A high-powered seven-member Indian technical team arrived in Dhaka to discuss different aspects of the proposed Ganges barrage at a meeting held at the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) yesterday. Abdul Hye Baki, additional director general of BWDB led the Bangladesh team, while Central Water Commission chief engineer Bhupal Singh led the Indian side. Speaking about the meeting, BWDB’s director general, Jahangir Kabir, told The Independent: “The Bangladesh government wants Indian participation in this big project. The Indian team wanted to know various aspects of the mega project. We won’t disclose the details now. The final decision will be taken by the highest authorities of the two countries after holding detailed discussions.” Earlier, state minister for water resources, Nazrul Islam, had said that two Chinese firms were keen to fully finance the USD 4 billion project and even Japan was willing to fund at least USD 2 billion. He also said that Bangladesh would like India to be a ‘stakeholder’ in the proposed project.
“As the Ganga flows into Bangladesh from India, we'd like to take a long-term view of the project and the Prime Minister is keen to get India into it,” he added.
“The issue was raised during Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka last year. He evinced much interest and Indian officials later asked for the project details, which we have already provided,” he said.
The barrage will retain the water of the Ganga, known as the Padma in Bangladesh, during monsoon and feed small rivers during the lean season. This will help Bangladesh flush small rivers and reduce salinity, a major threat to public health and agriculture in the country's southwest areas.
Allaying fears of flooding on the Indian side of the Ganga, the minister said: “The project has provided allocations for upgrading and raising embankments on the Indian side to prevent flooding.”
He, however, added, “It may not be required because the embankments on the Indian side were already quite high and well-constructed.”