UNB, Dhaka :
Withdrawal of water from common rivers by setting up dams in the upstream areas causes a loss of about Tk 5,000 crore to Bangladesh each year, according to water experts.
“Bangladesh suffers a loss of about Tk 5,000 crore each year due to the withdrawal of water from common rivers by constructing Farakka Barrage, Teesta Barrage and other dams at the upstream of the rivers,” Prof Jasim Uddin Ahmad, former vice chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, told a seminar on Monday.
He suggested the government lodge complaints with the international court against India to realise compensation since the country installed mega dams on the common rivers of the region to withdraw water, violating international laws and conventions.
The International Farakka Committee, an international water rights activists group, organisd the seminar titled, ‘The State of Teesta: The Way Forward’ at the Jatiya Press Club in the afternoon.
Prof Jasim Uddin Ahmad said Teesta Barrage Project Phase-I had planned to bring 94,800 acres of arable land under irrigation in 12 upazilas. About 7,000 cubic feet per second (cusec) water is needed for the project, but the water flow declines to 300-500 cusecs in the dry season.
Mentioning that India has already constricted several dams at the upstream of the common Teesta River, he said the neighbouring country has also blocked the water flow of the rivers installing a barrage at Gajoldoba,
only 9 kilometers away from Bangladesh border. Urging the Indian government to halt its river-linking project, Prof Jasim Uddin said if the ways to solve the water problems of the common rivers are closed, the Bangladesh government should take the issue to the sixth committee of the United Nations to realise the equitable share of water of the common rivers in the greater interest of the nation.
Former UN water expert Dr SI Khan said the Farakka Barrage does not bring any good for India but it is a death trap for Bangladesh. “Bangladesh must go the UN to resolve the issue…although Bangladesh earned independence, it cannot ensure sovereignty over its water,” he said.
The water expert recommended the government put forward an ultimatum to Indian government asking it to sign the longstanding Teesta deal within three months or else Bangladesh will place the issue before the sixth committee of the United Nations.
Mostafa Kamal Majumder, editor of GreenWatch Dhaka, said the common rivers have created Bangladesh, the largest delta in the world.
“This land cannot survive if the flows of the rivers are cut arbitrarily. Any damage to the environment and the ecosystem caused by the diversion of rivers will affect farming, livelihood and force people to migrate,” he said.
Founder of Gonoshasthya Kendra Dr Zafurllah Chowdhury and convener of Nagorik Oikya Mahmudur Rahman Manna, among others, spoke at the seminar.
