Technical experts from Bangladesh and India to visit Farakka from today
The visit to the sites at the barrage is taking place as per the provisions of the bilateral treaty signed in 1996.
Technical experts of Bangladesh and India today began a four-day meeting in Kolkata from today (20 May), during which they will jointly visit the Ganges site at Farakka barrage for measurement of the flow there in a fresh push to renew the 30-year treaty of the river's water, which expires in December.
Armed with the statistics after visiting the joint inspection sites, the officials of the two countries will meet in Kolkata and exchange their assessments under the banner of the 90th technical committee meeting under the Joint River Commission.
The visit to the sites at the barrage is taking place as per the provisions of the bilateral treaty signed in 1996.
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A six-member Bangladesh delegation for the meeting is being headed by Md Anwar Kadir, member of JRC, and comprises Mod Sajjad Hossain, Chief Engineer (Hydrology) of Bangladesh Water Development Board, Md Abu Sayed, Director JRC, Md Samsozzaman, Deputy Secretary in Water Resources Ministry, Md Baky Billah, Director (South Asia) in Foreign Ministry and Md Rumanuzzaman, Sub-Divisional Engineer, JRC.
Md Alamgeer Hossain, Counsellor (Political) in Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and Mohd Omar Faruk Akanda, Second Secretary (Political) in Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata join the meeting as member-invitees.
The composition of the Indian delegation at the meeting is not yet officially available.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had last week said Bangladesh's ties with India "will depend on" a new Ganges water-sharing accord and sought immediate talks with New Delhi for an agreement in sync with Dhaka's "expectations and needs".
Alamgir said nearly one-third of Bangladesh's 170 million people depend on the Ganges river system for livelihoods, biodiversity and water supply to several distributaries.
The BNP leader's remarks came three days after Bangladesh approved the construction of a barrage on the Padma river, which it said would help "negate the negative impact" of the Farakka barrage in upstream West Bengal.
Leading water expert Ainun Nishat, who played a key role in drafting the Ganges Water Treaty, opined that the usefulness of the proposed Padma barrage would depend largely on the continuation of the Ganges water-sharing treaty.
However, several other experts cautioned that the proposed barrage could aggravate the "adverse" effects of the Farakka barrage by increasing sediment deposits and raising riverbeds in Bangladesh.
In January this year, a team from India's Central Water Commission, accompanied by a four-member Bangladeshi team, visited the Farakka area as part of the technical assessments related to the treaty.
The Ganga Water Treaty, signed on 12 December 1996, between India and Bangladesh, governs the sharing of Ganga water, particularly around the Farakka Barrage during the lean season, which runs from 11 March to 11 May.
Indian officials said a renewal of the 1996 treaty may not be possible for New Delhi, which favours negotiation on a new accord taking into account the increased demand for Ganges water during the lean period in the states through which it flows, depletion of the glaciers where the river originates due to climate change and greater use of groundwater, which feed the river. on both sides of the river in Indian territories.
Currently, the arrangement provides 35,000 cusecs of water alternately for 10 days each to both countries during the lean season.
