Staff Reporter :
National leaders at a mass rally organised on Farakka Long March Day on Friday urged the interim government to raise Bangladesh’s water crisis at the United Nations.
Speaking as the chief guest, BNP Standing Committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan said the Farakka Barrage should be decommissioned due to its harmful impacts on Bangladesh.
“The Farakka Barrage cannot be broken or destroyed, but it can be decommissioned. We demand that the Farakka Dam be decommissioned immediately. If that happens, the problems it has caused in both Bangladesh and India can be resolved,” he said.
The mass rally, organised by IFC Bangladesh in collaboration with the New York-based International Farakka Committee (IFC), was held in front of the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital, with IFC Bangladesh President Mostafa Kamal Majumder in the chair.
Dr Moyeen Khan stated that the Farakka Dam has caused significant damage to Bangladesh, resulting in siltation, increased salinity, and the destruction of biodiversity.
The rally was also addressed by New York IFC Chairman Syed Tipu Sultan, Jatiya Party Chairman Mustafa Jamal Haider, former Jahangirnagar University Vice-Chancellor Professor Jasim Uddin Ahmad, National Ganofront Coordinator Comrade Tipu Biswas, BNP Chairperson’s Advisor Abdus Salam, BSD leader Khalequzzaman, Revolutionary Workers Party General Secretary Saiful Haque, Gono Sanghati Andolon Chief Coordinator Zonayed Saki, Bhasani Onusari Parishad Convenor Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Bablu, Bangladesh Labour Party Chairman Dr Mostafizur Rahman Iran, BFUJ Secretary General Quader Gani Chowdhury, DUJ President Shahidul Islam, NCP leader Asad Bin Rony, Rastra Sangskar Andolon President Hasnat Quaiyum, and BNP leader Mir Sarafat Ali Sapu, among others.
The speakers noted that the 30-year Ganga Water Sharing Agreement, signed by an autocratic government without proper guarantees or arbitration clauses, is set to expire in December next year. They stressed the need to renew the treaty with a guaranteed water allocation and an arbitration mechanism.
On 16 May 1976, Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani led a long march against India’s unilateral diversion of Ganges water, raising a powerful voice for water rights.
Speakers said that even 54 years after independence, the flow of none of the 54 transboundary rivers passing through Bangladesh is guaranteed. The country has suffered severe environmental damage due to upstream dams and water diversions.
They noted that the Teesta River agreement has been pending for 14 years, despite a promise to sign it in 2011. During the dry season, the entire flow of the Teesta is diverted at the Ghazoldoba Barrage in West Bengal, drying up northern Bangladesh. In contrast, during the rainy season, excess water from upstream causes devastating floods, damaging crops.
Due to upstream water diversions in the other 52 shared rivers, one-third of normal seasonal flooding is now blocked. This has severely impacted aquatic biodiversity—eliminating water lilies, snails, algae, and native fish species. The floodplain’s agricultural productivity has halved, and the situation continues to worsen.
The speakers further highlighted that hundreds of rivers and tributaries have dried up during the dry season. As a result, salinity has intruded over 200 kilometers inland along the southwest coast, affecting agriculture, industry, livestock, and the unique Sundari trees of the Sundarbans.
Bangladesh—the world’s largest river delta—is facing an existential threat due to the lack of natural water flow. Foreign environmentalists have expressed disbelief at Bangladesh’s silence on such a critical issue.
The speakers alleged that for the past 16 years, the government has prioritised India’s interests in return for political support, sacrificing Bangladesh’s rightful water claims. They concluded that bilateral efforts have failed and that Bangladesh must raise its water crisis at the United Nations for an effective resolution.
