Khalid Saifullah :
A plethora of sand covering the landscape across the horizon of the Teesta riverbed bewilders the visitors, creating an illusionary scene of mirages in the desert in Northern Bengal. Months ago, the villages and crop fields across the banks of the river were swallowed by the flash flood from the upper stream but have entirely dried up as soon as the dry season came. The repeated and unending sufferings have been continued for years as a nightmare to the northern people across the Teesta River basin.
The Teesta issue has been a point of contention between Bangladesh and India for over five decades. It’s been 40 years since the two countries reached an ad hoc arrangement on the sharing of Teesta waters in 1983.
The agreement was signed at the 25th meeting of the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission and lasted only two and a half years.
Since then, it has been a hanging issue between the countries, and they have yet to reach a sustainable solution.
The suffering of the people was exacerbated as India built the dam at Ghazaldoba in the 90s, a mere 60 km from the Bangladesh border.
The construction of the barrage was intended to irrigate nearly 0.92 million hectares of land in West Bengal. Before that, Bangladesh started building a barrage in 1979 at Dalia-Doani Point in Lalmonirhat district and inaugurated it in 1993.
The Teesta Barrage was part of Bangladesh’s largest irrigation project named the ‘Teesta Barrage Irrigation Project (TBIP),’ which was built to irrigate across the larger basin of the Teesta River in the northern region of Bangladesh.
The project was expected to cover almost 750,000 hectares of agricultural land but failed due to a number of obstacles made by India, especially the dam in Gazaldoba. Only the Gazaldoba barrage diverts 85% of water flow from the Teesta River. The remaining water could irrigate up to 1,10,000 hectares of land through the TBIP.
India also has several other irrigation and hydropower projects in the river’s upper basin, except Gazaldoba. These have drastically reduced the flow of water, which creates twofold problems. During the dry season, when water is desperately needed, Bangladesh struggles to meet the water required for agriculture.
Conversely, during summer and monsoon, northern Bangladesh is flooded by water coming from the upper stream of Teesta, destroying houses, roads, riverbanks, and embankments.
The Inconsiderate withdrawal of water by India has led to the complete drying up of this vital water source for the agriculture-dependent northern part of Bangladesh. According to reports, Bangladesh has been getting only 1,200-1,500 cusecs during the dry season, which sometimes drops to as low as 200-300 cusecs.
The flow was 4,000 cusec at the minimum before India built the Gazoldoba barrage. The dwindling flow of water renders Teesta Barrage almost useless during the dry season.
Thus, over one lakh people living in the Teesta River basin and completely dependent on its water for agriculture and fishing have been struggling for their livelihoods. The Teesta Irrigation Project, which raised hopes among the people of Bangladesh, could not come true due to the scarcity of required water.
Around the year, out of the 115 kilometers, the 102 kilometers of the Teesta River flowing inside Bangladesh become entirely dried up, except from July to October.
The presence of a flowing stream of water has resulted in the formation of numerous river terraces along the Teesta River. It causes significant deterioration of the navigability of the river to the extent that only tiny boats are capable of traversing the waterway.
It results in its inability to accommodate the increased volume of water during the monsoon season, leading to the overflow of its banks and subsequent flooding, not only in Bangladesh but also in the Indian part.
During the last 15 years of Awami League rule, Bangladesh and India reached a number of significant agreements, setting an example in bilateral ties and cooperation, according to the officials of both countries.
Though India claims Bangladesh as its most reliable neighbor, the status quo of the Teesta has not even progressed a step further for the last 13 years. Let alone the Teesta; six more rivers among the 54 transboundary rivers are still on the table.
None of the water distribution issues have been resolved except for the Ganges water treaty.
In 2011, the Teesta agreement was scheduled to be signed during the then-prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bangladesh.
However, the agreement hasn’t been signed due to stiff opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Since then, though there has been a power shift and the BJP has sat in the central government, the Teesta treaty has been shrouded in obscurity. Although the Teesta issue has become a topic of discussion between the two countries several times, these have resulted in a deadlock.
Since India is unable to reach an agreement on water sharing, Bangladesh sought to implement an alternative solution.
In assistance with Chinese funding, Dhaka adopted Teesta master plan to store water for the river and conducted a feasibility study in 2019 by the Powerchina, under the Bangladesh Water Development Board.
The project includes ensuring year-round navigation by dredging, construction of dams and reservoirs and construction of satellite towns on the river banks. Bangladesh sought US$725 million from China for the 980-million-dollar project, as they expressed interest in implementing the projects.
However, India has strategic concerns over the Teesta project, as China will have a strong presence within 100 km of its border. Apparently, India left no way for Bangladesh but prolonged the woe of the northern people, depriving its fair share of water. Transforming the lives of twenty million people has now become a blurred hope.
(The writer is a freelance
journalist and researcher).
