Experts worried over India�s river projects

Despite repeated requests from Bangladesh, India has taken up several projects, including inter-linking river projects, even though no Joint River Commission (JRC) meeting has been held over the past five years. “The last 37th JRC ministerial-level meeting took place in March 2010, despite the provision to hold the meeting thrice a year or at least twice a year,” JRC member Mir Sajjad Hossain told The Independent yesterday. As a result, numerous disputes over various common rivers have arisen between the two countries.
The Indian government has taken up a World Bank-funded new project on the Alakananda, just 23 km upstream of Bangladesh, sources said. Earlier, India adopted a grand plan of linking rivers across the country, mostly rivers from the Himalayas, and announced that it will connect the Manas, Sankosh, Teesta and Ganga in Assam, West Bengal and Bihar. The decision for linking Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga was announced by India’s
minister of state for water resources, Sanwar Lal Jat, on July 13 after the fifth meeting of the special committee on interlinking of rivers (ILR) in New Delhi.
According to various sources, India has already started withdrawing water in the upstream of Bangladesh by constructing dams and barrages at Farakka on the Ganges, at Gozaldoba on the Teesta, at Nalkatha on the Monu, at Chakma ghat on the Khowai, at Banlabandh on the Mohananda, at Moharani on the Gomti and at Kalshi on the Muhuri. Besides, the construction of Tipaimukh dam is under way on the Borak.
Sources in the water ministry said these river disputes, including sharing of common
rivers, have been pending between Bangladesh and India for a long time as the JRC ministerial-level meeting has not been held over the past five years.
“Responding to a letter of Bangladesh a few years ago, the Indian government had instructed its department concerned to hold the JRC meeting on a regular basis, but it is yet to take any action in this regard. The river-related disputes can be resolved only through JRC meetings,” Hossain said, while responding to a query.
He also said the Indian authorities are yet to respond to their letter, which had been sent in July, urging them not to transfer water from the Brahmaputra basin to other basins or withdraw water from any river in the upstream, which would seriously harm the morphology of rivers and the environment.
Expressing concern on the issue, Dr SI Khan, a former UN official on water resources, told The Independent that being a deltaic country, Bangladesh cannot survive without water from the Himalayas flowing into the Bay of Bengal, as 90 per cent of the water sources of Bangladesh lie in the
Himalayan rivers.

 

Experts worried over India�s river projects

Despite repeated requests from Bangladesh, India has taken up several projects, including inter-linking river projects, even though no Joint River Commission (JRC) meeting has been held over the past five years. The last 37th JRC ministerial-level meeting took place in March 2010, despite the provision to hold the meeting thrice a year or at least twice a year, JRC member Mir Sajjad Hossain told The Independent yesterday. As a result, numerous disputes over various common rivers have arisen between the two countries. The Indian government has taken up a World Bank-funded new project on the Alakananda, just 23 km upstream of Bangladesh, sources said. Earlier, India adopted a grand plan of linking rivers across the country, mostly rivers from the Himalayas, and announced that it will connect the Manas, Sankosh, Teesta and Ganga in Assam, West Bengal and Bihar. The decision for linking Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga was announced by Indias minister of state for water resources, Sanwar Lal Jat, on July 13 after the fifth meeting of the special committee on interlinking of rivers (ILR) in New Delhi. According to various sources, India has already started withdrawing water in the upstream of Bangladesh by constructing dams and barrages at Farakka on the Ganges, at Gozaldoba on the Teesta, at Nalkatha on the Monu, at Chakma ghat on the Khowai, at Banlabandh on the Mohananda, at Moharani on the Gomti and at Kalshi on the Muhuri. Besides, the construction of Tipaimukh dam is under way on the Borak. Sources in the water ministry said these river disputes, including sharing of common rivers, have been pending between Bangladesh and India for a long time as the JRC ministerial-level meeting has not been held over the past five years. Responding to a letter of Bangladesh a few years ago, the Indian government had instructed its department concerned to hold the JRC meeting on a regular basis, but it is yet to take any action in this regard. The river-related disputes can be resolved only through JRC meetings, Hossain said, while responding to a query. He also said the Indian authorities are yet to respond to their letter, which had been sent in July, urging them not to transfer water from the Brahmaputra basin to other basins or withdraw water from any river in the upstream, which would seriously harm the morphology of rivers and the environment. Expressing concern on the issue, Dr SI Khan, a former UN official on water resources, told The Independent that being a deltaic country, Bangladesh cannot survive without water from the Himalayas flowing into the Bay of Bengal, as 90 per cent of the water sources of Bangladesh lie in the Himalayan rivers.