Responsible NRCC chairman must not talk irresponsibly

AN entomologist Dr Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury, who is currently holding the position of chairman of the National River Conservation Commission (NRCC), instead of claiming the fair share of waters of Teesta River to India has remarked that Bangladesh should construct a reservoir or storage infrastructure on the river with financial support from India to conserve monsoon water. While about 20 million people living along the Teesta have been suffering for years due to the scarcity of water in Teesta, the Chairman of the NRCC, a statutory body of the country to protect the rivers, should not have made such a blunder comment regarding the right to water flowing in Teesta that India must share with Bangladesh according to the international norms of transboundary rivers.
In an interview with the Indian newspaper The Telegraph, the NRCC chairman said, “West Bengal will not be able to divert water to Bangladesh during the lean season, as it has diverted almost all water through Mahananda link channel at Gajoldoba to support agriculture and cater for drinking water needs…”. The interview under the headline “Dam mooted to break Teesta logjam: Bangladesh policy maker doesn’t see a chance to get more river water from Bengal” published on Friday where Manjur advocated that “From the political point of view, the Trinamul Congress is weak in northern districts (in Bengal) and hence, will not be ready to share any water at the cost of their political capita”.
We must say that, who is where to deliver the right service to the state and the people is now a question. Are the right persons in the right place to exert his/her responsibility or to comment on subjects that are not their disciplines? The water of Teesta is the question of survival for the thousands of millions of people in Northern Bangladesh. Therefore, any unwanted remark that may create confusion to deal a sign with India for getting the right share of Teesta water must be abandoned. We are grateful to India for giving shelter to our people during the Independence War in 1971, but now only because of the sheer negligence of some of the Indian politicians, more than three crore people of Bangladesh cannot be held hostage to their unkind interest.