Saving the Padma river
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
THE river Padma is too vital for the economic well-being of the people of a big part of Bangladesh. The Padma river is the name given to the Ganga river flowing into Bangladesh from India. The once mighty Padma and its tributaries have traditionally contributed enormously in areas of communication, fishery and related activities, irrigation, groundwater availability and maintenance of the ecology and biodiversity of a vast area. But the Padma has been dying ever since its free flow from the upstreams was diverted from the construction and operationalisation of the Farraka barrage in India during the seventies.
Although treaties between the two countries existed for sharing the waters of this common river and also there was a period without a treaty, Bangladesh's experience has been one of growing disadvantages only in getting even its stipulated share of waters for the Padma. Thus, it was reported in the Bangladesh media how this country was not supplied with agreed amounts of water flow during the last lean season. Such reports have been without a pause ever since the building of the Farraka barrage. However, the cumulative effects of progressive denial of waters is now seen in the almost death like appearance of what was once a mighty river. A recent report by a news agency ought to sensitise afresh all concerned about the plight of the Padma. The reporters who visited the heartland of the Padma basin very recently, found it to be all dead except for some shallow channels struggling to keep its claim as a still flowing river. The river beds in most parts have turned into islands of sand and the river in its present shape would be urecognisable to those who visited it years ago. If the dying process of the river keeps on like this, then a large part of Bangladesh would be surely destined to die an ecological death, pushing millions of people dependent on the life-giving qualities of the river, into great peril.
It is not that they are not already facing such great dangers. Over the years, the climate in the afflicted area has been changing. The once fabled fishing communities and river ports that dotted the banks of the Padma are now memories of the past. Millions of people who prospered from the Padma once upon a time have become the sad victims of its losing its natural flow. Desertification is showing up alarmingly in the entire Padma basin. The poor flow in the Padma and its tributaries has meant their increasing inability to flush out the saline water inflows. Thus, salinity is increasing alarmingly in the coastal areas through which Padma and its offshoots drain into the sea. The lack of depth and rising of shoals, are hampering riverine transportation severely.
The solution in the main for the insufficient water availability in the Padma calls for energising bilateral negotiations with India to augment water flows. Solutions also must include plans, to build storage dams upstreams, involving Nepal. The government of Bangladesh is planning to dredge the rivers, particularly the Padma. While this can be helpful to some extent, nothing of great significance will be achieved until flows can be augmented. Therefore, the greatest stress should be on augmentation of water availability in the Padma followed by the subsidiary measures. Bangladesh should also go all out to build the Ganges barrage in record time to offset much of the adverse impact of the Farraka barrage. Other ways of conserving rain water should be thought up and the related plans implemented with seriousness within a time-bound framework.
Although treaties between the two countries existed for sharing the waters of this common river and also there was a period without a treaty, Bangladesh's experience has been one of growing disadvantages only in getting even its stipulated share of waters for the Padma. Thus, it was reported in the Bangladesh media how this country was not supplied with agreed amounts of water flow during the last lean season. Such reports have been without a pause ever since the building of the Farraka barrage. However, the cumulative effects of progressive denial of waters is now seen in the almost death like appearance of what was once a mighty river. A recent report by a news agency ought to sensitise afresh all concerned about the plight of the Padma. The reporters who visited the heartland of the Padma basin very recently, found it to be all dead except for some shallow channels struggling to keep its claim as a still flowing river. The river beds in most parts have turned into islands of sand and the river in its present shape would be urecognisable to those who visited it years ago. If the dying process of the river keeps on like this, then a large part of Bangladesh would be surely destined to die an ecological death, pushing millions of people dependent on the life-giving qualities of the river, into great peril.
It is not that they are not already facing such great dangers. Over the years, the climate in the afflicted area has been changing. The once fabled fishing communities and river ports that dotted the banks of the Padma are now memories of the past. Millions of people who prospered from the Padma once upon a time have become the sad victims of its losing its natural flow. Desertification is showing up alarmingly in the entire Padma basin. The poor flow in the Padma and its tributaries has meant their increasing inability to flush out the saline water inflows. Thus, salinity is increasing alarmingly in the coastal areas through which Padma and its offshoots drain into the sea. The lack of depth and rising of shoals, are hampering riverine transportation severely.
The solution in the main for the insufficient water availability in the Padma calls for energising bilateral negotiations with India to augment water flows. Solutions also must include plans, to build storage dams upstreams, involving Nepal. The government of Bangladesh is planning to dredge the rivers, particularly the Padma. While this can be helpful to some extent, nothing of great significance will be achieved until flows can be augmented. Therefore, the greatest stress should be on augmentation of water availability in the Padma followed by the subsidiary measures. Bangladesh should also go all out to build the Ganges barrage in record time to offset much of the adverse impact of the Farraka barrage. Other ways of conserving rain water should be thought up and the related plans implemented with seriousness within a time-bound framework.