Zia has sent a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to abandon the project.

'The parliamentary standing committee of water resources ministry does not have any representative from BNP. We have requested the party to send names of its two lawmakers but they did not cooperate with us, taking the issue politically,' Abdur Razzaq, chairman of the parliamentary committee, told the BBC.

The delegation will leave for India July 29 to carry out preliminary assessment of the possible impact on Bangladesh if the dam is built. The team is scheduled to return Aug 3.

Barak river is part of the Brahmaputra river system that the three countries share. There have been reports that China wants to build a dam on the river as well. Tipaimukh is located 200 km upstream of the Bangladesh border.

India says it needs the dam to generate power for the development of its northeastern region.