The International Farakka Committee has called for an agreement of the integrated joint management of all common rivers between Bangladesh and India in view of the devastating floods that hit the south-east, east, north-east and north regions of Bangladesh, affecting hundreds of millions of people.
In a statement on Wednesday, the IFC leaders said that after many days, the Indian external affairs ministry had given an explanatory reply to the allegations of the unusual floods in Gumti, and the opening of the sluice gates of the Farakka Barrage, which aggravated the Ganga-floods.
Regarding the Gumti, the Indian external affairs ministry said that the opening of gates of Dumboor Dam in Tripura could not be blamed for severe floods caused by heavy rains.聽
On the other hand, the opening of the gates of the Farakka Barrage and releasing the flood water caused by heavy rain upstream into the Ganga or Padma River is a normal development during the wet season, the ministry said regarding the Ganga.
Two or three waves of severe floods in the basin of the Teesta River cause not only crop loss in Bangladesh every monsoon, but thousands of families are also left homeless due to breach of the banks. During the dry season, however, the entire Teesta water is being diverted from the India鈥檚 West Bengal鈥檚 Gajoldoba Barrage. But, the Indian ministry did not make any statement about the river.
The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, a platform for the Indian think tank, said that the flood of the River Gumti would have been less severe if the release of the water from the reservoir above Tripura鈥檚 Dumboor started at least two days before the water level crossed the danger level.
Raising the question of negligence, they said that it was not possible to transmit flood warning messages for two days due to lack of electricity in the water measuring station located downstream of the dam due to flood. Which is why, Bangladesh did not receive the warning message on time.
The IFC would like to say that this flood disaster was not only caused by the global warming but also by negligence and error in taking timely action. 鈥楢s a result of such human error in the upstream country, the only way to reduce the disaster in the downstream country is joint management from the origin of the river to its outfall in the sea,鈥� mentioned the IFC, adding, 鈥楾his is the opinion of all water experts in the world today.鈥�
Of the 54 shared rivers that flow through Bangladesh and India, there is an agreement only on the Ganges, that too on the basis of an outdated notion of water sharing at the border. The agreement will expire in 2026.
The issue of the treaty of the Teesta water sharing tops in the discussions of the people every time India鈥檚 prime minister Narendra Modi鈥檚 visit to Bangladesh and Bangladesh鈥檚 deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 visit to India. But the bilateral agreement has been pending between the two countries for over a decade.
鈥楾he situation is such that Bangladesh has to take flood water in monsoon, but the country has no right to get water in the dry season, which is not supported by the International law,鈥� stressed聽 the IFC.
The IFC leaders have called on the Bangladesh government to take initiatives for integrated basin wide joint management of 54 rivers to save the country from disasters.
The joint statement signed by the IFC Bangladesh president Jasim Uddin Ahmad, general secretary Syed Irfanul Bari, the IFC coordinator Mostafa Kamal Majumder, the IFC New York chairman Sayed Tipu Sultan, general secretary Mohammad Hossain Khan and organising secretary Ataur Rahman Ata.