INDIA’S decision to build 16 barrages, one in every 100 kilometres of the Ganges, would ultimately kill the rivers and spell disaster for ecology in Bangladesh, say green campaigners. The Indian government plans to construct the barrages under the Ganges Waterway Project to ensure three-metre navigability for plying of vessels in 1,620 kilometres of the Ganges between Allahabad and Haldia, as per reports of a local daily.
It has sought loan assistance from the World Bank for the project, and a team of WB experts and officials has already visited Gaighat in Patna on August 4. Citing reports of Indian newspapers and environmental groups, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) yesterday urged the Indian government to scrap the plan that would harm the ecology of both the nations. Bapa made the appeal yesterday at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity in the capital.
It demanded that all structures in the transboundary rivers, shared by the two countries, are removed. It also called upon the Bangladesh government to raise the issue in the upcoming Saarc Summit in Kathmandu next month. Bapa Secretary General Dr Abdul Matin read out a written statement. Former environment planner of United Nations Prof SI Khan and Bangladesh Environment Network Representative Mahmudur Rahman also spoke. “The move will kill the river. It is the last nail in the coffin of the Ganges,” said Matin. Following the Farakka barrage’s construction in the Ganges in 1975, the flow of the river to Bangladesh reduced by around 90 percent, said Prof SI Khan.
Constructing 16 more barrages would ultimately affect not just Bangladesh but also India negatively. Firstly the environment of the two countries would be affected as the Ganges passes through Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as well as Bangladesh. This would increase siltation and also increase the salinity of the soil, thus putting food security of both the nations at risk. Farmers around the southwestern regions can’t produce more than one variety of rice during the entire year due to salinity. This increases our dependency on other for our food security and also affects farmers economically as their incomes are reduced. Furthermore it also directly affects the freshwater tables as more freshwater is raised for agriculture, thus depleting groundwater tables – which also causes land subsidence. The city of San Jose in the US dropped by 13 feet due to land subsidence caused by groundwater removal in the first half of the 20th Century. This makes a particular region more vulnerable to earthquakes.
The overall effects are overwhelmingly negative not just for Bangladesh but also for India – in fact the effects would be catastrophic for the regions through which the Ganges flow. It is our hope that the Indian government will not go ahead with this plan as it would affect not just our citizens but also theirs in a negative way. Saner heads should prevail.
