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India denies Bangladesh minimum info on common rivers
Bangladesh remains exposed to devastating floods, thanks to India not sharing minimum information on the 54 common rivers, some of them the largest in the world, even after...
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India denies Bangladesh minimum info on common rivers
Emran Hossain 27 August, 2024, 23:40
Bangladesh remains exposed to devastating floods, thanks to India not sharing minimum information on the 54 common rivers, some of them the largest in the world, even after arbitrarily obstructing their courses upstream at numerous locations through dams and barrages.
India only shares the information of the daily water level records of eight of the 54 common rivers, according to the Joint Rivers Commission, the bilateral working group set up by Bangladesh and India in 1972 for the management of the common rivers for mutual benefits.
In more than the five decades since the commission came into being only one major treaty for sharing water in the Ganges River was signed, but India is accused of regularly violating it.
Indiaās arbitrary control of water by building dams and barrages on nearly all the common rivers impacts the riversā flow of water in the downstream Bangladesh, bringing adverse consequences for the countryās agriculture-based livelihoods of millions of people. Such impacts are most pronounced, among other areas, in the northern districts, known as Bangladeshās rice basket, caused chiefly by the Gazaldoba barrage raised on the Teesta River in the Brahmaputra basin in the Indian state of West Bengal, triggering drought every summer and waves of floods every monsoon.
Even the latest spell of flash flood that lasted for nine days until Tuesday was partly compounded by India reportedly releasing water from its hydroelectric project in Dumboor in Tripura following a spell of extreme rainfall in the Indian state.
At least four other barrages built within 52km of Bangladesh on the Muhuri, Gumti, Khowai and Manu rivers have caused the latest flash flood, while the public perception in Bangladesh is that the Indian authority opened the barrages following the heavy rain spell.
āIndia never shares any information with us other than the water levels in the eight common rivers despite our repeated requests,ā said Mohammad Abul Hossen, member, Joint River Commission, referring to the Ganges, Teesta, Dharla, Dudhkumar, Brahmaputra, Manu, Gumati and Kusiyara.
The consensus to share information about the water levels in these rivers twice a day was reached in the 3rd meeting of the commission after its commencement five decades ago.
Abul Hossen said that India constructed over 100 obstructions in the Ganges River alone without ever caring to inform Bangladesh for its consent or bothering to provide information about the infrastructure, such as warning before the opening of damsā gates.
India even never shares information on opening the gates at the Farrakka Barrage, which is only 18km from Bangladesh in the Ganges basin though there is a water sharing agreement on the river signed in 1996.
āIndia ignored for long our request of information on dams and barrages built within 100km of Bangladesh,ā said Abul Hossen.
Flood that supplied nutritious soil was once regarded a blessing for Bangladesh, the worldās largest delta built with silt carried by rivers over millions of years from the great Himalayas, experts said.
But the blessing turned a curse when human interventions of dams, barrages, embankments and other establishments began obstructing the natural course of rivers, according to experts.
For instance, the Teesta has lost its navigability along with the disappearance of 90 per cent of its fish resources as India withholds water from it during summer, reducing the river into a braid of sand beds, interrupted by tiny water pools. Over the last decade, experts have said that researches show fishing as a profession has become almost extinct among people living in the Teesta basin, robbing thousands of their livelihoods.
In monsoon, the Teesta assumes a completely different look overnight after India opens the Gazaldoba barrage, swelling several feet within hours, sweeping away everything in its wayāhumans, from thatched huts to multi-storey concrete buildings, roads, bridges, standing crops and fish and poultry farms.
People in Bangladesh were accustomed to living with natural riverine flooding and had rice varieties that rose in height keeping up with flood level rise. But sudden release of water leading to several metres of swelling in a day exposes people to an incompatible man-made disaster.
āIndia acts as an enemy state considering how it deals with trans-boundary rivers,ā said Tuhin Wadud, director of Riverine People, a knowledge-based civil society movement to restore and conserve rivers, warning, āIndia is pushing Bangladesh on a course of conflict by denying fair share of water.ā
āBefore long people will rise against India for destroying Bangladeshās economy and environment by arbitrarily controlling common rivers,ā he said.
Instances are there of common rivers swelling four metres or even higher in a day in the past, indicating a sudden surge in the supply of water, Tuhin Wadud said.
Salinity moved inland, especially down the Padma River, affecting biodiversity and agriculture, since the Farakka barrage was built, experts said, explaining that the vacuum created by the withdrawal of freshwater gets filled with saline water, particularly amidst the sea level rising.
Saline water intrusion downstream the Padma River has been so intense that it paved way for an acute drinking water crisis across many districts where people travel miles to get a pitcher of drinking water.
āInternational laws treat rivers as a resource that must not be divided and taken care of all along its course,ā said Md Khalequzzaman, who teaches geology at the Lock Haven University in the US.
āThe premise of international laws is equitable, just and fair share of water and sediment in rivers,ā he said.
The UN convention on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses affirms the importance of being a good neighbour in using international watercourse in an equitable and reasonable manner.
The convention recognises the importance of sharing geographical, ecological, climatic, hydrological, hydrogeological and meteorological information among countries with common rivers for ensuring equitable and reasonable use of watercourses.
The convention prohibits taking any action by a country that can bear social and economic consequences for peoples and other states. The convention allows no harm to rivers and has provision for compensation in such case.
Without informing other countries with adequate technical evidence and environmental impact assessment, a country cannot plan any measure on a common watercourse, the convention says, adding that a certain time for other countries to evaluate the plan must be allowed.
In case of an emergency, which may result in flood in other states, the convention says, the state where the emergency is originating must notify other potentially affected states without delay and by the most expeditious means available.
Any dispute over international watercourse can be negotiated through a third party or taken to the International Court of Justice under the convention containing 37 articles.
āBangladesh should immediately ratify international conventions,ā said Khalequzzaman, who was also the current global coordinator of Bangladesh Environment Network, explaining that these legal instruments could be used to exert pressure on India, even it did not ratify the laws.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europeās convention on the protection and use of trans-boundary watercourses and international lakes says, āWater resources shall be managed so that the needs of the present generation are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.ā
The riparian parties shall cooperate on the basis of equality and reciprocity, the convention says, making it mandatory for the parties to engage in the widest exchange of information, as early as possible.
The convention says a warning system must be in place to share information with parties about a critical situation without any delay. The convention also makes it mandatory for making some information available for free to the public.
The conventions are effective only on countries ratifying them. Successive governments in Bangladesh never took an initiative to ratify the conventions, Khalequzzaman said.
āIt reveals the subservient stance of our politicians. They never dared to anger powerful India to hold onto power,ā said M Inamul Haque, former director general of the Bangladesh Water Development Board.
He also accused government officials in the Joint River Commission and Water Development Board of negligence in carrying out their duties.
āGovernment officials were always shy of playing a proactive role in solving the problem. They were busy pleasing their bosses,ā he said.
Emran Hossain 27 August, 2024, 23:40
Bangladesh remains exposed to devastating floods, thanks to India not sharing minimum information on the 54 common rivers, some of them the largest in the world, even after arbitrarily obstructing their courses upstream at numerous locations through dams and barrages.
India only shares the information of the daily water level records of eight of the 54 common rivers, according to the Joint Rivers Commission, the bilateral working group set up by Bangladesh and India in 1972 for the management of the common rivers for mutual benefits.
In more than the five decades since the commission came into being only one major treaty for sharing water in the Ganges River was signed, but India is accused of regularly violating it.
Indiaās arbitrary control of water by building dams and barrages on nearly all the common rivers impacts the riversā flow of water in the downstream Bangladesh, bringing adverse consequences for the countryās agriculture-based livelihoods of millions of people. Such impacts are most pronounced, among other areas, in the northern districts, known as Bangladeshās rice basket, caused chiefly by the Gazaldoba barrage raised on the Teesta River in the Brahmaputra basin in the Indian state of West Bengal, triggering drought every summer and waves of floods every monsoon.
Even the latest spell of flash flood that lasted for nine days until Tuesday was partly compounded by India reportedly releasing water from its hydroelectric project in Dumboor in Tripura following a spell of extreme rainfall in the Indian state.
At least four other barrages built within 52km of Bangladesh on the Muhuri, Gumti, Khowai and Manu rivers have caused the latest flash flood, while the public perception in Bangladesh is that the Indian authority opened the barrages following the heavy rain spell.
āIndia never shares any information with us other than the water levels in the eight common rivers despite our repeated requests,ā said Mohammad Abul Hossen, member, Joint River Commission, referring to the Ganges, Teesta, Dharla, Dudhkumar, Brahmaputra, Manu, Gumati and Kusiyara.
The consensus to share information about the water levels in these rivers twice a day was reached in the 3rd meeting of the commission after its commencement five decades ago.
Abul Hossen said that India constructed over 100 obstructions in the Ganges River alone without ever caring to inform Bangladesh for its consent or bothering to provide information about the infrastructure, such as warning before the opening of damsā gates.
India even never shares information on opening the gates at the Farrakka Barrage, which is only 18km from Bangladesh in the Ganges basin though there is a water sharing agreement on the river signed in 1996.
āIndia ignored for long our request of information on dams and barrages built within 100km of Bangladesh,ā said Abul Hossen.
Flood that supplied nutritious soil was once regarded a blessing for Bangladesh, the worldās largest delta built with silt carried by rivers over millions of years from the great Himalayas, experts said.
But the blessing turned a curse when human interventions of dams, barrages, embankments and other establishments began obstructing the natural course of rivers, according to experts.
For instance, the Teesta has lost its navigability along with the disappearance of 90 per cent of its fish resources as India withholds water from it during summer, reducing the river into a braid of sand beds, interrupted by tiny water pools. Over the last decade, experts have said that researches show fishing as a profession has become almost extinct among people living in the Teesta basin, robbing thousands of their livelihoods.
In monsoon, the Teesta assumes a completely different look overnight after India opens the Gazaldoba barrage, swelling several feet within hours, sweeping away everything in its wayāhumans, from thatched huts to multi-storey concrete buildings, roads, bridges, standing crops and fish and poultry farms.
People in Bangladesh were accustomed to living with natural riverine flooding and had rice varieties that rose in height keeping up with flood level rise. But sudden release of water leading to several metres of swelling in a day exposes people to an incompatible man-made disaster.
āIndia acts as an enemy state considering how it deals with trans-boundary rivers,ā said Tuhin Wadud, director of Riverine People, a knowledge-based civil society movement to restore and conserve rivers, warning, āIndia is pushing Bangladesh on a course of conflict by denying fair share of water.ā
āBefore long people will rise against India for destroying Bangladeshās economy and environment by arbitrarily controlling common rivers,ā he said.
Instances are there of common rivers swelling four metres or even higher in a day in the past, indicating a sudden surge in the supply of water, Tuhin Wadud said.
Salinity moved inland, especially down the Padma River, affecting biodiversity and agriculture, since the Farakka barrage was built, experts said, explaining that the vacuum created by the withdrawal of freshwater gets filled with saline water, particularly amidst the sea level rising.
Saline water intrusion downstream the Padma River has been so intense that it paved way for an acute drinking water crisis across many districts where people travel miles to get a pitcher of drinking water.
āInternational laws treat rivers as a resource that must not be divided and taken care of all along its course,ā said Md Khalequzzaman, who teaches geology at the Lock Haven University in the US.
āThe premise of international laws is equitable, just and fair share of water and sediment in rivers,ā he said.
The UN convention on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses affirms the importance of being a good neighbour in using international watercourse in an equitable and reasonable manner.
The convention recognises the importance of sharing geographical, ecological, climatic, hydrological, hydrogeological and meteorological information among countries with common rivers for ensuring equitable and reasonable use of watercourses.
The convention prohibits taking any action by a country that can bear social and economic consequences for peoples and other states. The convention allows no harm to rivers and has provision for compensation in such case.
Without informing other countries with adequate technical evidence and environmental impact assessment, a country cannot plan any measure on a common watercourse, the convention says, adding that a certain time for other countries to evaluate the plan must be allowed.
In case of an emergency, which may result in flood in other states, the convention says, the state where the emergency is originating must notify other potentially affected states without delay and by the most expeditious means available.
Any dispute over international watercourse can be negotiated through a third party or taken to the International Court of Justice under the convention containing 37 articles.
āBangladesh should immediately ratify international conventions,ā said Khalequzzaman, who was also the current global coordinator of Bangladesh Environment Network, explaining that these legal instruments could be used to exert pressure on India, even it did not ratify the laws.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europeās convention on the protection and use of trans-boundary watercourses and international lakes says, āWater resources shall be managed so that the needs of the present generation are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.ā
The riparian parties shall cooperate on the basis of equality and reciprocity, the convention says, making it mandatory for the parties to engage in the widest exchange of information, as early as possible.
The convention says a warning system must be in place to share information with parties about a critical situation without any delay. The convention also makes it mandatory for making some information available for free to the public.
The conventions are effective only on countries ratifying them. Successive governments in Bangladesh never took an initiative to ratify the conventions, Khalequzzaman said.
āIt reveals the subservient stance of our politicians. They never dared to anger powerful India to hold onto power,ā said M Inamul Haque, former director general of the Bangladesh Water Development Board.
He also accused government officials in the Joint River Commission and Water Development Board of negligence in carrying out their duties.
āGovernment officials were always shy of playing a proactive role in solving the problem. They were busy pleasing their bosses,ā he said.
