Editorial Desk :
Dhaka has once again expressed its concern to Delhi about its rightful share of Teesta waters with the flow in the trans-boundary river falling drastically due to ‘unilateral withdrawal of water upstream’, as per a report of a local daily. The Teesta water available at Dalia point in Nilphamari was recorded at 416 cusec on Wednesday, the lowest so far in the current year against a historical average of 5,986 cusec, officials at the Joint Rivers Commission in Dhaka said.
‘The flow fell to 1644 cusec against a historic flow of 7010 cusec in the first 10 days of January, 2015 from 8879 cusec in the first 10 days of November 2014,’ said the official letter issued on January 19.
Just 20 years ago, the river flowed fast and strong, sustaining the lives of millions of people. But the Teesta has now been reduced to a trickle in northern Bangladesh and many
affected villagers whom have been staging protests in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere.
People in the 5,427 villages on the banks of the Teesta are dependent on the river for irrigating their fields and for other livelihoods such as fishing.The villagers, who wage a daily struggle for survival, are the continuing casualty of the India-Bangladesh tensions over sharing the river waters. In 2014 India has released only 10% of Teesta’s usual dry-season flow, according to the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) in Bangladesh, resulting in the river drying up in Bangladesh.
To compound the situation, whatever little water comes is being diverted by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) to the irrigation canal of the Teesta Barrage, depriving the river and the people living alongside its banks downstream. Time is of the essence. March and April are the peak months for irrigation of Boro rice cultivation. Under the Teesta Barrage irrigation scheme, Bangladesh needs at least 4,500 cusec (cubic feet per second) of water for the 60,500 hectares of cropland in the north of the country. However, they are not getting much more than 500 cusec, say officials.
The excessive use of groundwater is causing the water table to deplete by about two feet a year in the northern region. In most areas, farmers have to dig at least 10 feet before installing pumps. The Teesta flood plain covers nearly 14% of the total cropped area of Bangladesh and provides direct livelihood opportunities to 9.15 million people in five districts of Rangpur division, according to a study published by the Asia Foundation in March 2013.
The Teesta, the fourth largest river shared by India and Bangaldesh, also provides livelihood opportunities to 7.3 % of the total population of Bangladesh, said the report, which surveyed both countries. Fishermen, farmers, boatmen and small traders in the study said they were being forced to change their livelihoods as the river stays dry for at least six months a year. The situation is quite the opposite in the monsoon when India opens all the gates of their barrage and the river floods both banks, say officials. After travelling over 400 kilometres through India and Bangladesh, the Teesta merges with the Brahmaputra (Jamuna in Bangladesh) at Teestamukh Ghat.
Negotiations over the Teesta can be traced back to the 1950s when authorities in the erstwhile East Pakistan and India began discussions on proposed projects on the river. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the Indo-Bangladesh JRC was set up in 1973 to anchor talks on sharing water of 54 trans-boundary rivers. So far, the two countries have only signed one treaty on sharing water of the Ganges in 1996. JRC members have continued talks on sharing waters of another seven rivers, including the Teesta, for over two decades.
In 2010, the Teesta water sharing deal made some headway when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited India and signed a joint communiqué with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh. Resolving the Teesta issue immediately was part of the communiqué. After that, a draft agreement on the Teesta as well as a statement of principles for sharing of river waters in the lean season was prepared. Experts from the two countries reportedly agreed to share the water available at the Gajoldoba Barrage in India equally, keeping 20% for the river, for an interim 15-year period.
The deal was supposed to be signed during Manmohan Singh’s Dhaka visit in September 2011. But it fell through as Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of India’s West Bengal state, pulled out of the deal at the last minute. In November 2011, the West Bengal government asked Indian river expert Kalyan Rudra to find an acceptable solution to the Teesta water issue. While it is quite normal for India to address its water concerns as it is expected to become water stressed by 2025 and water scarce by 2050 — terms which India will have a serious shortage of water by 2050, it must evolve comprehensive policies to find water to irrigate its agricultural lands and at the same time ensure that its smaller neighbours like Bangladesh gets its legitimate share. That is why a joint and comprehensive policy needs to be shaped by taking Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries together on board.
Dhaka has once again expressed its concern to Delhi about its rightful share of Teesta waters with the flow in the trans-boundary river falling drastically due to ‘unilateral withdrawal of water upstream’, as per a report of a local daily. The Teesta water available at Dalia point in Nilphamari was recorded at 416 cusec on Wednesday, the lowest so far in the current year against a historical average of 5,986 cusec, officials at the Joint Rivers Commission in Dhaka said.
‘The flow fell to 1644 cusec against a historic flow of 7010 cusec in the first 10 days of January, 2015 from 8879 cusec in the first 10 days of November 2014,’ said the official letter issued on January 19.
Just 20 years ago, the river flowed fast and strong, sustaining the lives of millions of people. But the Teesta has now been reduced to a trickle in northern Bangladesh and many
affected villagers whom have been staging protests in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere.
People in the 5,427 villages on the banks of the Teesta are dependent on the river for irrigating their fields and for other livelihoods such as fishing.The villagers, who wage a daily struggle for survival, are the continuing casualty of the India-Bangladesh tensions over sharing the river waters. In 2014 India has released only 10% of Teesta’s usual dry-season flow, according to the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) in Bangladesh, resulting in the river drying up in Bangladesh.
To compound the situation, whatever little water comes is being diverted by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) to the irrigation canal of the Teesta Barrage, depriving the river and the people living alongside its banks downstream. Time is of the essence. March and April are the peak months for irrigation of Boro rice cultivation. Under the Teesta Barrage irrigation scheme, Bangladesh needs at least 4,500 cusec (cubic feet per second) of water for the 60,500 hectares of cropland in the north of the country. However, they are not getting much more than 500 cusec, say officials.
The excessive use of groundwater is causing the water table to deplete by about two feet a year in the northern region. In most areas, farmers have to dig at least 10 feet before installing pumps. The Teesta flood plain covers nearly 14% of the total cropped area of Bangladesh and provides direct livelihood opportunities to 9.15 million people in five districts of Rangpur division, according to a study published by the Asia Foundation in March 2013.
The Teesta, the fourth largest river shared by India and Bangaldesh, also provides livelihood opportunities to 7.3 % of the total population of Bangladesh, said the report, which surveyed both countries. Fishermen, farmers, boatmen and small traders in the study said they were being forced to change their livelihoods as the river stays dry for at least six months a year. The situation is quite the opposite in the monsoon when India opens all the gates of their barrage and the river floods both banks, say officials. After travelling over 400 kilometres through India and Bangladesh, the Teesta merges with the Brahmaputra (Jamuna in Bangladesh) at Teestamukh Ghat.
Negotiations over the Teesta can be traced back to the 1950s when authorities in the erstwhile East Pakistan and India began discussions on proposed projects on the river. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the Indo-Bangladesh JRC was set up in 1973 to anchor talks on sharing water of 54 trans-boundary rivers. So far, the two countries have only signed one treaty on sharing water of the Ganges in 1996. JRC members have continued talks on sharing waters of another seven rivers, including the Teesta, for over two decades.
In 2010, the Teesta water sharing deal made some headway when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited India and signed a joint communiqué with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh. Resolving the Teesta issue immediately was part of the communiqué. After that, a draft agreement on the Teesta as well as a statement of principles for sharing of river waters in the lean season was prepared. Experts from the two countries reportedly agreed to share the water available at the Gajoldoba Barrage in India equally, keeping 20% for the river, for an interim 15-year period.
The deal was supposed to be signed during Manmohan Singh’s Dhaka visit in September 2011. But it fell through as Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of India’s West Bengal state, pulled out of the deal at the last minute. In November 2011, the West Bengal government asked Indian river expert Kalyan Rudra to find an acceptable solution to the Teesta water issue. While it is quite normal for India to address its water concerns as it is expected to become water stressed by 2025 and water scarce by 2050 — terms which India will have a serious shortage of water by 2050, it must evolve comprehensive policies to find water to irrigate its agricultural lands and at the same time ensure that its smaller neighbours like Bangladesh gets its legitimate share. That is why a joint and comprehensive policy needs to be shaped by taking Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries together on board.
