India, Bangla open talks on sharing of Teesta river waters

Anisur Rahman
Dhaka, Jan 4 (PTI) India and Bangladesh on Monday
launched their crucial two-day talks to hammer out a deal on
sharing of waters of Teesta river, with Dhaka favouring an
"interim agreement" on the issue if it is not possible to
reach a long-term pact.
The Secretary-level talks opened at the state guest house
of Meghna this morning, a Bangladesh Water Resource Ministry
spokesman told PTI.
The parleys, which came ahead of Bangladesh Premier
Sheikh Hasina's three-day visit to India from January 10, are
divided in three sessions and expected to focus on the Teesta
issue apart from discussing water-sharing of six other common
rivers, joint dredging in Ichhamati river and initiatives for
protection of common rivers.
The spokesman said that basically the two sides would
discuss the quantum of water-sharing and the meeting was
"expected to reach a consensus."
"If it is not possible to reach a long-term agreement
(on the Teesta) we may go for an interim agreement,"
Bangladesh's Water Resource Secretary Sheikh Wahid-Uz-Zaman
told reporters ahead of the start of the talks with his
visiting counterpart Umesh Narayan Panjiar.
Officials earlier said Dhaka already submitted a draft
agreement to India through Foreign Ministry in this regard.
The two-day talks were the culmination of an expert
committee deliberations of the Joint River Commission (JRC) on
the issue in November last year.

Sharing of Teesta's waters is a major issue in
Bangladesh-India water talks for the past several years. Under
a 1983 understanding, Bangladesh is supposed to get 36 per
cent share of the flow and India 39 per cent allowing the
rest of the water flow naturally.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni last week said that talks with
India were progressing on sharing of waters of Teesta as a
positive development was expected on the issue during Prime
Minister Hasina's New Delhi tour from January 10.
Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes supplemented
her, saying Dhaka was trying to progress "as far as possible."
The talks' outcome so far has been "intense" while "we all are
looking for a development towards reaching an agreement on
sharing of water in Teesta river, if not a treaty," he said.
Bangladesh claims that drastic fall in the water flow of
Teesta during the lean season, especially in February and
March, hampers irrigation in the country.
JRC sources said the flow of the river weakened
significantly in the last 24 years for Gajoldoba barrage and
some dams in the upstream Indian region. In February and
March, it comes down to less than 1,000 cubic feet per second,
from 5,000 cubic feet per second in December and January, they
said.
Bangladesh and India inked a landmark treaty on sharing
of the Ganges water during Hasina's previous 1996-2001 tenure,
removing a major irk in bilateral ties.
Deltaic Bangladesh is criss-crossed by 230 major
rivers, 54 of them originating from India. PTI AR

AHM