Inter Basin Water Transfer Link Project of India

Home • Feedback• Contact us

The importance of water in shaping lives and civilization has been globally recognised but resolving conflicts over its equitable share and management still remains a challenge for the world community. The South Asian region is no exception to this. Peoples’ life in a large part of the region is dominated by waters shared from the common rivers with Nepal, India, Bangladesh at the centre of water sharing dilemmas as riparian states. Cross-border rivers and river basin management have given rise to several dispute between the riparian countries. While countries struggle over the already existing conflicts, in the absence of any regional effort, approach and understanding, new conflicts are also shaping up, the most debated of which is the mega project of river linking proposed by India. It is feared that if the proposed project is implemented by India in violation of international laws and customary rules, the same shall force the hydrological map of the region to change, much at the cost of the ecology, environment, life, living and livelihood of other South Asian countries particularly Bangladesh. The South Asian countries must therefore, stand up to the cause of evolving some guiding principles for managing the shared water resources on the basis of clearly defined vision.

An appeal was made by a group of professionals, activists and journalists of Bangladesh on 8 September,2003, to Chief Justice of India to review the order passed in a writ petition with reference to networking of rivers of major shared rivers including the Brahmaputra and the Ganges. Then in October, a three-day consultative meeting was held in Kathmundu, Nepal. It provided the civil society activists of the South Asia region with an opportunity to exchange their views and experience regarding the management of the shared rivers. Meantime, the signatories of the appeal met several times to discuss about the matter. While waiting for the reply of the letter sent to the Chief Justice of India, the Supreme Court of India again intervaned in the matter directing the Central Government to submit an affidavit disclosing the status of second action plan regarding this matter. Being aware of this fact, the same signatories are preparing to send another letter to the Judges of the Supreme Court of India.

As a follow-up of the Nepal meeting, the members of SARP have decided to organise  a regional meeting in Bangladesh in March,2004 to discuss the trans-boundry river management issues with special focus on the river linking project of the Government of India. Today’s discussion will be on this topic.

Source: Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).

Home • Feedback• Contact us