Farakka and flood management
A dam has a certain
lifespan and once heavy siltation takes place, they do not serve the same
purpose any longer
Like many times before, as the Ganga River swelled, the Indian Central Water Resources Ministry directed 104 flood gates of the Farakka Barrage be opened to relieve the state of Bihar from possible inundation. But the barrage meant for managing floods in the Indian state of West Bengal has long been causing floods in the name of water diversion in Bangladesh. Not that water issues between the two countries have never been negotiated before, but the age-old environmental repercussions of the Farakka dam there is now a pressing need for meaningful bilateral negotiations.
The dam was meant for diverting 1,100 cubic metres per second of water from the Ganges to the Hooghly River so to flush out the sediment deposition from the Kolkata harbour.
But empirical studies have shown that it hardly served that purpose. More importantly, its water being diverted to Bangladesh has been wreaking havoc within our territories. More than 65,000 people of 40 villages had been reported to be marooned over the last few days followed.
However, according to many Indian water experts a technical reality is - a dam has a certain lifespan and once siltation takes place, they do not serve the same purpose any longer.
India could explore the possibility of controlled and monitored removal of sand from the sides of the Ganges. In the light of experts opinion, India should actually more focus on developing an effective silt management policy for the problem will not only persist in there but will continue to cause floods in Bangladesh too. Fortunately enough, the Indian water experts have given thumbs up to the Bihar Chief Ministers demand on the demolition of the barrage in the wake of rising floods in that country.
Now that the issue of having a de-siltation mechanism for reducing annual floods has been raised at experts as well as political levels there, so we believe that the concerned authorities in India to judiciously act upon it. Nevertheless, in short, the point is it isnt wise to resort to a solution by creating harm for the other. We expect our biggest neighbour to recognise this fact.
