Teesta river water sharing deal with Bangladesh easier said than done

Teesta River water sharing, a fact reiterated by the recent visit of Bangladesh president Sheikh Hasina.

However, rather than jumping into a water sharing treaty just for geo-political interests and trying to have an edge over China, who have proposed many projects in Bangladesh, India as a responsible upper riparian state, and under the ambit of the Helsinki accord, must carefully study the ecological, socio-economic aspects of the people affected by the waters of the trans boundary Teesta River, and the technical data on water volume.

For West Bengal, Teesta is the lifeline of almost half a dozen districts of West Bengal dependent on its waters. Estimates suggest that Teesta River has a mean average flow of approximately 60 billion cubic meters, of which a significant amount flows during June and September, and October to April is considered to be a lean season.

However, constant building of dams along the Teesta in Sikkim, and even in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal over the years has resulted in lean seasonal flow, and meagre draining into Bangladesh.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee too has shared this view and opposed the water sharing, suggesting linking alternate rivers since 54 rivers drain into Bangladesh. Water economist Gourisankar Ghosh has said that neither India nor Bangladesh is in a position to exactly quantify how much water Teesta River carries, particularly in lean periods.

It would be a blunder if the two countries jumped to a conclusion and signed an agreement while lacking technical data on river volume, he added. Bangladesh has decided on an ambitious $1 billion Teesta River conservation and management project.

The trans boundary river flows through five districts of agrarian Bangladesh, before merging with the Brahmaputra River and flowing into the Bay of Bengal. China and India have given separate proposals to the Hasina government to implement the project.

Hasina as reported in media has reiterated that Bangladesh will accept the proposal which will be more beneficial for their people, considering the return, welfare and its own capability to repay the loan. China has completed a physical survey, while India wants to do another about the implementation of the Teesta project.

The Chinese government offered a proposal in 2020, as part of which the Bangladesh government will bear 15 percent of the cost of the $1 billion project with the rest as Chinese loan.

The Power Construction Corporation of China, or Power China, came up with a masterplan and feasibility study to stabilise the flow of the river through dredging, deepening and other measures, and to enhance water availability by building a network of ponds and canals.

Bangladesh has a longstanding issue over Teesta River water sharing with India. Hasina is quoted saying, "So, it will be easy for Bangladesh if India does the Teesta project. In that case, we won't need to talk about the Teesta water sharing always."

Prime Minister Modi has decided to send a technical team from India to Bangladesh soon for the project to conserve and manage the Teesta River.

According to a report of the Asian Foundation, Teesta’s floodplain covers about 14% of the total cropped area of Bangladesh and provides direct livelihood opportunities to approximately 73% of its population.

Bangladesh claims 50% of the water between December and May every year because that’s when the water flow to the country drops drastically. Over 1 lakh hectares of land in Rangpur , its rice bowl cannot be cultivated for winter crops due to less water released by India.

Due to India’s intransigence, Bangladesh had sought Chinese help and was considering a proposal from China to dredge and embank large portions of the Teesta River so that it formed a single manageable channel.

India opposed the project since it did not want Chinese technicians close to the chicken neck corridor near Siliguri, West Bengal that links mainland India to its northeast.