Rivers are associated with the environment, environment and biodiversity of Bangladesh. River and Bangladesh relations. But now he is getting lost in the river. The vast towns are now crying out for water. The main reason for the disappearance of many rivers from the map of Bangladesh is due to the withdrawal of water from India through about 100 dams upstream of the largest rivers Ganges and Padma. Currently, the water flow in the Padma is almost zero during the dry season. This has adversely affected the water crisis in the south and west of the country. More than 4 crore people of Bangladesh are being affected by this. One by one the Padma and its tributaries began to dry up. Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, the leader of the oppressed masses of this country, understood the heart of this disaster of Farakka Dam with his heart. He organized a huge long march against the dam at national and international level on May 16, 1986, which is still known as Farakka Long March. Farakka Day is still celebrated on May 16 every year in Bangladesh. The history of the catastrophe of vast towns of Bangladesh has been written due to Farakka.
The people of Bangladesh have read the news with great interest. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand the demolition of the Farakka Dam. The reason is that this dam has caused severe floods in Bihar. Nitish Kumar did not make this demand in the interest of Bangladesh. However, as a result of this demand, if India ever breaks the Farakka Dam, Bangladesh will benefit. But that hope is far from over. The central government of India will not do that. The central government is immediately trying to stop the floods in Bihar by removing all the regulators in Farakka. But there has been a flood in Bangladesh like a flood. The Indian government did not pay any attention to him.
India has forcibly taken away the fair share of the downstream country of Bangladesh from the Ganges by constructing this Farakka dam, obstructing the normal flow of water. Therefore, in the eyes of everyone in Bangladesh, it is the ultimate self-interest of Bangladesh and the symbol of the enemy of India is the Farakka Dam.
Under pressure from Bangladesh and India, India signed a water agreement with Bangladesh, but India never provided water to Bangladesh under that agreement. The agreement stated that 80% of the water at Farakka Point would be shared equally between the two countries. The Farakka Dam was started during the tenure of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the achievement of water distribution during the tenure of Ziaur Rahman but was weakened by compromise during the tenure of Hossain Mohammad Ershad.
After the fall of Ershad in 1990, Begum Zia became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh in 1991. In May 1992, Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao had a meeting with Begum Khaleda Zia in New Delhi. A joint statement was issued at the end of the May 26 meeting. In this declaration, both sides agreed to take equitable and long-term measures for the distribution of water flows in other major rivers, including the Ganges and the Teesta. In the manifesto, the Prime Minister of India announced that all efforts would be made to avoid water problems in Bangladesh through equitable distribution of Ganges water in Farakka. But later India showed no interest in the deal.
In her address to the 47th session of the UN General Assembly on 1 October 1983, Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia raised the issue of Farakka. He said the unilateral withdrawal of water through the construction of the Farakka Dam on the Ganges River in India has resulted in desertification in the downstream region due to lack of water. Due to the release of excess water during the monsoon season, severe floods occur in our country. This has caused unimaginable adverse effects on the economy and environment of Bangladesh.
Begum Khaleda Zia and Shri Narasimha Rao discussed the issue at the SAARC Summit held in New Delhi on 2-4 May 1995. The Prime Minister of India promised to solve the problem. Earlier, the two prime ministers met three times. Water issues are discussed in each of his meetings. But there was no assurance of a solution to the problem.
In her speech on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations (October 23, 1995), Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia said that 40 million people in Bangladesh are dependent on the waters of the Ganges but India has unilaterally withdrawn the waters of the Ganges. He called on world leaders gathered at the United Nations to help resolve the crisis. During the last eight years of drought, the people of Bangladesh are facing indescribable problems. Agriculture, navigability of rivers also causes severe damage to fisheries resources.
In 1996, when the Awami League was in power, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina re-negotiated the Ganges water issue and struck a very weak deal for a 30-year long-term key Bangladesh. The agreement was signed on December 12, 1997. But within 3 months, the agreement was annulled by India. The pro-India Awami League government did not protest strongly. On March 26, 1997, Bangladesh received only 6,456 cusecs of water, the lowest flow since the Farakka Dam was inaugurated. But according to the agreement, Bangladesh will get 34,500 cusecs of water. According to the terms of the agreement, India will get half (25,000 cusecs) of 50,000 cusecs from the minimum 60,000 cusecs of water at Farakka Point to Bangladesh and the remaining 20,000 cusecs will be used to maintain the navigability of the river. The agreement does not specify how the water will be distributed if it is less than 50,000 cusecs. There was a guarantee clause in the 1967 water agreement but it is not there. As a result, India is not obliged to give its fair share to Bangladesh.
India withdrew water through 100 dams upstream of the Ganges, irrigating water in different areas, and using the water needed in the city, leaving little water at Farakka Point. What is the benefit to us if India gives 80% of the water to Bangladesh? Where the amount of water is almost zero - what is its share again? India is cleverly informing the world that it is providing more water as a percentage than the terms of the agreement. At a seminar in Dhaka last year, the Indian High Commissioner stressed that Bangladesh was getting more water as a percentage than agreed. Protesting against him at the time, the author wrote an article in New Horizons referring to the Farakka Accord as a hoax. As India does not have any guarantee clause in the agreement, even if Bangladesh gets less water, it has no chance to protest. Besides, there is no opportunity to go for international arbitration in the agreement. However, India has accepted international arbitration in the Mahakali river agreement with Nepal. Therefore, the water agreement with India on the Ganges is very flawed and has gone against Bangladesh. Upstream of Farakka, Ganges water is being used indiscriminately in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi metro area, Bihar and West Bengal. The downstream country is depriving Bangladesh of its fair share.
The Awami League government thinks that the Farakka Agreement of 12 December 1996 is one of their great achievements. But that hope soon turned to dust. Questions have been raised about the implementation of this agreement. It has been alleged that the government and the private sector in Bangladesh have not received contracted water at different times. According to Article 10 of the agreement, the two governments will review the water sharing system every five years or earlier in accordance with the demands of the other party and for coordination on the basis of equality, transparency and non-harm to each other. Although a few letters were sent for, India did not respond. According to the agreement, Bangladesh and India will get equal share of 60,000 to 50,000 cusecs of water. This is the real part of the agreement. But if the amount of water at Farakka Point drops below 50,000 cusecs, the contract water distribution formula will become ineffective. In that case, the two countries should sit down for emergency talks. But due to India's reluctance, that discussion is no longer happening. The agreement also acknowledges that we have no right to the entire waters of the Ganges. There is a long history of Farakka problem and Ganges water distribution. Bangladesh was able to reach a good agreement with India on the sharing of Ganges water in 1976. But that issue is no longer being discussed.
Farakka Dam is a symbol of India's water aggression to the people of Bangladesh. For 36 long years, India has been unilaterally withdrawing water from the Ganges. This has not only destroyed the biodiversity of Bangladesh - it has pushed the agriculture, industry, forest resources and biodiversity that have developed in this country for thousands of years. Even after the Ganges water deal, the environmental catastrophe in the south-western part of Bangladesh has become more severe. Due to the increase in salinity, the Sundarbans mangrove in Bangladesh, which is known as the World Heritage, is on the verge of destruction. The river Gorai, a large tributary of the Padma, has virtually dried up. Before the construction of Farakka Dam, the salinity around Khulna was 500 micromos and as a result of withdrawal of Farakka water, the salinity of Khulna has increased to 29,500 micromos. This salinity has extended up to 260 km upstream along the Khulna. The withdrawal of Farakka's water has dried up rivers in the south-west of the country.
The GK project, the largest irrigation project in Bangladesh, is on the verge of collapse today due to the withdrawal of water from the Ganges. Agriculture of this project was conducted with the water of Padma. But today Padma water is not available in that area. Agriculture in the lower reaches has become difficult. Some kind of agriculture has been started by putting deep tube wells in the project area. As a result, the water level is going much deeper, as a result of which the water extraction in deep tube wells has decreased day by day. The biodiversity of the region has also been lost. All freshwater fish are becoming extinct as coastal salinity rises in the zone. Earlier, a lot of hilsa fish could be found in the Padma river, today it is almost zero. More than 200 species of freshwater fish and 16 species of shrimp are also farmed in the Ganges under freshwater. Due to the crisis in the flow of the Ganges, navigation of many tributaries and tributaries is being severely disrupted. In this region, 320 km of waterways have to be closed during the dry season. As a result, hundreds of poor sailors have become unemployed.
Many rivers in the Ganges basin have died or are on the verge of extinction due to India's unilateral withdrawal of water due to the Farakka Dam. The northern rivers are Mahananda, Pagla, Shibsha, Barnai, Ghumni, Baral and Ichhamati.
Many rivers in the south are lost or dead. These rivers are Mathabhanga, Gorai, Bhairab, Betna, Kobada, Kodalia, Madhumati, Nabaganga, Chitra, Kachua, Kumar, Arialkhan, Baleshwar, Kacha, Palang, Taraki, Rupsha, Bishkhali, Bhadra, Shibsha, Chandana, Begwati, Lohia. , Bhola, Kholpetua, Ichhamati, Kalindi, Satyakshara, Dhansindri, Pashur, Shahbazpur and Rayamangal. Besides, the Padma and Jamuna have dried up. Hundreds of chars wake up during the dry season. Navigation is limited. Shibalaya and Daulatdia ferries have to be dredged all year round to maintain the movement. Meanwhile, fertilizer and fuel supply in the north has been disrupted. Cargo movement is being disrupted at Nagarbari Ghat during the dry season.
Farakka Barrage is not the only water problem in Bangladesh. In the dry season, there is less than 10 percent water in the Ghazal Doba in the dry season with a dam at Ghazaldoba in India upstream of the river Teesta. This year, a minimum of 256 cusecs of Teesta water has been found near the Teesta Barrage, which is not enough to maintain the navigability of the river. That is why huge chars have fallen in the river Teesta. People are crossing the river on foot in the dry season. The northwestern part of Bangladesh is waterless. Irrigation system of about 3 lakh hectares of land of Teesta Barrage project has been disrupted. During the dry season, the water level in the river has dropped drastically. As a result, water is not available in the tubewell. There is a severe shortage of drinking water and water for household purposes. This is destroying biodiversity. And in this situation the country is rushing towards desertification. India has not been talking about the Teesta water agreement for 20 years. There are 54 common rivers between Bangladesh and India. There are no dams in only 3 rivers, and in all of them, India is withdrawing water equally through barrages, dams and earthen dams. As a result, the western, northern and eastern border areas of Bangladesh have become dehydrated. With the Tipaimukh Dam in northeastern Bangladesh, India is creating another death trap for Bangladesh. The dam is being built on the Tipaimukh River, 100 km upstream from the Bangladesh border, upstream of the Kushiyara River in Bangladesh. However, India says it is building dams to generate hydropower. They will not obstruct the flow of water in the Tipaimukh river. But it is learned that India will take up river water for irrigation of the area through Chormanat Dam, 100 km upstream from Tipaimukh, and that will be real. India has never spoken. Therefore, the agricultural system of Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Habiganj, Kishoreganj, Comilla, Narsingdi, Chandpur, Madaripur etc. districts will be destroyed.
Farakka dam are most dangarus in Bangladesh