Staff Reporter :
The International Farakka Committee (IFC) has called for an agreement with India for the integrated joint management of all shared rivers, citing the devastating floods that have impacted the southeastern, eastern, northeastern, and northern regions of Bangladesh, affecting millions of people.
In a joint statement issued on August 28, IFC leaders highlighted the need for a comprehensive approach to managing the 54 rivers shared by Bangladesh and India.
The statement comes in response to recent explanations from India’s Ministry of External Affairs regarding the unusual floods in the Gumti River and the opening of sluice gates at the Farakka Barrage, which exacerbated flooding in the Ganges.
The IFC noted that India’s explanation for the Gumti floods dismissed the notion that the opening of the Dumbur Dam in Tripura was to blame, attributing the severe flooding instead to heavy rains. Regarding the Ganges, India justified the release of floodwaters through the Farakka Barrage as a normal practice during the wet season.
However, no mention was made of the Teesta River, which also experienced severe flooding that caused significant crop losses and displaced thousands of families in Bangladesh. During the dry season, most of the Teesta’s water is diverted by the Gazaldoba Barrage in West Bengal, leaving Bangladesh dry.
India’s think tank, the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People (SANDRP), commented on the Gumti floods, stating that the severity could have been mitigated if water had been released from the Dumbur Dam’s reservoir at least two days before the water level crossed the danger mark. SANDRP also noted that Bangladesh did not receive timely flood warnings due to power outages at the water measuring station downstream of the dam, highlighting negligence or human error.
The IFC argued that such disasters are not solely the result of global warming but also stem from failures in timely decision-making. The committee stressed that the only way to reduce the impact of such human errors is through joint management of rivers from their sources to their outlets at sea, a view supported by water experts worldwide.
Currently, out of the 54 shared rivers, there is only an agreement on the Ganges, and that too based on an outdated water-sharing concept at the border. This agreement is set to expire in 2026. Although discussions on a Teesta agreement have been ongoing for 13 years, no tangible progress has been made.
As a result, Bangladesh is forced to endure floods during the monsoon while being deprived of water during the dry season, a situation that is not supported by international law. The IFC warned that Bangladesh, a country shaped by its rivers, faces an environmental catastrophe due to the lack of river water.
The IFC leaders urged the Bangladesh government to take decisive action toward establishing integrated basin-wide joint management of the 54 rivers to prevent further disasters and secure the country’s future.
The joint statement was signed by IFC New York Chairman Sayed Tipu Sultan, General Secretary Mohammad Hossain Khan, and Organizing Secretary Ataur Rahman Ata; IFC Bangladesh President Prof. Dr. Jasim Uddin Ahmad, General Secretary Syed Irfanul Bari, and IFC Coordinator Mostafa Kamal Majumder.
