Area Submergence of Tipaimukh Dam, India - IJETSRijetsr.com/images/short_pdf/1490779359_CE1026_ijetsr.pdf · The proposed Tipaimukh Dam on the River Barak has been a subject of socio-economic

266 Konthoujam James Singh

International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research

IJETSR

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ISSN 2394 – 3386

Volume 4, Issue 3

March 2017

Area Submergence of Tipaimukh Dam, India

Konthoujam James Singh

Civil Engineering Department, NERIST, Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh

ABSTRACT

The proposed Tipaimukh Dam on the River Barak has been a subject of socio-economic and environmental

concerns with its height of 162.8 m and length 390 m. When impounding water at the maximum reservoir level

of 178 m, it may lead to submergence of its upstream at larger scale. This study highlights the extent of water

surface in the reservoir at different dam heights. To achieve the study objective Advanced Spaceborne Thermal

Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) 30 m resolution has been used

with inputs from Google Earth Pro. Geographical Information System (GIS) software ArcGIS has been used in

processing the DEM to extract information to estimate the areal extent of impounding water at different levels

and corresponding volume of water in the reservoir. The areal extent of water surface at maximum water level

is estimated to be 364.877220 km2, the submerged surface as 383.527762 km

2 and the volume of water

impounded as 37404.680903 M m3.

Keywords: Tipaimukh Dam, reservoir capacity, GIS, DEM, submerged land

Introduction

Dams are constructed to create reservoirs to

impound water, mainly for flood control,

irrigation and water supply, and power

generation. The water impounded may be

intended for a single purpose or multipurpose

utilization. In order to content the intended

purpose, the reservoirs must have sufficient

capacity to impound adequate water. Many a

times, the dam heights are extensively

exaggerated to harness a larger reservoir

capacity (Anon. 2002). The impacts of

constructing large dams on both upstream and

downstream riparian area can be multifold

(Kellogg and Zhou, 2014). Besides positive

impacts, there are also negative impacts

associated with large dams. Among the

negative impacts, mention may be of the

submergence of upstream land which is a

threat to forest resources and demography,

resulting from the additional increase in dam

height (Anon. 2002). Many researchers have

done works on social and economic impacts of

dams. Possibility of submergence of a large

extent of forest in Manipur, comprising 10

million trees and 2700

bamboo columns is reported if the Tipaimukh

dam in Manipur, India is constructed (Kurmi

and Gupta, 2016). Further, Environmental

Impact Assessment (EIA) on socio-economic

aspects of Tipaimukh dam has been carried out

in downstream Bangladesh (Asaduzzaman and

Rahman, 2015; Sikder and Elahi, 2013). Apart

from social and economic aspects, studies on

hydrologic and land use land cover (LULC)

inundation aspects of dams also exist in

literature. With the development and

availability of digital spatial data and

Geographical Information System (GIS)

software, reservoir capacity and extent of

surface water in reservoir has been studied

expediently (Wang and Wade, 2002; Kellogg

and Zhou, 2014).

Wang and Wade (2000) used DEM with GIS

tools in estimating the total volume of the

reservoir. Accordingly, all cells within the

Area of Interest (AOI) where the DEM

elevation was less than or equal to a given

reservoir water surface height were extracted

and summed the area of these extracted cells

to obtain the total area of the reservoir

computed for that given water surface height;

for each cell within the reservoir a height

difference between the DEM value (or the

bottom of the reservoir) and surface water

height was multiplied by the cell size to

compute the volume in that cell location.

Bharali B. (2015) estimated the reservoir

storage capacity, using Residual Mass Curve

method, for the proposed Dibang

Multipurpose Dam in the Dibang River Basin,

Arunachal Pradesh, India using the flow data

of the Dibang River.



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Ouma (2016) used multiresolution Real-Time

Kinematic Global Positioning System (RTK-

GPS) DEM, in comparison with ASTER and

contour-derived DEM in simulating storage

volume in a proposed reservoir by developing

an empirical relationship.

Fuska et al., (2017) performed an assessment

of the historic data of an artificial reservoir

using a python script based on the concept that

the water volume in a reservoir can be

calculated as the sum of partial volumes

calculated between two contours with the use

of the prismatic method as the multiplication

of the difference in contour elevation and

average area of the contours (i.e. bottom and

top contours of the examined partial water

volume).

Study Area and Objectives

The present study is focused on the proposed

Tipaimukh Dam of India. The proposed

Tipaimukh Dam is a rock-filled earthen dam to

be constructed on the River Barak at 500 m

downstream of the confluence of the River

Barak and River Tuivai, near Tipaimukh

village in Manipur, India (Khan et al., 2005).

The proposed dam will be located at 24°1'N

and 93°1'E, with dam height of 162.8 m and

length of 390 m (Asaduzzaman and Rahman,

2015). The Indian state Manipur comes under

the zone-V of the earthquake zoning map of

India (IS 1893, Part 1, 2002, Reaffirmed

2007). The location of Tipaimukh Dam is

shown in Figure 1. Initially, the dam was

proposed in 1984 to contain the flood water

entered in the Cachar Plains of Assam state of

India (Islam and Islam, 2016; Sikder and

Elahi, 2013) of Barak. The Tipaimukh

Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project (TMHP)

was initiated by North Eastern Electric Power

Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) (Khan et al,

2005). However, later on, TMHP became a

joint venture after Indian Government

unilaterally signed an agreement with the

National Hydroelectric Power Corporation

Limited, India (NHPC), and Satluj Jal Vidyut

Nigam Limited, India (SJVNL) and the

Manipur State government On October 22,

2011(Asaduzzaman and Rahman, 2015).

Figure 1: Location of Tipaimukh Dam,

India (Source: Khan et al., 2005)

Although the Tipaimukh Dam Project aims in

meeting the ever increasing demand of energy

in the form of hydroelectric power and

regulation of flood water of River Barak, it has

faced immense public discontents leading to

wider mass movements in India and

Bangladesh (Islam and Islam, 2016). It is

being appealed from local and indigenous

people of Manipur and Mizoram state of India,

and experts in different fields from India and

Bangladesh that the Tipaimukh Dam Project

would result in a massive socio-economic,

ecological and environmental disaster at both

riparian of upstream and downstream of the

dam (Islam and Islam, 2016; Asaduzzaman

and Rahman, 2015; Khan et al., 2005). Arora

and Kipgen (2012) have pointed out the main

objections of the people from both Bangladesh

and India to the TMHP, which have grouped

under six different categories:

i. Location in a geologically unstable

region;

ii. Loss of biodiversity with submergence

of land;

iii. Economic feasibility studies and cost-

benefit analysis;

iv. Administrative lapses, procedural and

human rights violations;

v. Social and cultural objections; and

vi. Objections by Bangladesh

Khan et al. (2005) studied the hydrological

impacts of Tipaimukh Dam in downstream of

Bangladesh – hydrological changes that will

occur in the Surma-Kushiyara river system of



IJETSR

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March 2017

northeast region of Bangladesh after the

Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak River comes

into operation – only with limited data and

information, and a rather simple relation to

estimate the inflow of the dam, and also

further emphasized to investigate on the

upstream riparian of the dam.

However, no literature could be found that

explicitly studies the upstream riparian of the

Tipaimukh Dam. Further, literature on the

water surface extent in the proposed

Tipaimukh Dam Reservoir and land

submergence at different heights could not be

traced. This fact has encouraged taking up this

study. The present study aims in determining

the areal extent of water surface in the

proposed Tipaimukh Dam Reservoir at

different dam heights and the corresponding

submerged land area. The study also estimates

the reservoir capacity or the volume of water

impounded at different dam heights.

Materials and Method

To accomplish the objective of this study, the

freely available Advanced Spaceborne

Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer

(ASTER) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) 30

m resolution has been downloaded from

https://gdex.cr.usgs.gov/gdex/. It has been

used for delineating Tipaimukh Dam

Catchment and for further analysis. For a

given water surface height, the areal extent

may be obtained by summing up the areas of

individual cells in the DEM raster within the

area of interest. For each cell within the

reservoir, a height difference between the

DEM value (or the bottom of the reservoir)

and surface water height was multiplied by the

cell size to compute the volume in that cell

location. Adding all these individual volume,

the total volume of the reservoir water up-to

the specific water surface level may be

obtained. To obtain the areal extent and the

reservoir capacity or volume of water, the 3D

Analyst Tools in ArcGIS is used.

The information on river values that the

ASTER DEM provided is the height of water

surface in the river and not the river bed

elevation. Therefore, the water surface

elevation which is 53 m from mean sea level

(MSL) at the site of the proposed Tipaimukh

Dam is assumed as the base level for the

present analysis. Assuming the depth of water

of the Tipaimukh River to be 4 m, the dam

height 162.8 m has been added to 49 m, from

MSL, to obtain the highest or the maximum

water surface in the reservoir which is 211.8 m

from MSL. However, the maximum water

surface has been taken at 212 m from MSL for

ease in calculation. With 53 m as the base

level, the areal extent of water surface in the

proposed Tipaimukh Dam Reservoir, the

corresponding submerged land area and

volume of water impounded within the

reservoir is estimated for 1 m increment in

dam height. Since, detail information could

not obtain on the proposed dam, the vertical

zonation of reservoir storage, i.e., dead

storage, live storage and free board has not

considered separately, instead the gross

storage has been considered while calculating

the volume. Also, the upstream side of the

dam wall is assumed to be vertical. With these

assumptions, the analysis has been carried out.

Results

Using the coordinates of Tipaimukh Dam

24°1'N and 93°1'E as outlet, the catchment

area of the dam is determined, which is shown

in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Tipaimukh Dam Catchment

The catchment area of Tipaimukh Dam is

found to be 12976.42 km2 while the elevation

of the catchment varies from 53 m at the outlet

to 3012 m from mean sea level, and is of 6

order catchment. Starting from 54 m, the



IJETSR

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Volume 4, Issue 3

March 2017

estimated areal extent of water surface, the

corresponding submerged land area and


reservoir is tabulated in Table 1. The areal

surface extent at 53 m from MSL is

highlighted in Figure 3. It is observed that the

areal water surface extent changes

significantly from 15.863306 km2

at 107 m,

from MSL, to 48.538061 km2

at 108 m, from

MSL, which are further highlighted in Figure

4 and Figure 5 respectively. The maximum

areal extent of water surface is estimated to be

364.877220 km2

corresponding to water

surface elevation 212 m from MSL.

Figure 3: Areal Surface Extent at 53 m

from MSL

The estimated water surface extent, land

submerged and volume impounded are plotted

which are shown in Figure 6. The maximum

submerged land area and maximum volume of

water impounded within the reservoir are

estimated as 383.527762 km2

and

37404.680903 M m3, corresponding to 212 m

from MSL.

Figure 4: Areal Water Surface Extent at 107 m

from MSL

Figure 5: Areal Water Surface Extent at 108 m

from MSL

Figure 6: Area-Elevation and Capacity-

Elevation curve of Tipamukh Dam Reservoir

Conclusion

Reservoir capacity and areal water surface

extent is of crucial importance in reservoir

design and management. In the present paper,

the areal water surface extent, land

submergence and volume of water impounded

within the reservoir have been estimated using

ASTER DEM in a GIS environment. The

maximum submerged land area is found to be

about 2.96 % of the total catchment area. The

study made certain assumptions during the

analysis which needs further field survey for

better justification. This paper also highlights

the means of estimating reservoir parameters-

areal water surface, land submergence and


reservoir with the only available freely

available data.

Acknowledgement

The author wishes to thank Dr. Th. Somchand

Singh, MIT, Manipur, Dr. Salam Dilip,

NERIST and P.T. Sharma, CAU Imphal for

their valuable inputs.



IJETSR

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Volume 4, Issue 3

March 2017

References

Anonymous 2002. FFM to Sardar Sarovar and Man

Dam Projects.

Arora, V. and Kipgen, N. 2012. We Can Live

Without Power, but We Can’t Live Without

Our Land: Indigenous Hmar Oppose The

Tipaimukh Dam in Manipur. Sociological

Bulletin. 61(1): 109–128.

Asaduzzaman, M., Rahman, M.M. 2015. Impacts

of Tipaimukh Dam on the Down-stream

Region in Bangladesh: A Study on Probable

EIA. Journal of Science Foundation. 13(1)

Bharali B. 2015. Estimation of Reservoir Storage

Capacity by using Residual Mass Curve,

Journal of Civil Engineering and

Environmental Technology, 2(10): 15-18.

Fuska J., Kubinský D., Lackóová L. and Weis K.

2015. Vindšachta Water Reservoir – Using

GIS Tools for a Comparison of Storage

Capacity in 1887 and 2014. Kartografija I

Geoinformacije: 14(24).

Islam M.S., Islam N.M. 2016. Environmentalism of

the poor”: the Tipaimukh Dam, ecological

disasters and environmental resistance

beyond borders. J. of Global South. 3(27):1-

16.

Kellogg, C.H., Zhou, X. 2014. Impact of The

Construction of a Large Dam on Riparian

Vegetation Cover at Different Elevation

Zones as Observed From Remotely Sensed

Data. International Journal of Applied Earth

Observation and Geoinformation. 32:19–34

Khan, A.S., Masud, M.S., Palash, W. 2005.

Hydrological Impact Study of Tipaimukh

Dam of India on Bangladesh. Institute of

Water Modelling (IWM) Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Kurmi, P., Gupta, R. 2016. Paucity of Energy in

Barak Valley: A Review of Tipaimukh

Hydroelectric Project and an Alternative

Scheme for Development. International

Research Journal of Social Sciences. 5(2):

52-55.

Ouma, Y.O. 2016. Evaluation of Multiresolution

Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from Real-

Time Kinematic GPS and Ancillary Data for

Reservoir Storage Capacity Estimation.

Hydrology. 3(16):1-27.

Sikder M.T., Elahi, K.M. 2013. Environmental

Degradation and Global Warming-

Consequences of Himalayan Mega Dams: A

Review. American Journal of Environmental

Protection. 2(1): 1-9.

Wang, Y., Wade, S. 2000. Using Digital Spatial

Data Sets to Study the Impact of Reservoir

Construction on Local Environment and

Community. The North Carolina Geograper.

9:1-12.



IJETSR

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Volume 4, Issue 3

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Table 1: Estimated Areal Extent of Water Surface, Submerged Land Area and Volume of

Water Impounded within the Tipaimukh Reservoir

Sl.

No.

Elevation:

From 53

to (m)

Areal Water

Surface

Extent (km2)

Land

Submerged

(km2)

Water

Volume

(M m3)

Sl.

No.

Elevation:

From 53

to (m)

Areal

Water

Surface

Extent

(km2)

Land

Submerged

(km2)

Water

Volume

(M m3)

1 54 1.531684 1.531697 0.237698

21 77 6.988365 7.073882 64.271593

2 55 1.625263 1.625322 0.272790

22 78 7.307944 7.403560 70.397889

3 56 1.668521 1.668722 0.340105

23 79 7.420061 7.522810 72.521500

4 57 2.097569 2.098074 1.843097

24 80 7.793492 7.909580 80.101572

5 58 2.169960 2.170841 1.995824

25 81 7.972704 8.101860 83.443690

6 59 2.764094 2.765655 3.964282

26 82 8.133376 8.271812 86.848708

7 60 2.863852 2.866198 4.263556

27 83 8.189876 8.334410 88.663996

8 61 2.968025 2.971883 4.644270

28 84 9.507037 9.671163 125.164431

9 62 3.057189 3.062309 5.175504

29 85 9.770115 9.949251 132.046417

10 63 3.104861 3.111281 5.452046

30 86 9.968749 10.161719 136.931033

11 64 3.239049 3.247776 6.045960

31 87 10.136484 10.343550 141.645928

12 65 3.338807 3.350020 6.512748

32 88 10.360719 10.583492 147.515325

13 66 3.382948 3.396249 6.845128

33 89 10.697954 10.945985 156.151685

14 67 3.494182 3.510954 7.533724

34 90 10.903650 11.167427 161.881597

15 68 4.430849 4.452676 20.628742

35 91 11.082862 11.367406 166.796449

16 69 4.532373 4.558293 21.671347

36 92 11.270901 11.573526 172.394601

17 70 4.640077 4.670572 22.528119

37 93 11.280612 11.579716 174.395281

18 71 4.888148 4.921642 26.904896

38 94 11.767926 12.109409 187.486326

19 72 5.116797 5.158892 29.124514

39 95 12.088388 12.466489 196.770452

20 73 5.053234 5.097228 29.063379

40 96 12.241998 12.636863 201.948825

21 74 5.426665 5.479564 34.356518

41 97 12.595124 13.017440 214.344874

22 75 6.507231 6.566462 57.484289

42 98 12.746085 13.186597 220.565190

23 76 6.686442 6.754542 60.168930

43 99 13.034766 13.485454 233.609225



IJETSR

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Volume 4, Issue 3

March 2017

Table 1(contd.): Estimated Areal Extent of Water Surface, Submerged Land Area and

Volume of Water Impounded within the Tipaimukh Reservoir

Sl.

No.

Elevation:

From 53

to (m)

Areal Water

Surface

Extent (km2)

Land

Submerged

(km2)

Water

Volume

(M m3)

Sl.

No.

Elevation:

From 53

to (m)

Areal

Water

Surface

Extent

(km2)

Land

Submerged

(km2)

Water

Volume

(M m3)

44 100 13.516783 14.017295 249.280519

66 122 76.028925 77.574307 3668.144032

45 101 13.759557 14.287949 258.224761

67 123 77.479390 79.081730 3763.038937

46 102 13.934355 14.483746 265.555437

68 124 78.932504 80.611398 3856.530829

47 103 14.157707 14.731361 274.467015

69 125 81.186331 82.952766 4006.613160

48 104 14.676802 15.270755 298.971536

70 126 82.650922 84.500923 4103.140170

49 105 15.073186 15.715033 313.724261

71 127 84.118160 86.046940 4202.260450

50 106 15.347742 16.014720 325.154510

72 128 84.955952 86.933244 4262.662885

51 107 15.863306 16.571555 348.947924

73 129 88.374212 90.387822 4513.923779

52 108 48.538061 49.227194 2081.504471

74 130 90.814313 92.970266 4677.521789

53 109 51.907766 52.695798 2255.505796

75 131 92.451936 94.707570 4792.344261

54 110 53.136645 53.944167 2322.784036

76 132 93.394782 95.695433 4865.077416

55 111 54.586227 55.438117 2400.087305

77 133 95.318436 97.743462 5000.964961

56 112 56.045521 56.879761 2481.737997

78 134 96.905738 99.437383 5116.539813

57 113 60.019072 60.976243 2701.005890

79 135 98.449782 101.090411 5230.665964

58 114 61.620499 62.632416 2790.369518

80 136 100.578249 103.393158 5384.409550

59 115 62.998573 64.062151 2868.583190

81 137 101.382494 104.213597 5453.025476

60 116 64.686516 65.811240 2966.314801

82 138 103.132234 106.080857 5588.372297

61 117 66.197013 67.389130 3053.883886

83 139 105.278357 108.351237 5758.430969

62 118 67.355266 68.585386 3124.353724

84 140 106.362454 109.509249 5847.204435

63 119 68.857817 70.151180 3214.741638

85 141 108.582734 111.873271 6022.909151

64 120 70.271205 71.637775 3300.314236

86 142 112.723137 116.132141 6373.074477

65 121 71.854092 73.307857 3396.234974

87 143 113.818711 117.301756 6464.976198



IJETSR

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Volume 4, Issue 3

March 2017



Sl.

No.

Elevation:

From 53

to (m)

Areal Water

Surface

Extent (km2)

Land

Submerged

(km2)

Water

Volume

(M m3)

Sl.

No.

Elevation:

From 53

to (m)

Areal

Water

Surface

Extent

(km2)

Land

Submerged

(km2)

Water

Volume

(M m3)

88 144 115.421021 119.031581 6596.367345

110 166 172.176325 179.227771 12130.120088

89 145 117.647481 121.417395 6779.262149

111 167 175.567218 182.868775 12491.159269

90 146 118.359912 122.193534 6840.169333

112 168 177.881077 185.327967 12744.794936

91 147 121.410039 125.471313 7095.972753

113 169 180.359139 187.991362 13014.467161

92 148 123.056489 127.258005 7238.335527

114 170 190.729569 198.524664 14212.339419

93 149 124.943065 129.278377 7404.907962

115 171 193.324162 201.323709 14498.708548

94 150 128.204184 132.815174 7687.284339

116 172 200.046800 208.235019 15280.572256

95 151 129.734986 134.470682 7825.562327

117 173 201.336593 209.620651 15429.869764

96 152 133.486950 138.374170 8180.825027

118 174 204.069789 212.544295 15740.389626

97 153 135.512128 140.530773 8369.309597

119 175 206.539905 215.218836 16022.441789

98 154 136.100966 141.110381 8433.915776

120 176 209.367562 218.240451 16349.073470

99 155 139.272921 144.497779 8729.110409

121 177 213.182207 222.296294 16791.191499

100 156 140.660706 146.014807 8861.018223

122 178 213.218402 222.287281 16815.522768

101 157 143.331222 148.927733 9110.861537

123 179 217.700455 227.177577 17327.146159

102 158 145.137462 150.890559 9284.725142

124 180 220.931558 230.658853 17707.683858

103 159 146.798037 152.689022 9447.629701

125 181 223.640035 233.582017 18031.730214

104 160 150.846628 156.922385 9863.839533

126 182 227.052116 237.210397 18446.830127

105 161 153.991215 160.199222 10188.327076

127 183 230.991237 241.390431 18932.739982

106 162 156.080839 162.472050 10397.056804

128 184 232.945790 243.409089 19184.968662

107 163 157.807625 164.347079 10573.539281

129 185 236.446152 247.123575 19622.837923

108 164 161.307105 168.046150 10942.721990

130 186 239.417708 250.344750 19990.405080

109 165 169.198589 176.094680 11810.825926

131 187 243.407150 254.595618 20499.746836



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Volume 4, Issue 3

March 2017



Sl.

No.

Elevation:

From 53

to (m)

Areal

Water

Surface

Extent

(km2)

Land

Submerged

(km2)

Water

Volume

(M m3)

Sl.

No.

Elevation:

From 53

to (m)

Areal

Water

Surface

Extent

(km2)

Land

Submerged

(km2)

Water

Volume

(M m3)

132 188 246.631191 258.071474 20907.387623

154 210 357.781151 375.844432 36338.496418

133 189 249.726341 261.421830 21300.287161

155 211 363.276676 381.856877 37147.577759

134 190 254.910231 267.104543 21949.820407

156 212 364.877220 383.527762 37404.680903

135 191 258.748712 271.259039 22445.196027

136 192 280.992123 293.460582 25550.446073

137 193 284.631087 297.372438 26031.952446

138 194 288.656724 301.651745 26568.806916

139 195 295.701589 309.288818 27497.258551

140 196 298.985661 312.697636 27959.955664

141 197 303.515386 317.519948 28580.013257

142 198 303.293799 317.166072 28560.049495

143 199 308.934105 323.285019 29341.752531

144 200 312.415928 326.910449 29831.999657

145 201 316.132580 330.897873 30350.200684

146 202 320.686141 335.917017 30978.033230

147 203 325.069318 340.628834 31593.815127

148 204 332.332239 348.413722 32621.877888

149 205 337.638841 354.179864 33375.598111

150 206 342.899536 359.841187 34132.766831

151 207 343.980985 360.942105 34309.361425

152 208 348.726999 366.039333 35001.336672

153 209 353.171973 370.882075 35651.959753

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Area Submergence of Tipaimukh Dam, India - IJETSRijetsr.com/images/short_pdf/1490779359_CE1026_ijetsr.pdf · The proposed Tipaimukh Dam on the River Barak has been a subject of socio-economic