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News From
Bangladesh News Paper
India's water policy
The New Nation
By A.N.M. Nurul Haque
Sep 1, 2003, 03:50
The Guardian, the leading British daily, published
an alarming report on its July 24 issue, saying that India has prepared a
master plan to transfer substantial quantity of water from the transboundary
rivers including the Ganges and the Brahmaputra that flow through
Bangladesh. India's unilateral decision to divert water of the transboundary
rivers has left the people of Bangladesh dumbfounded. The proposed plan to
interlink the transboundary rivers by the Indian government, if implemented,
would have devastating impact both on Bangladesh's ecology and economy. The
experts in this field have warned that this would spell disaster for greater
than that caused by the Farakka Barrage.
According to report, the Indian government has taken up the Project of 110
billion US dollars to interlink the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and other
transboundary rivers to divert water that flows during lean season, to
southern Indian rivers to provide 173 billion cubic metres of water a year,
supplying millions of people in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka States with more
reliable drinking and irrigation water. So far it is known from the article,
entitled 'Water wars loom as India presses on with plea to divert rivers
vital for Bangladesh' by John Vidal of the Guardian, that the Indian
National Water Development Agency (NWDA) laid out a plan in May, 2000 to
interlink rivers projects involving construction of hundreds of water
reservoirs and digging of more than 600 miles of link-canals. The National
Water Development Agency of India has said, it would divert enough water to
irrigate 1,35,000 square miles of farmland and produce 34,000 megawatts of
hydro-electricity. It is also known that, the Indian government is preparing
to seek International funds for the implementation of such a giant project,
which would take up 10 years to be completed. Indian President, while
addressing the nation on the eve of 57th Independence Day, has confirmed his
country's river-linking mega project to deal with droughts and floods in
river-basin states as well as ensuring water and power security to
water-scarce basin states. This statement by the Indian President was
followed by an order passed by the Indian Supreme Court. While disposing of
a writ petition submitted by some farmers about the 43 year time frame for
implementation of the river-linking project, a three-member Indian Supreme
Court Bench led by the Chief Justice said, 'we do expect that the programme
when drawn up would try and ensure that the link projects are completed
within a reasonable time of not more than ten years.' Bangladesh receives 85
per cent of its total water from the rivers Brahmaputra and the Ganges
during the dry season.
The Brahmaputra alone supplies Bangladesh 65 percent of its total water
requirement during the dry season. Nearly 20 million small farmers of
Bangladesh depend on river water that flows through India for their
cultivation. Indian plan to divert substantial quantity of water from 54
rivers, including the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, threaten the livelihoods
of more than 100 million people of downstream in Bangladesh.
The Farakka Barrage built in 1974 across the river Ganges, 11 miles away
from Bangladesh border, has already reduced vast quantity of water that once
flowed through the Ganges into Bangladesh. As a result, a vast area in the
northern part of Bangladesh are turning into desert, most of the rivers are
losing their navigability and saline water is intruding into farmland. The
Farakka Barrage has not only been a death trap for Bangladesh. It has also
caused disaster in the Indian States of West Bengal and Bihar. Farakka
treaty was a tricky deal as it takes into account the quantity of water only
at the Farakka point, having no clause for compelling the upper riparian
country to share water equally. As such the Farakka Barrage was termed by
many, as a step in violation of human rights to fresh water.
India, being the upper riparian country, enjoy a permanent position to
divert water from the rivers commonly shared with Bangladesh. But the
International rivers are common resources of the countries over which they
flow. The International law regarding sharing water of common rivers clearly
states that the flow of International rivers is not within the arbitrary
power of one of the riparian states.' So, India's unilateral decision to
divert water of 54 common rivers including the Ganges and the Brahmaputra is
a clear violation of International law and also an injustice to Bangladesh
regarding water sharing. Bangladesh is not alone, even the Indian States of
West Bengal and Bihar have expressed their reservations over this
mega-project calling it as favours to western and Southern India at the cost
of the East.
Water and environmental experts said Bangladesh should take earnest measures
to ensure drainage basin security to save the country from environmental
disaster. It is known that Bangladesh government is exploring various
options including diplomatic maneuverings on both bilateral and
International plans to make the Indian government abandon its river-linking
project that could spell disaster for Bangladesh. A section of Indian
politicians and environmental activists are against this project and have
expressed their concern. It is also known that Nepal, being the major source
of important rivers and an upper riparian to India, always wants to
negotiate, but India has always been resisting Nepal's move.
Bangladesh, India and Nepal are co-riparian of the river Ganges and China,
India and Bangladesh share the Brahmaputra river. India's unilateral move to
interlink the transboundary rivers contravenes Article 9 of the Indo-Bangla
Ganges Water-Sharing Treaty, which provides for giving due share in common
rivers water to the co-riparian. The Indo-Bangla Joint Rivers Commission (JRC)
meet is likely to be held in New Delhi on September 28 to 29, this year,
paving the way for bilateral discussion on this contentions issue of India's
river inter-linking mega project. The last JRC meeting held in January-2002
in Dhaka and India has kept Bangladesh waiting for the long overdue JRC
meeting.
According to the agreement, the JRC meeting is led by the Water Resources
Secretaries of the two neighbouring countries that share water of 54 common
rivers. After signing of the Ganges Water-sharing Treaty with India in 1996,
it was expected that two neighbouring countries would gradually move forward
to sign similar treaties on sharing of 54 other common rivers. Let us hope
that coming JRC meet will be able to workout plans so that the common rivers
serve both the close neighbors in best possible way, without doing injustice
to Bangladesh.
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