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Ganges flow in country lowest since ’96 treaty
April 6, 2016 12:46 am·
Mustafizur Rahman
The Ganges, flowing through Bangladesh, was at its lowest ever during March 2016, since the signing of the water sharing treaty with India in 1996, adversely affecting agriculture and biodiversity in one-thirds of the whole country.
Bangladesh’s share of water in the cross-border river at Farakka point in India was recorded at a quantum of only 15,606 cusec in the last 10 days of March, down from the historical average flows of 29,688 cusec during the time, according to the Joint Rivers Commission, Bangladesh.
‘Bangladesh received the lowest ever flows at the Ganges in March since the 1996 treaty on the sharing of Ganges waters,’ a senior official at the JRC in Dhaka told New Age on Tuesday.
The total water flow at the Farakka point fell to 50,606 cusec in March from 72,335 cusec in January, the JRC data released on April 3 showed.
‘The Ganges scenario this time is very bad. The average water flows on both sides have fallen,’ JRC, Bangladesh member Md Zahid Hossain Jahangir said.
He said Bangladesh had from time to time raised its concerns through ‘proper channel’ to India over the fall in the flows of the Ganges, known as Padma inside Bangladesh.
‘India received the guaranteed share of 35,000 cusec of water in the last 10 days of March, and we got the same amount in the 10 days prior, as stipulated in the treaty,’ the JRC member said.
The Ganges flows in Bangladesh began to fall since January this year due to ‘unilateral withdrawal’ of waters upstream in India, said officials concerned.
Bangladesh-India joint committee members are expected to monitor the Ganges flows at Farakka point next week to see whether lower riparian Bangladesh was receiving water in accordance with the treaty, a senior JRC official in Dhaka told New Age.
The 1996 treaty on sharing of Ganges water stipulated joint monitoring of the Ganges flows at two sharing points, Farakka feeder canal in India and Hardigne Bridge point in Bangladesh.
The bilateral treaty provides for sharing the Ganges flows during the dry season, spanning January 1 and May 31. For the sharing, the dry months are split into 15 periods each of 10 days. And the treaty allocates separate shares to the two countries for each 10-day period.
‘In the event flow at Farakka falls below 50,000 cusecs in any 10-day period, the two governments will enter into immediate consultations to make adjustments on an emergency basis, in accordance with the principles of equity, fair play and no-harm to either party,’ says the treaty.
Bangladesh received 35,387 cusecs of Ganges water at the Hardinge point against 50,154 cusec indicative share stipulated in the treaty for the last 10 days of January this year.
The indicative schedule in the treaty was worked out on the basis of 40-year average flows from 1949 to 1988.
Water resources minister Anisul Islam Mahmud at a recent discussion in the city said that the Ganges water flows inside Bangladesh had fallen drastically in March, affecting lives and livelihood in Khunla and Rajshahi regions.
He said that the US$ four-billion Ganges Barrage Project must be implemented to meet the acute water crisis and also to protect biodiversity in the country’s south and north.
The minister said salinity was increasing in the Khulna belt due to low flow in the cross-border river Padma while people in Rajshahi region were facing acute water crisis and depending more on ground water.
The salinity intrusion rose abruptly in the south-western part of the country immediately after the commissioning of the Farakkah Barrage over the trans-boundary river Ganges by India in 1975.
Increasing salinity was affecting crop production and shrinking fresh water availability in the country’s south-western region, posing threat to lives and livelihood in around one-thirds of the whole country, said water experts.
Bangladesh and India share 54 common rivers and until now they could manage only one agreement, that for sharing the Ganges waters for 30 years starting 1996.
http://newagebd.net/...ince-96-treaty/
April 6, 2016 12:46 am·
Mustafizur Rahman
The Ganges, flowing through Bangladesh, was at its lowest ever during March 2016, since the signing of the water sharing treaty with India in 1996, adversely affecting agriculture and biodiversity in one-thirds of the whole country.
Bangladesh’s share of water in the cross-border river at Farakka point in India was recorded at a quantum of only 15,606 cusec in the last 10 days of March, down from the historical average flows of 29,688 cusec during the time, according to the Joint Rivers Commission, Bangladesh.
‘Bangladesh received the lowest ever flows at the Ganges in March since the 1996 treaty on the sharing of Ganges waters,’ a senior official at the JRC in Dhaka told New Age on Tuesday.
The total water flow at the Farakka point fell to 50,606 cusec in March from 72,335 cusec in January, the JRC data released on April 3 showed.
‘The Ganges scenario this time is very bad. The average water flows on both sides have fallen,’ JRC, Bangladesh member Md Zahid Hossain Jahangir said.
He said Bangladesh had from time to time raised its concerns through ‘proper channel’ to India over the fall in the flows of the Ganges, known as Padma inside Bangladesh.
‘India received the guaranteed share of 35,000 cusec of water in the last 10 days of March, and we got the same amount in the 10 days prior, as stipulated in the treaty,’ the JRC member said.
The Ganges flows in Bangladesh began to fall since January this year due to ‘unilateral withdrawal’ of waters upstream in India, said officials concerned.
Bangladesh-India joint committee members are expected to monitor the Ganges flows at Farakka point next week to see whether lower riparian Bangladesh was receiving water in accordance with the treaty, a senior JRC official in Dhaka told New Age.
The 1996 treaty on sharing of Ganges water stipulated joint monitoring of the Ganges flows at two sharing points, Farakka feeder canal in India and Hardigne Bridge point in Bangladesh.
The bilateral treaty provides for sharing the Ganges flows during the dry season, spanning January 1 and May 31. For the sharing, the dry months are split into 15 periods each of 10 days. And the treaty allocates separate shares to the two countries for each 10-day period.
‘In the event flow at Farakka falls below 50,000 cusecs in any 10-day period, the two governments will enter into immediate consultations to make adjustments on an emergency basis, in accordance with the principles of equity, fair play and no-harm to either party,’ says the treaty.
Bangladesh received 35,387 cusecs of Ganges water at the Hardinge point against 50,154 cusec indicative share stipulated in the treaty for the last 10 days of January this year.
The indicative schedule in the treaty was worked out on the basis of 40-year average flows from 1949 to 1988.
Water resources minister Anisul Islam Mahmud at a recent discussion in the city said that the Ganges water flows inside Bangladesh had fallen drastically in March, affecting lives and livelihood in Khunla and Rajshahi regions.
He said that the US$ four-billion Ganges Barrage Project must be implemented to meet the acute water crisis and also to protect biodiversity in the country’s south and north.
The minister said salinity was increasing in the Khulna belt due to low flow in the cross-border river Padma while people in Rajshahi region were facing acute water crisis and depending more on ground water.
The salinity intrusion rose abruptly in the south-western part of the country immediately after the commissioning of the Farakkah Barrage over the trans-boundary river Ganges by India in 1975.
Increasing salinity was affecting crop production and shrinking fresh water availability in the country’s south-western region, posing threat to lives and livelihood in around one-thirds of the whole country, said water experts.
Bangladesh and India share 54 common rivers and until now they could manage only one agreement, that for sharing the Ganges waters for 30 years starting 1996.
http://newagebd.net/...ince-96-treaty/
