M Faruque Hossain :Fresh floods hit Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Pabna, Kushtia, Jessore and Faridpur districts as India has suddenly opened almost all the sluice gates of the Farakka Barrage known as the “Dam of Death”, without prior warning.The Indian government earlier decided to open nearly all the gates of Farakka Dam in order to improve flood situation in its Bihar state, amid fear that the move might cause fresh flood in some areas of Bangladesh.The Central Water Resources Ministry of India already directed that 100 out of the total 104 gates of the Farakka Barrage in West Bengal should be opened, BBC said quoting the Ministry spokesman Samir Sinha, who described the order as a ‘regular incident’ during monsoon.The move to open 100 gates of Farakka Barrage came after discussing the issue with the authorities in Bangladesh, claimed Samir Sinha.Consequently, the water level of the Padma River is crossing danger mark as its water is rising significantly at Hardinge Bridge point in Paksey of Pabna district.Bangladesh Water Development Board officials said, Indian authorities had opened the gates of Farakka Barrage to remove the floodwater from Bihar as incessant rain inundated most of the areas of the Indian state.BWDB sources said, the Padma is now flowing 0.19 centimeter below the danger level although water is rising 2 centimeters in every three hours.Kushtia BWDB Executive Engineer Naimul Haque said, “The Padma water may cross the danger level in next 48 hours if the current water inflow continues.”Waters in the Padma tributaries, including Gorai, are also rising accordingly, and so, the BWDB authorities are monitoring the situation of river embankments and the adjacent areas, he said.About 11 lakh cusecs of water will be released through the gates.The massive amount of water that will be flowing towards Bangladesh from the Farakka Barrage will only raise the water level in the River Padma leaving the level of water in the major rivers like the Brahmaputra and the Jamuna unchanged, Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre Engineer Sazzad Khandakar said.He said the barrage gates are supposed to remain open at this time of the year wondering why the Indian authorities gave such directives.Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday demanded removal of the Farakka Barrage constructed on the Ganges River and formulation of a national silt management policy to protect the state from devastating floods.There may be big floods in some areas in the country due to release of water by India through the Farakka Barrage.Many rivers have already died and several others are in moribund condition due to scarcity of water, which is being withdrawn in the upstream of the Farakka Barrage.The Barrage, built in 1975 close to the Bangladesh border, was designed to transfer 1,100 cubic metres per second of water from the Ganges to the Hooghly to remove sediments. However it has been controversial, with complaints that it is choking up the river’s natural flow and affecting aquatic life. The Centre says the States have to take a role in managing problems with the Barrage.
