Ganges water dispute

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Map of the Ganges River from its origin in northern India to its entry into the Bay of Bengal through Bangladesh. River Ganges and tributaries.png
Map of the Ganges River from its origin in northern India to its entry into the Bay of Bengal through Bangladesh.

A long-standing dispute exists between India and Bangladesh over the appropriate allocation, and development, of the water resources of the Ganges River, which flows from northern India into Bangladesh. The issue had remained a subject of conflict for almost 35 years, with several bilateral agreements and rounds of talks failing to produce results.

Contents

However, a comprehensive bilateral treaty was signed by Indian Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed on 12 December 1996 in the Indian capital New Delhi. The treaty established a 30-year water-sharing arrangement and recognised Bangladesh's rights as a lower-level riparian. [1] [2] [3]

Background

A Map showing major rivers in Bangladesh, including the Padma River. Bangladesh-en.png
A Map showing major rivers in Bangladesh, including the Padma River.

Descending from India's northern plains, the Ganges river forms a boundary of 129 kilometres between India and Bangladesh and flows for 113 km in Bangladesh. At Pakaur in India, the river begins its attrition with the branching away of its first distributary, the Bhagirathi River, which goes on to form the Hooghly River. About 10 kilometres from the border with Bangladesh the Farakka Barrage, built in 1974, controls the flow of the Ganges, diverting some of the water into a feeder canal linking the Hooghly to keep it relatively silt-free. [4]

After entering Bangladesh, the main branch of the Ganges is known as the Padma River until it is joined by the Jamuna River, the largest distributary of the Brahmaputra River, which descends from Assam and Northeast India. Further downstream, the Ganges is fed by the Meghna River, the second-largest distributary of the Brahmaputra, and takes on the Meghna's name as it enters the Meghna estuary. Fanning out into the 350 km wide Ganges Delta, it finally empties into the Bay of Bengal. A total of 54 rivers flow into Bangladesh from India. [5]

Efforts at resolution

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Bangladesh's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed the wide-ranging Indo-Bangladeshi Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace on 19 March 1972; [4] as per the treaty, the two nations established a Joint River Commission to work for the common interests and sharing of water resources, irrigation, floods and cyclones control. [2]

Farakka Barrage

The Farakka Barrage is a dam on the Bhagirathi River located in the Indian state of West Bengal, roughly 10 km (6.2 mi) from the border with Bangladesh. India uses it to control the flow of the Ganges River. The dam was built to divert Ganges River water into the Hooghly River during the dry season, from January to June, to flush out the accumulating silt which in the 1950s and 1960s was a problem at Kolkata Port on the Hooghly River. [4] Bangladesh claimed that its rivers were drying up because of excess drawing of water by India. [5] In May 1974 a joint declaration was issued to resolve the water–sharing issue before the Farakka Barrage began operation. [3] This was followed by an interim agreement in 1975 to allow India to operate the feeder canals of the Barrage for short periods. [1] [2]

However, India withdrew from the process of negotiations by September 1976 as both nations grew apart after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the President of Bangladesh, in August 1975 during a military coup d'état, and the related establishment of military rule in Bangladesh. [4] Bangladesh protested India's unilateral action at a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and at the 31st session of the United Nations General Assembly. [2] At the urging of other nations and the U.N., both India and Bangladesh agreed to resume dialogue, but with no results. [2]

Temporary agreements

Bilateral relations had improved in 1977 during the governments of the then-Prime Minister Morarji Desai of India and the then-President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh; [4] in 1977 both leaders signed a 5-year treaty on water-sharing, but this expired in 1982 without being renewed. [1] [2] [3]

Bangladesh attempted to internationalise the affair by lobbying the U.N. General Assembly and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) without any result. [1]

1996 Treaty

The Ganges Delta spanning India and Bangladesh. Ganges River Delta, Bangladesh, India.jpg
The Ganges Delta spanning India and Bangladesh.

The formation of an Awami League government in 1996 under Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib, led to a fresh thaw in relations and negotiations restarted. Both countries leaders met in the Indian capital on 12 December 1996 and signed a 30-year, comprehensive treaty. [1] [2] [3]

As per the 1996 treaty for sharing the Ganges waters at Farakka, the division is as follows: [6]

Availability at FarakkaShare of IndiaShare of Bangladesh
70,000 cusecs or less50%50%
70,000 – 75,000 cusecsBalance of the flow35,000 cusecs
75,000 cusecs or more40,000 cusecsBalance of the flow

Both nations were able to co-operate in harnessing the water resources; the treaty also permits the construction of barrages and irrigation projects in Kushtia and the Gorai-Madhumati River in Bangladesh, draining the south-western districts and thus preserving the environment, natural and economic resources. [2]

Assessment

The 1996 treaty established a long-term solution and considerably eased strains in Indo-Bangladeshi relations. [1] [3] The 1996 treaty has been attacked by the Awami League's (AL) main rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is regarded as hostile to India, but BNP did not renege from the treaty when it came to power in 2001. The BNP and other Bangladeshi political factions allege that India is drawing excessive water and the amount allocated to Bangladesh is unjust and insufficient. [1] [5] India in turn complains that the water allocated to Bangladesh leaves it with less water than necessary for the functioning of Kolkata Port and the National Thermal Power Corporation in Farakka. [5]

Other critics have also stressed environmental reasons for India to reconsider its drawing of water at Farraka. Alarming increases in deforestation and erosion at the upper levels of the Ganges River increases the deposition of silt at the lower level, which is already measured at 2 million tonnes annually, along with increased salinity, have led to desertification. [7] In Bangladesh, the diversion has raised salinity levels, contaminated fisheries, hindered navigation and posed a threat to water quality and public health. [8] Such silt levels are believed to be adversely affecting the Hooghly River and Kolkata Port. [1]

Future cooperation

The flood waters from Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Meghana rivers joining the Sea can be harnessed by constructing a coastal reservoir to mitigate climate change effects on both Bangladesh and India and also for achieving water security, food security, and energy security. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ganges</span> Major river in Asia

The Ganges is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh. The 2,525 km (1,569 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It flows south and east through the Gangetic plain of North India, receiving the right-bank tributary, the Yamuna, which also rises in the western Indian Himalayas, and several left-bank tributaries from Nepal that account for the bulk of its flow. In West Bengal state, India, a feeder canal taking off from its right bank diverts 50% of its flow southwards, artificially connecting it to the Hooghly River. The Ganges continues into Bangladesh, its name changing to the Padma. It is then joined by the Jamuna, the lower stream of the Brahmaputra, and eventually the Meghna, forming the major estuary of the Ganges Delta, and emptying into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna system is the second-largest river on earth by discharge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooghly River</span> Distributary of the Ganges River in India

The Hooghly River or popularly called Ganga or Kati-Ganga in the Puranas, is a river that rises close to Giria, which lies north of Baharampur and Palashi in Murshidabad. It is the western distributary of the Ganges. The main course of the Ganges then flows into Bangladesh as the Padma. A man-made canal, built in the 1960s and early-1970s at Farakka, connects the Ganges, flowing through Malda, to the Hooghly to bring the abundant waters of the Himalayan river to the comparatively narrow river that rises in eastern West Bengal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meghna River</span> River in Bangladesh

The Meghna is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest delta on earth, which fans out to the Bay of Bengal. A part of the Surma-Meghna River System, the Meghna is formed inside Bangladesh in Kishoreganj District above the town of Bhairab Bazar by the joining of the Surma and the Kushiyara, both of which originate in the hilly regions of eastern India as the Barak River. The Meghna meets its major tributary, the Padma, in Chandpur District. Other major tributaries of the Meghna include the Dhaleshwari, the Gumti, and the Feni. The Meghna empties into the Bay of Bengal in Bhola District via four principal mouths, named Tetulia (Ilsha), Shahbazpur, Hatia, and Bamni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Padma River</span> Major river in Bangladesh

The Padma is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for 356 kilometres (221 mi) to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is situated on the banks of the river. Since 1966, over 66,000 hectares of land has been lost to erosion of the Padma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamuna River (Bangladesh)</span> River in Bangladesh

The Jamuna River is one of the three main rivers of Bangladesh. It is the lower stream of the Brahmaputra River, which originates in Tibet as Yarlung Tsangpo, before flowing through India and then southwest into Bangladesh. The Jamuna flows south and joins the Padma River (Pôdda), near Goalundo Ghat, before meeting the Meghna River near Chandpur. It then flows into the Bay of Bengal as the Meghna River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ganges Basin</span> Part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin

The Ganges Basin is a major part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin draining 1,999,000 square kilometres in Tibet, Nepal, India and Bangladesh. To the north, the Himalaya or lower parallel ranges beyond form the Ganges-Brahmaputra divide. On the west the Ganges Basin borders the Indus basin and then the Aravalli ridge. Southern limits are the Vindhyas and Chota Nagpur Plateau. On the east the Ganges merges with the Brahmaputra through a complex system of common distributaries into the Bay of Bengal. Its catchment lies in the states of Uttar Pradesh (294,364 km2), Madhya Pradesh (198,962 km2), Bihar (143,961 km2), Rajasthan (112,490 km2), West Bengal (71,485 km2), Haryana (34,341 km2), Himachal Pradesh (4,317 km2), Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh (1,484 km2), the whole of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Several tributaries rise inside Tibet before flowing south through Nepal. The basin has a population of more than 500 million, making it the most populated river basin in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of West Bengal</span> Overview of the geography of the Indian state

The Geography of West Bengal, a state in eastern India, is primarily defined by plains and plateaus, with the high peaks of the Himalayas in the north and the Bay of Bengal to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farakka Barrage</span> Dam in West Bengal, India

Farakka Barrage is a barrage across the Ganga river located in Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal, roughly 18 kilometres (11 mi) from the border with Bangladesh near sahibganj. Farakka Barrage Township is located in Farakka in Murshidabad district. Construction of the barrage started in 1962, and was completed in 1970 at a cost of $208 million. It became operational on 21 April 1975. The barrage is about 2,304 metres (7,559 ft) long. The Feeder Canal (Farakka) from the barrage to the Bhagirathi-Hooghly River is about 42 km (26 mi) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lohachara Island</span> Islet in West Bengal, India

Lohachara Island was an islet which was permanently flooded in the 1980s. It was located in the Hooghly River as part of the Sundarban delta in the Sundarban National Park, located near the Indian state of West Bengal. The definite disappearance of the island was reported by Indian researchers in December 2006, which led to international press coverage. No specific study was ever done to prove that the island was permanently inundated because of sea level rise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surma-Meghna River System</span>

The Surma-Meghna River System is a river complex in the Indian Subcontinent, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest on earth. It rises in the Manipur Hills of northeast India as the Barak River and flows west becoming the Surma River and then flows south as the Meghna River, a total of 946 kilometres (588 mi) of which 669 kilometres (416 mi) are within Bangladesh, to the Bay of Bengal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jalangi River</span> River in West Bengal, India

Jalangi River, is a branch of the Ganges river in Murshidabad and Nadia districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. It flows into the Bhagirathi river and strengthens its lower channel, the Hooghly.

The India–Bangladesh Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace was a 25-year treaty that was signed on 19 March 1972 forging close bilateral relations between India and the newly established state of Bangladesh. The treaty was also known as the Indira–Mujib Treaty, after the signatories of the treaty the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Waterway 1</span>

The National Waterway 1 (NW-1) or Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system is located in India and runs from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal via Patna and Bhagalpur in Bihar across the Ganges river. It is 1,620 km (1,010 mi) long, making it the longest waterway in India. It is of prime importance amongst all the national waterways considering its locational advantages. The NW-1 passes through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and serves major cities and their industrial hinterlands like;

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farakka (community development block)</span> Community development block in West Bengal, India

Farakka is a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Jangipur subdivision of Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ganges Barrage Project</span>

The Ganges Barrage Project was a proposed project in Bangladesh to hold back rain water of the monsoon season because of the periodic drying up of the Ganges River in Bangladesh due to the Farakka Barrage. It was formally cancelled in 2017.

Nurpur is a village and gram panchayat in Murshidabad district in the state of West Bengal, India. Nurpur Gram panchayats in Suti I community development block.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farakka Feeder Canal</span> The canal associated with the Farakka Barrage

Feeder Canal is a canal associated with Farakka Barrage. It is located in Murshidabad district, West Bengal. The canal is 38.3 km long. The Ganges water from the Farakka Dam is being conveyed to Bhagirathi by way of this canal. Due to the flow of river Hooghly through the Farakka dam project, around 40,000 ft3/s of water is available daily in the Feeder connection. The Feeder canal has been designed keeping in mind the ability to carry this amount of water. However, during the dry season, less water is released. The dry season is from January to May. During the period the flow of water in the feeder canal is reduced from ca. 40,000 ft3/s to 30,000-28,000 ft3/s. If the severe drought brings down the Ganges water from its upper reaches, then less water is available in feeder canal.

River bank erosion along the Ganges in Malda and Murshidabad districts focusses on river bank erosion along the main channel of the Ganges in Malda and Mushidabad districts of West Bengal, India.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Robie I. Samanta Roy (November 1997). "India-Bangladesh Water Dispute". American.edu. Archived from the original on 28 April 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Haq, Enamul (2012). "Ganges Water Sharing". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Saswati Chanda; Alok Kumar Gupta (24 January 2000). "The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty: Genesis & Significance". Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Heitzman, James; Worden, Robert, eds. (1989). "India". Bangladesh: A Country Study. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. pp. 188–191.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Sudha Ramachandran (8 June 2006). India, Bangladesh fight against the current. Asia Times. Accessed 30 May 2008.
  6. "Treaty between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh on sharing of the Ganga/ Ganges waters at Farakka" (PDF). ssvk. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  7. Islam, Nahid (1992). "Indo-Bangladesh Common Rivers: The Impact on Bangladesh". Contemporary South Asia. 1 (2): 203–225. doi:10.1080/09584939208719682.
  8. Wolf, Aaron T. (2001). "Water and Human Security" (PDF). Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education. 118: 31.
  9. Sasidhar, Nallapaneni (May 2023). "Multipurpose Freshwater Coastal Reservoirs and Their Role in Mitigating Climate Change" (PDF). Indian Journal of Environment Engineering. 3 (1): 31–46. doi:10.54105/ijee.A1842.053123. ISSN   2582-9289. S2CID   258753397 . Retrieved 5 June 2023.