Dhaka conveys concern over move to divert more Teesta water

Teesta Barrage

Jehangir Hussain

Bangladesh conveyed its deep concern to India over the West Bengal state government’s projects taken to construct two canals and three hydropower plants that would reduce water flows of trans boundary river Teesta into lower riparian Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has also requested India to provide details of project plans taken by the West Bengal provincial government on the common river Teesta.

Amid the ongoing tussles over sharing waters of the trans boundary Teesta River, one of the major rivers that invigorate crop fields in northern Bangladesh, the West Bengal government unilaterally attempted to divert the waters through several projects ignoring Bangladesh’s historic dependence on the natural flows of Teesta.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has invited Indian Water Resources Minister to join the ministerial-level Bangladesh-India Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) meeting to be held in Dhaka.

Once the Indian government agrees, the date of the meeting would be finalised through consultation, said officials in Dhaka.

“The matter is of great concern to Bangladesh. We have already prepared a letter of concern regarding the projects to send India through the Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry,” Dr. Mohammad Abul Hossain, Member of the JRC said on Tuesday.

Asked about the proposed ministerial level JRC meeting, he said, “We have already sent the invitation to our Indian counterpart. Though they  agreed to join the meeting but they are yet to set the meeting date.”

The West Bengal provincial government of India decided to set up three hydropower projects on the Darjeeling hills, with the likelihood that two of the projects would reduce water volume in the trans boundary river Teesta, reported The Telegraph, a Kolkata daily.

Quoting an unnamed West Bengal government official, the daily reported, in-principle approval was given to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) on the Teesta Low Dam Project (TLDP) I and II, on the Bara Rangeet river, which will have a combined capacity to produce 71MW electricity.

Similar approval has been given to detailed project report on the 38MW Balason Hydroelectric Project on the Balason and Rangbhang rivers, the report said.

The government officials told The Telegraph that they needed to study the feasibility of the projects.

The report said that the decision comes as a shock to Dhaka which just came to learn that two new canals were being dug under the Teesta Barrage project for withdrawing more water for irrigation in Jalpaiguri and Coach Bihar districts in Wes Bengal.

Dhaka has been waiting for decades for a treaty on  equitabe sharing of the Teesta’s waters.

The Teesta water sharing issue has been on the negotiation table since 1954.

A treaty was ready to be signed between Bangladesh and India in 2011, that got stuck at the last moment due to staunch opposition from West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the report said.

According to The Telegraph, two of the three planned Darjeeling projects are likely to reduce the volume of water in the Teesta that is available for irrigation in Bangladesh, particularly during the December-April lean period when the demand for irrigation water goes up in Bangladesh.

With a general election expected in Bangladesh this year-end or in early January next year, a failure to seal the Teesta treaty is likely to compound problems for Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the report said.

Indian water experts, not named in the report, were quoted as saying that too much focus on using the Teesta for irrigation and energy generation might kill the river.

Water experts in Bangladesh expressed fears that the two new canals planned under the Teesta Barrage project might worsen the situation in northern Bangladesh, where arbitrary water withdrawal and release through the Gajoldoba barrage cause  frequent flash floods and dry spells.

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