RECALLING the historic Farakka Long March Day, the International Farakka Committee (IFC) on Sunday urged Dhaka and Delhi to sign a treaty to keep 54 common rivers flowing through the two countries from their sources to the sea. On May 16 of 1976, Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani led the historical march from Rajshahi towards Farakka Barrage on the Ganges as unilateral diversion of water rendered lower-riparian Bangladesh part of the river dry. Diversion of water by constructing dams for short-term benefits is killing the natural water sources. In the changing context of environmental change and global warming and growing concern to save rivers and water bodies, more cooperation between states is needed to ensure the natural flow of common rivers in the region.
The Farakka barrage was commissioned in 1975. But the diversion of water was continued unilaterally, causing huge damages to the ecology in Bangladesh. One year after the long march, the 1977 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty was signed with an 80 per cent guarantee clause for five years. The second treaty on Gange’s water sharing was signed in 1996 for a period of 30 years but Bangladesh is not getting water as per its terms. Unilateral water diversion by constructing dams and barrages from other common rivers, including the Teesta, has increased over the years.
In India, the barrage has triggered the funnelling process, as a result of which upstream riverbank erosion has worsened. More than 3,000 hectares of land has been lost to river erosion in the Murshidabad and Maldaha districts of West Bengal alone. The extent of erosion in Bihar is reported to be greater. The damage done to Bangladesh by Farakka is simply huge. It has dried up most of the rivers of southwest Bangladesh, harming the ecology and economy of the entire region. By reducing the flow of fresh water and aggravating salinity ingress, Farakka has harmed the health of the Sundarbans.
The growing demand inside India for the demolition of the Farakka barrage signifies a paradigm shift in the Indo-Bangladesh negotiations regarding common rivers. This also makes Bangladesh’s case for keeping river alive stronger. Short-sighted water management will kill the rivers which no country would love to see.
