Ensure flow of common rivers to avert environmental disaster: Farakka Committee
FE REPORT | Monday, 3 October 2022
The signing of a memorandum of understanding between Bangladesh and India for withdrawal of 153 cusecs of water from Bangladeshi river Kushiyara has created adverse reactions among the people concerned.
The Kushiyara issue has suddenly been brought to the fore although there is no indication of signing the long-awaited Teesta treaty, the International Farakka Committee (IFC) said in a statement on Sunday.
The IFC said a clear move to deprive Bangladesh of dry season flows of water of common rivers is visible; flows of 52 out of 54 common rivers are already being diverted.
"Now lean season flows are available only in the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, notwithstanding numerous barrages on those or their tributaries at upstream," it said.
Therefore, the government should immediately take steps to ensure flows of the common rivers in order to save the country from environmental disasters caused by manmade reasons, the IFC statement said.
Kushiyara and Surma are distributaries of the Barak River which is divided into two near the border. Already a barrage on the Barak at Phuler Tala diverts over 10,000 cusecs of water. Withdrawal of water of Kushiyara and Surma at will renders the Meghna and the haors (depressions) of Sylhet dry.
The IFC further said since the commissioning of the Farakka Barrage, the annual water flow of the Ganges has come down to one-tenth from 500 billion cubic meter (BCM) to 50 billion BCM.
As a consequence of this, the south-western part of Bangladesh has experienced an environmental disaster.
In the absence of fresh water flow, the UNESCO declared World Heritage Site the Sundarbans is facing disaster for excessive salinity in water. Saline water has intruded from the sea to the Hardinge Bridge point, deep inside the country.
According to State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam the Teesta Treaty is still at assurance stage. The entire Teesta water has been diverted from the Gajaldoba Barrage in West Bengal for about two decades.
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