of the Teesta’s waters being among the most contentious issues in their relationship, fomenting anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh in recent years. 

India is still not in a position to agree to Bangladesh’s demand for their share of the Teesta’s waters, as West Bengal – the Indian state through which the river flows into Bangladesh – is opposed to sharing their water.

In 2012, India commissioned a large hydroelectric project on the Myntdu River, known as Myntdu-Leshka Stage I. Bangladesh did not object to it. India argued that, being a run-of-the-river (RoR) project, it is devoid of any large reservoir storing water; it only diverts water through tunnels for generating electricity and releases the water back into the river downstream. 

However, when India announced its intention to build Stage II of the Myntdu-Leshka project in 2013, downstream from Stage I, Bangladesh raised objections. Since then, this has remained an issue in India-Bangladesh bilateral talks through the Joint River Commission. Around that time, Bangladesh also witnessed large-scale protests on India’s planned Tipaimukh dam on the Barak River, a project India ultimately sent to cold storage. 

Now, the Myntdu-Leshka Stage II (210 MW) project has gained momentum. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Myntdu-Leshka Stage II – a project the state government is “vigorously pursuing” – has been completed, Meghalaya Power Minister Metbah Lyngdoh said in February 2026. 

“The government will shortly finalize the financial linkage, including the option of Central Financial Assistance, to implement this project,” the minister was quoted as saying of Myntdu-Leshka Stage II.

The Selim (170MW) hydroelectric project upstream of Myntdu-Leshka Stage I (126MW) has also seen a revival. Its Detailed Project Report is currently being prepared.

Selim HEP is the uppermost project planned on Myntdu River. It is proposed to divert water through a 4.8-kilometer tunnel before releasing it back into the river. From there, it is expected to get a free-flowing stretch for about 3 kilometers before reaching the diversion point of the Stage I project. 

The currently operational Stage I project diverts parts of the Myntdu river water through a 3-kilometer head race tunnel before releasing it back into the river. Now, about 3 kilometers downstream, the water is proposed to be diverted again for the Stage II project through a 6 kilometer tunnel before releasing it back into the river. 

That place, downstream of the village Kharakhana, would be roughly 10 kilometers north of where the river enters Bangladesh. 

At present, Meghalaya has a cumulative capacity of 378.2MW from 10 hydro projects. The last large hydro project in the state was commissioned in 2017. However, since drafting its new power policy in 2024, there has been a renewed push for additional hydro power generation.

A cascade of three dams on any river within a short distance, including RoR projects, can have multiple implications regarding flow amount, pattern, and catchment degradation. 

RoR hydropower projects store water during the day to release in the evening for meeting peak demand, points out river scientist Kalyan Rudra. This interrupts the normal rhythm of the river. In addition, the dams trap sediment. The water that comes out of the dam is free from sediments and is more prone to cause erosion downstream. Such projects also impact biodiversity. 

“Cascading RoR hydel projects can modify hill slopes and trigger landslides,” Rudra told The Diplomat.   

A 2025 Meghalaya power department report notes that Myntdu-Leshka Stage I being an RoR project has very limited storage capacity. It also has a very high discharge of about 10,440 cumecs during high rainfall. During high flood, the flood water fills up the reservoir at a high rate and could overtop the dam within minutes, for which 24-7 monitoring is required, the report says.

The Kynshi River may also see cascading hydro projects. On it, the 270 MW Kynshi Stage I and the 278MW Kynshi stage II projects are being revived. In June 2025, the state government approved a fresh Memorandum of Understanding to resume work on the Stage I project. Its DPR is yet to be completed. 

Umngi HEP (2×31 MW), a storage-type project, and Nongkohlait HEP (2X60 MW), an RoR project, have been planned on the river Umngi, a tributary of the Kynshi. These projects are in the survey and investigation stage, as per budgetary allocations last year. Mawblei HEP (140MW) in the Khasi hills has been planned on the river Wahblei, another of Kynshi’s........

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