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An Appeal to Mr. Justice V.N. Khare Hon’ble Chief Justice of India,
Supreme Court of India, From Some Eminent People of Bangladesh.
Date: 8 September, 2003
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Mr. Justice V.N.
Khare
Hon’ble Chief Justice of India
Supreme Court of
India
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Date: 8 September, 2003
Ref.: IRN/2003-143
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Subject: River
Linking Project of Government of India
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Respected Sir,
We
take the privilege of introducing ourselves. We are a group of environmental
and human rights activists working in Bangladesh to promote environmental,
ecological and human rights for all having justice and equity as underlying
principles. In course of our activism, we have always been encouraged and
inspired by the bold and visionary decisions of the Indian judiciary that on
many occasions, have protected the survival rights of the downtrodden
against the unlawful, vested interest of few privileged. We note with great
respect the commitment shown by the Supreme Court of India in ensuring
access and justice to all and for this, heartily congratulate you and your
team in extending and institutionalizing pro-poor and pro-people concepts
like public interest litigation, epistolary jurisdiction and so on
particularly in matters concerning environment. The Indian judiciary indeed
has led the pathway in accepting and endorsing globally accepted principles
of environmental management including sustainable development and management
of resources. The global journey of human rights protection will definitely
record such revolutionary move of the Indian judiciary and the same, we
believe, will continue to be referred in favour of the disadvantaged,
deprived and the downtrodden and in the fights against inequity and
injustice.
We beg to draw kind attention of your good office to the
following facts for immediate judicious intervention.
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1. |
We have recently come to know that following an order
passed by a bench of the Supreme Court of India comprising Mr. Justice
B.N. Kirpal, the then Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Mr. Justice Y.K.
Sabharwat and Mr. Justice Arjul Pasayat dated 31 October, 2002 in writ
petition (civil) no. 512/2002 (copy enclosed) with reference to
networking of rivers, the Government of India is proceeding with a mega
project to divert vast quantities of water from major rivers shared with
Bangladesh, including the Brahmaputra and the Ganges!
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In this regard, their Lordships observed:
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'We are distressed to note that milestone for the
perspective plan indicated in the report of the Agency shows that even
though the pre-feasibility reports regarding the Peninsular and
Himalayan projects are already completed, the completion of the link
projects ultimately will be by the year 2035 in respect of Peninsular
Link Project and 2043 regarding Himalayan Link Project.
It
is difficult to appreciate that in this country with all the resources
available to it, there will be a further delay of 43 years for
completion of the project to which no states has any objection and whose
necessity and desirability is recognized and acknowledged by the Union
of India. The project will not only give relief to the drought prone
areas but will also be an effective flood control measure and would be a
form of water harvesting which is being rightly propagated by the Union
of India and all the States.
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We do expect that the program when drawn up would try and ensure that
the link projects are completed within a reasonable time of not more
than ten years.”
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Following the above order of the Supreme Court of India, the project
initially proposed to have been completed by the year 2036 in respect of
Peninsular Link Project and 2043 in respect of Himalayan Link Project is
now required to be completed '...within a reasonable time of not more
than ten years...'.
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2. |
A
review of the documents suggest that in the judicial process the
concerns of Bangladesh as a lower riparian country was not taken into
consideration and hence this appeal.
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3. |
The history, economy, societal values, culture of
Bangladesh evolved around these rivers that from time immemorial form
integral part of the lives and livelihood of 140 million people of the
country. The Indian project of river linking, that was never officially
notified to Bangladesh and completely ignores the interests of
Bangladesh as a lower riparian country, has given rise to serious
concern amongst the people of Bangladesh, the deltaic plain land that is
heavily dependant on water coming from rivers commonly shared with the
upper riparian state of India.
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4. |
In the absence of any official communication from the
Government of India, the initial information on the project on water
linking was gathered from few orders of the Indian Supreme Court and
other informal sources including writings of Indian civil society
members and friends. An analysis of all the available information
presents before us a horrendous picture for the future of the
agro-economy based traditional life base of the people of Bangladesh.
This billion dollar mega project of the Government of India on river
linking is feared to adversely affect millions of people in Bangladesh
and is being criticized by the people and experts of the country for the
following main reasons:
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i |
The unilaterally proposed diversion of water linking
on international water course by India is against the principles of
international and customary law on water sharing and totally negates
internationally accepted principles and rules on protection of
biodiversity, wetland, common natural heritage and environment. Such
action by the government of India violates, amongst others, Articles 3
and 5 of Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Article 5 of the
Ramsar Convention, Articles 7, 9 and 11 of Convention on the Law of the
Non-navigational Uses of International Water Courses, 1997.
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ii |
The proposed diversion of water through river linking
will block the flow of the Bangladesh’s two major riverine networks,
namely the Jamuna-Brahmaputra and the Ganges-Padma.
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iii |
Since Bangladesh depends most on the river
Brahmaputra for supplying two-third of the country’s dry season water,
withdrawal of water from the said river will immensely hurt the
legitimate water rights of at least 100 million people of Bangladesh.
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iv |
The proposed withdrawal of water flow at the upper
riparian will have serious harmful effect on the climate, ecology,
geomorphology, bio-diversity and navigational activities in the lower
riparian Bangladesh.
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v |
India's search for irrigation water can dry out great
areas in Bangladesh for much of the year and affect more than 80% of
Bangladesh’s 20 million small farmers who grow rice and depend on water
that has flow through India. Also the drying up of rivers will lead to
intrusion of salinity into farming areas.
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vi |
Withdrawal of waters from the Brahmaputra by India would severely
endanger the sweet water fishery in Bangladesh, the second largest of
the world.
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vii |
Such diversion of water will minimize flow of water
to the Sunderbans, the world largest mangrove forest, a world heritage
site shared by the India and Bangladesh and thus lead to its death.
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viii |
As
learnt from the experience of Farakka Barrage built by India again on
the shared river of Ganges, great parts of Bangladesh will face
desertification.
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ix |
As a result of increased siltation and less flow of
water, incidents of natural disasters like flood, drought will
intensify.
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x |
A project that is feared to affect 140 million people
of Bangladesh, directly or indirectly, may also lead to political
instability in the region.
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The diversion of water as proposed by the government
of India from the major international rivers is feared to redraw the
hydrological map of the international river water basins in the region
and shall only be implemented at the cost of life and livelihood of the
people Bangladesh.
The people of Bangladesh, therefore, have no choice
but to reject the Indian mega project of river linking diverting the
waters of common rivers.
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5. |
Following the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, 1996 (copy
of the relevant provisions enclosed) signed between the Governments of
Bangladesh and India, the people of Bangladesh were just preparing to
overcome the dreadful experience of the unilateral withdrawal of water
by India from the river Padma that led to desertification of the
northern Bangladesh and loss of unique biodiversity (magazine enclosed).
The new proposal of the Government of India to unilaterally withdraw
water from Brahmaputra-Jamuna river systems in complete denial of the
legitimate interests and rights of the people of Bangladesh, if allowed
to be implemented, will reverse the wheel of trust defeating all our
aspirations and efforts for peace building and security in South Asia.
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6. |
We humbly state that such move on part of the
Government of India to unilaterally withdraw water from the common
shared rivers of Brahmaputra and the Ganges violates the accepted
principles of customary international laws on equitable utilization of
shared waters, obligation not to cause significant harm, cooperation,
equitable participation and exchange of information between watercourse
states and so on. The harms that this river linking project of India are
predicted to cause shall negate the commitments of the Government of
India as made under international laws on protection of biological
diversity, wetland, global heritage and so on. The project, if
implemented, will also frustrate India's obligation in particular under
Article IX of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, 1996 and grossly
undermine institution like the Joint River Commission (JRC).
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7. |
We beg to further state that such inconsiderate act
by the Government of India amounts to deviation from the globally
accepted governance principles that it endorsed under the Agenda 21 and
also the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 1992 to ensure
that activities within its jurisdiction do not cause damage to the
environment of other States.
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8. |
We, the people of Bangladesh, do appreciate the
endorsement by India of principle 25 of the Rio Declaration, 1992 that
expressly states that peace, development and environmental protection
are interdependent and indivisible. We, however, note with deep regret
that the constitutional commitments of the Government of India to
promote international peace and security (Article 51 (a)) and maintain
just and honorable relations between nations (Article 51 (b)) have not
been reflected in proposing and developing the river linking project
that denied Bangladesh the right to be consulted as a lower riparian
country and threatens the livelihood security of millions of
Bangladeshis.
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9. |
With great respect in your Lordship’s vision for
peace and environmental security and in consideration of the legitimacy
of the rights of lives and livelihood of the people of Bangladesh, we
humbly pray for a review of the order as passed in writ petition (civil)
no. 512/2002 involving the implementation of the project on river
linking. We sincerely hope that timely and judicious intervention from
your Lordship would create precedent in requiring the Government of
India not only to uphold its constitutional pledge for peace, security
and respect but also to ensure compliance with commitments made under
international laws on water sharing, protection of environment, ecology,
wetland, bio-diversity, heritage and so on. |
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To further clarify our position on the river linking
project initiated by the Government of India and endorsed by the Supreme
Court of India, we shall, if so required by your Lordship, be happy to
have a face to face discussion with your Lordship on such date and time
as may be convenient for all concerned.
Thanking you.
With profound regard,
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S. Rizwana Hasan
Director, Bangladesh Environmental
Lawyers Association (BELA)
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Dr. Atiq Rahman
Executive Director
Bangladesh
Center
for Advanced Studies and Chairperson, Coalition of Environmental NGOs (CEN)
Email: atiq.rahman@bcas.net
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Dr. Asif Nazrul
Faculty of Law,
University
of Dhaka
Email:
asifnazrul@yahoo.com
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Enayet Ullah Khan
Editor, the Daily New Age and Weekly
Holiday
Email:
newage@bangla.net
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Khushi Kabir
Coordinator, Nijera Kori
Email: nijekori@agni.com
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Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Editor, Bangladesh Observer and President
Bangladesh
Federal Union of Journalists
Email:
observer@dhaka.net
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Masood Ragib Ahsan
Director, Odhikar
Email: odhikar@citech-bd.com
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Mahfuz Ullah
Secretary General, Centre for Sustainable
Development
Email: cfsd@bdcom.net
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Nasreen Huq
Activist
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Mostafa Kamal Majumder
Executive Editor, Daily New Nation
Email: mkm@mail.bangla.net
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Quamrul Islam Siddiqui
Chairman, Institute of Engineers
Email: qis@bd-online.com
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Source:
Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).
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