'We are going to visit the dam site and submit a report to the government upon returning from the six-day visit,' Razzaq announced Sunday.

'The government and experts will analyse information in the report and decide the next course of actions,' he said was quoted by The Daily Star as saying.

Razzaq criticised Zia for 'hiding' a survey report on the Tipaimukh project prepared during the rule of BNP in 1993. SNC-Lavalin International, Northwest Hydraulic Consultants and four consultant firms of Bangladesh prepared the report and the World Bank funded the survey.

Zia did not mention the findings of the survey that says the 'occurrence of flood will decrease in the Barak, Surma and Kushiara rivers because of the Tipaimukh dam'.

Quoting from the survey report, Razzak said that because of the dam the amount of floodwater will decrease by 20 percent and water level in the Surma and Kushiara will decrease by 1.60 metres during floods.

Part of the Brahmaputra system that flows from China, Barak divides into Surma and Kushiara upon entering Bangladesh and eventually merges into Meghna.

In an editorial Monday, The Daily Star newspaper said Zia was 'pre-judging' the issue by asking India to abandon the project, while Hasina, by calling for 'national unity', had added 'an element of obscurity' to the controversy.

Since the upper riparian country China is reportedly planning to 'utilise' Brahmaputra waters, the lower riparian India stands to be affected. Unilateral exploitation of a common river basis could harm everyone, the newspaper warned.

The Dhaka team as of now includes three lawmakers of the ruling Awami League, one of ally Jatiya Party, and one lawmaker of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, which is part of the Zia-led opposition alliance.

Monwar Hossain, dean of water resources department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, is the only water expert in the team.