Mohammad Amjad Hossain :
Geographically Bangladesh is surrounded by India from three sides with a small common border with Myanmar in the South East and the Bay of Bengal on the southern side which dictates Bangladesh has no other option but to lay friendly relations with India. Similarly being a big neighbor India should extend the hand of friendship with the neighbor. With India Bangladesh has 4000 miles of border and shares 54 common rivers while India enjoys upper hand in regulating water flow according to Bangladesh National River conservation commission.
Water sharing with India is nothing new since commissioning of Farakka Barrage by India during the time of Indian National congress of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974 without the knowledge of Bangladesh Government of Banghabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which has caused annoyance to the Awami League.
There were agreements with the Bangladesh government for sharing waters from Ganges during the ruling of President Ziaur Rahman of BNP government. There was guarantee clause included in the water sharing agreement from the Ganges. Bangladesh government, however, deprived from receiving its due share of waters during lean period from the Ganges as agreed upon in the 1996 treaty on sharing of waters from the Ganges, an international river. The long term treaty is deprived of guarantee clause but Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad felt elated of the Government of Sheikh Hasina having signed for long term treaty. Bangladesh is in fact deprived of due share of waters during lean period from the Ganges as agreed upon in the treaty which will expire in 2026. Transboundary water relation between Bangladesh and India has become a source of conflict. India has in fact embarked on construction of dams and directly withdrawn waters from Transboundary Rivers such as Teesta, Gumti, Khowai, Dharla, Dudh Kumar and Monu in violation of International law.
Indian External affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is reported to have assured that water secretaries of both countries will meet soon to discuss the sharing of waters in detail while meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister on 4 March, 2021. However, meeting took place between two ministers of Water resources of Bangladesh and India in Delhi on 16 March, 2021 under the framework of the Joint Rivers Commission to discuss sharing of water of Muhuri, Manu, Khowai, Dudhkuman, Gumti and Dharla but no decision arrived at sharing waters. In fact, hundreds of thousand people affected along Brahmaputra and Jamuna basin as a result of shortage of waters.
During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on 7 June 2015 to Bangladesh it is reported to have said ”water sharing is above all a human issue and it affects the life and livelihood. I am confident we can reach a fair solution to Teesta and Feni water sharing issues with the help of states of both sides of the borders”. The Indian Prime Minister is on record saying that “our rivers should nurture our relationship, not become a source of discord. Water sharing is above all a human issue”. As of now there is no solution of sharing waters from the Teesta River.
By now several dams along the Teesta River in Sikkim were constructed which cost little more water during the lean period on the Bangladesh side. Teesta river rises in Himalayas near Sikkim and flows to the South but it changed its course in 1787 to flow eastward crossing the Rangpur region of Bangladesh to join the Jamuna river near Chilmari. Whereas a proposal from China is to dredge and enlarge a portion of Teesta River on Bangladesh side to form a single manageable channel has India opposed the proposal. China is on record that she could do the job if Bangladesh accepted Chinese proposal. It would bring enormous benefit to agriculturists on the Bangladesh side. Being an adversary during the war of liberation of Bangladesh, China now enjoys a favorable relationship with Bangladesh. Water in fact is a crucial factor for the benefit of human beings and economic development of the country.
On the other hand, Bangladesh is apprehending confronting with potential threat on the Brahmaputra River from the upper riparian when China is considering constructing mega dam on the Yarlung Zangbo river which is close to the Line of control in Tibet. If dam is constructed by China, it could have far- reaching impact in India and Bangladesh.
There is no dispute that Bangladesh being lower riparian country should evolve an extensive watershed management programme involving forestation, construction of sediment traps, speed-breakers in the catchments of the rivers such as Brahmaputra, Padma, Teesta, Gumti and Jamuna while dredging of such rivers. Incidentally, I witnessed in June in 2013 that Gorai in Kushtia practically dead, which was once a powerful river linking with Padma in Pabna.
A geological and hydrograpical study should be undertaken, if not done earlier, to build up a barrage on the Padma near Harding’s bridge in Pabna and another one on the Gumti River for storage of waters. A separate fund for these projects could be opened to collect revenue, both internally and externally similar to the construction of Jamuna multipurpose bridge by the Bangladesh government.
(Mohammad Amjad Hossain, retired diplomat from Bangladesh and former President of Nova Toastmaster International club of America, writes from Falls church, Virginia, USA).
