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News From
Bangladesh News Paper
Int’l Conference Ends
Delhi urged to scrap river-link plan, disband Farakka
Staff Correspondent
New Age
Mon. December 20, 2004
A three-day
international conference on regional cooperation on trans-boundary rivers
ended in Dhaka Sunday with a call to India to ‘dispel mistrust and concerns’
over its river-linking project and to follow a ‘no harm to either party
policy’.
The conference, which featured about 500 local and international water
and development experts, and environment activists, also urged New Delhi to
scrap the river-linking project and decommission the Farakka Barrage.
The Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, Veena Sikri, said her country
would undertake a detailed consultative process with all concerned,
including Bangladesh, when its planned river-linking project goes ‘beyond
the conceptual stage’. ‘It is the declared policy of the Indian government
to undertake a detailed consultative process with all concerned.’
‘Bangladesh will never do any harm or resort to any activities which may
cause any harm to any neighbour, particularly hampering the interest of the
people of the South Asian countries,’ said the minister for LGRD and
cooperatives, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, who was chief guest at the concluding
session.
‘At the same time, we expect that other countries will do the same. I
hope no step, regarding water issues, will be taken without consulting us.’
Bangladesh is always in favour of creating an enabling environment so
that all the co-riparian countries can join hands together to harness the
water resources of the region for a win-win scenario for all, he said.
‘Problems regarding sharing of water can be solved through mutual
discussion at the Joint River Commission level,’ he said.
The minister for environment and forest, Tariqul Islam, hoped that no
country would take a unilateral initiative to control the trans-boundary
rivers. ‘Effective initiative should be taken to ensure proper utilisation
of water resources.’
Motia Chowdhury, a former minister for agriculture of the past Awami
League government, said disputes regarding water sharing of the common
rivers should be resolve by ‘sincere and cordial’ dialogue among concerned
countries. ‘We want to see implementation of “no harm” policy in managing
water resources of the region,’ she said.
Urging the countries concerned to take ‘political decision’ to protect
rivers, she said, ‘None should use the trans-boundary river issue as a
political weapon’.
Referring to ongoing debate that covers water resources issues, including
intense flooding, inadequate flow of water during the lean season, the
phenomenon of desertification and increased salinity, and the construction
of embankments, Veena Sikri said it was unfortunate that almost invariably
India was blamed for each of the problems. ‘This tends to create a mind-set
that is one sided, in that it precludes a free and open dialogue.’
About the project, she said, ‘We are at the conceptual stage and seeking
technologically feasible, economically viable and socio-politically
acceptable solutions that will enable us to manage our water resources in
keeping with our goals of economic growth and development’.
She called all concerned to strengthen bilateral dialogues to discuss the
problems dispassionately. ‘Surely, in a spirit of friendship and mutual
give-and-take, Bangladesh and India can pursue their dialogue to a
satisfactory conclusion on each issue.’
Sikri said, ‘India remains firmly committed to the principles of equity,
fairness and no harm to either party as enshrined in the Ganges Water
Sharing Treaty.’
The prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, has conveyed this assurance
to the prime minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, on the sideline of the
BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok in July, she added.
She said the Task Force on Inter-Linking Rivers had submitted its views
on the concept of the Indian government. Even the feasibility reports on all
the components of the concept have not yet been submitted, she said.
To assuage Dhaka’s fear that the inter-linking project would adversely
affect Bangladesh, Sikri said the Indian government has indicated that their
focus will be only on India’s southern and peninsular rivers. ‘The Himalayan
rivers are not even being considered at this stage.’
Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, chairman of the organising committee of
the conference, presided over the concluding session, also addressed by
Professor Nazrul Islam of the Bangladesh Environment Network, an
organisation of the expatriate Bangladeshi experts, and Quazi Kholiquzzaman
Ahmed.
Nazrul recommended that the river linking project be scrapped, the
Farraka Barrage be decommissioned and commercial approach to rivers be
abandoned.
The recommendations of the conference, attended by about 500 water and
development experts and leading environmental activists including Medha
Patkar and Rameswami R Iyer and George Verghese of India, also includes
ensuring water-based cooperation and basin-wise management to realise the
large potential benefits from the ‘Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna trans-boundary
river systems’ and ensuring access to data and information concerning any
intervention in any trans-boundary river in any country.
The conference also suggested that water resources of all trans-boundary
rivers should be recognised as common resources of all co-riparian countries
and to emphasise the ecological approach to river management.
Source:
New Age.
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