How long will Teesta talks drag on?

The Teesta river emanates from the glaciers of the Himalaya's in Sikkim. The river travels 172 k.m. through the mountain range and gorges of Sikkim and finally touches alluvial soil of northern India and flows 97 k.m. in India and 124 k.m. in Bangladesh respectively before joining the mighty river Brahmaputra. The present total channel length in Bangladesh is 177 k.m. (app.) and the width is 300-550m.
The total catchment area of the river is 12000 sq. k.m. inclusive that of 2000 sq. k.m. in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh catchment portion accommodates approximately two million people whereas that of India and Sikkim together approximately 1.9 million people. In other words, though the catchment area is disproportionate, the population-wise it is almost 50 : 50.
Broadly speaking, a river has three segments : (a) Source of origin (glaciers and waterheads), (b) Gorges segment (the weariest part) and (c) Catchment area.
The (a) and (b) above are distributors of water and the (c) is the recipient i.e. the ultimate beneficiary.      
In the case of the Ganges, India has pursued the issue as a bilateral matter and did not go for a dialogue in the SAARC and any other international forum.
Teesta is obviously a bilateral issue, since it encompasses only India and Bangladesh, therefore only bilateral talks may suffice to resolve the problem of sharing of Teesta water.
Of late, however, the foreign minister of India has said that in case of Teesta, a domestic consensus needs to be evolved before coming to an accord with Bangladesh. It reminds us the memory of prolonged cases of enclaves e.g. Berubari vis-a-vis Dahagram and Angorputa and leasing Tin Bigha corridor to connect Dahagram with Panbari Mouza for free passage. The two enclaves of Bangladesh has been rendered almost unlivable as Tin Bigha corridor has not been leased till date on the pretext of India's Supreme Court decision and necessary amendments of its Constitution as against Berubari which was handed over to India through the passage of the Third Amendment of Bangladesh Constitution in 1974.
One wonders whether creating domestic consensus as stated by the foreign minister of India in the case of Teesta will drag on indefinitely.
Recently, a landmark decision has been taken by the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration (UN-PCA) establishing the concept of equitableness for sharing out resources and possible potential rather than that of equi-distance methodology.
Based on this new dimension of equitableness, the Teesta water sharing may be pursued under the UN Convention on Water Laws i.e. of the non-navigational uses of water under Article (5). This would be based on the size of the population of the catchments of India and Bangladesh which is almost 50:50. Bangladesh may also take the advantage of No Harm Rule under Article (7) of the Convention which says that each riparian country must take all measures to prevent any harm to the other riparian countries or country. Similarly, Berlin Rules on International Water Resources spells out the right of access to the water to every individual in times of war to sustain life whether the water is shared or not.
Here, some special points need to be highlighted:
(i) Legal issues, as above, have been raised not to embarrass our neighbour but ask them for an amicable settlement based on the already accepted formula and concept of equitableness. This means that the basis has to be on ratio of ultimate beneficiaries (number of population) living in the catchment in India and that in Bangladesh. Moreover, the availability of water in both the catchments needs to be assessed on the situation before any diversion through any link canal in order to increase the catchment area along with its population, construction of dams for irrigation and generation of electricity. Such measures will disturb the ratio of 50:50 and project a distorted picture. Teesta's summer flow is estimated at 280,000 cusecs and that in the dry season at 10,000 cusecs. The Teesta's catchment area in Bangladesh encompasses eight northern districts which will be totally deprived of its legitimate share and be left with no water at all in the dry season.
Initially Bangladesh proposed the sharing formula as under:    India = 40 per cent,  Bangladesh   = 40 per cent, and river's own share to remain flowing = 20 per cent.
According to the equitableness formula derived on the ultimate number of beneficiaries (i.e. population) living in the catchment of each country the water sharing ratio should be 50:50, but India instead reportedly asked for 55 per cent share. In June 2011, a media report said that India and Bangladesh might have agreed to share at the ratio of 42.50 per cent and 37.50 per cent respectively. Since no accord over the decades has been reached, the Teesta water episode now tastes bitter due to such prolongation.
A lawmaker in India reportedly has come up with a new formula of sharing - 75 per cent for India and only 25 per cent for Bangladesh. Such idea, if implemented, will convert Teesta's catchment in Bangladesh, specially in the dry season, into a mini-Sahara. This kind of understanding of the concept as to sharing of water of common rivers amongst the riparian countries will be violative of all norms and laws of the UN.
The process of negotiations and reaching accords are difficult, cumbersome, wearisome and strenuous but an accord on the sharing of the water of the Teesta waters brooks no delay - the sooner the better. Our government should pursue the issue earnestly and convince India to accept the concept of equitableness as spelt out by UN-PCA.                                         

The writer is a former State Minister, Ministry of Civil Aviation & Tourism and Textiles and a former president of the South Asian Federation of   Accountants  (SAFA).
abdul.mannan@bengal-airlift.com