After Teesta, it’s now Dharla River: India continues to ignore Bangladesh’s rights

The present government in Bangladesh has conspicuously failed to make a negotiated and just settlement of waters of the common rivers with India. Regarding this, Bangladesh could neither assert its diplomatic strength — if it has any — nor could it fight for its internationally recognised rights over its common rivers with India at any international forums.
Bangladesh is not only getting waters of Teesta, it is going to meet the same fate of the Teesta regarding the waters of the Dharla River and a few other rivers flowing from India into Bangladesh as the West Bengal government has arbitrarily decided to withdraw water from the Jaldhaka River.
India’s unilateral withdrawal of Teesta waters upstream turning Bangladesh’s northern region arid and letting waters to come freely during the monsoon creating floods reflect a high-handed and oppressive mindset of India that seems to have taken it for granted that it can go away with doing injustice to its small neighbour on water sharing.
India forgets that its total disregard for the sufferings of the farmers and fishermen in Bangladesh has created a selfish image of it in the mind of people in Bangladesh. India calls itself a friend of Bangladesh, but its actions on the ground does reflect this friendship. Its friendship for Bangladesh exists in words only.
The Dharla River in the upstream is called Jaldhaka River and as a consequence, lifting water from the river will surely affect nature, life, and the economy in many ways. Referring to Indian media, a report of national daily yesterday mentioned that in early March, the West Bengal irrigation department acquired 1,000 acres for constructing two new canals for withdrawing water from the Teesta and the Jaldhaka rivers.
As a result of withdrawal of water, over the past two decades, 90 per cent of fish species in the Teesta went extinct, destroying biodiversity and river-dependent livelihoods. Withdrawal of water from the Jaldhaka will also affect the Brahmaputra water supply chain, according to a river expert.
If Bangladesh’s relevant northern region faces the same impact of water withdrawal of Dharla River that with an average width of 1,200 metres runs through Lalmonirhat and Kurigram districts, the whole of northern Bangladesh will turn agriculturally and environmentally barren. Against this backdrop, if diplomacy fails, Bangladesh must go to an appropriate international forum for seeking justice as it did over the demarcation regarding the sea territories against Myanmar and India.