West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing strong reservation over the Centre excluding the state government from discussions with Bangladesh regarding Teesta water sharing and the Farakka Treaty.

Banerjee also urged the PM to not hold any such discussion with the neighbouring country without involving the West Bengal government.

India-Bangladesh water treaties

• India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, of which seven rivers have been identified earlier for developing framework of water sharing agreements on priority. 

• The Joint Rivers Commission of India and Bangladesh was constituted in 1972 as a bilateral mechanism to address issues of mutual interest on common / border / transboundary rivers.

• Bangladesh is a lower riparian state.

• Farakka Barrage constructed in 1975 by India to use water from Ganges to flush the Hooghly river and keep the Kolkata Port operational, became a bone of contention.

• Bangladesh under general Zia confronted India and tried to internationalise the issue.

• A settlement was finally reached in 1977, with a new government in India led by the Janata party, known as the Farakka accord.

• The Ganges Waters Treaty was signed in 1996 for the sharing of waters of the River Ganges during the lean season (January 1-May 31).

• On the Teesta River, an interim agreement was reached by both sides for water sharing in 1984. However, a final agreement has been elusive. The West Bengal government opposes any such agreement perceived to be unjust and insensitive to West Bengal’s water needs and demands.

The Teesta Dispute

• Historically, the disputes over the Teesta River can be traced back to the 1947 Boundary Commission report led by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, which delineated the boundary between West Bengal (India) and East Bengal (Pakistan, later Bangladesh from 1971).

• During the period when East Bengal was part of Pakistan, there was minimal dialogue regarding water issues between India and East Pakistan. • Teesta River originates in Sikkim and flows through West Bengal and Bangladesh. India claims 55 per cent of the river’s water.

• Teesta is Bangladesh’s fourth-largest transboundary river, crucial for irrigation and fishing.

• The river’s floodplain spans 2,750 sq km in Bangladesh. Of the total catchment area, 83 per cent is in India and 17 per cent in Bangladesh. This affects over 100,000 hectares of land across five Bangladeshi districts due to water withdrawals in India.

• In 1983, an interim water-sharing arrangement allocated 36 per cent of the Teesta’s waters to Bangladesh and 39 per cent to India, with the remaining 25 per cent left unallocated.

• After the Ganga Water Treaty, a Joint Committee of Experts prioritised the Teesta. In 2000, Bangladesh presented a draft agreement, which was accepted by both countries in 2010. 

• In 2011, during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka, a new 15-year interim water-sharing deal was proposed, giving India 42.5 per cent and Bangladesh 37.5 per cent of the Teesta’s waters.

• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee opposed this deal, causing it to be shelved and unsigned. She was initially scheduled to accompany Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh to sign the deal in 2011 but cancelled her trip.

• Hydropower development on the Teesta is another source of conflict. There are at least 26 projects on the river, mainly in Sikkim, aimed at generating around 50,000 MW of power.

Mamata has proposed sharing the waters of other rivers:

• She stated that since North Bengal is entirely dependent on the Teesta, rivers like the Torsa and Manshai, which are nearer to the India-Bangladesh border, are viable alternatives.

• The Torsa River, in particular, is connected to Bangladesh’s Padma River.

• The West Bengal Chief Minister suggested that the two countries establish a commission to determine the water flow in the Torsa and the amount that can be shared.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)