By: Anisur Rahman Khan
The management of the Brahmaputra river waters has reportedly been at a standstill for the past two years because of lack of implementation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Bangladesh and China. Highly placed sources on Tuesday blamed the government’s reluctance in this regard. They alleged that despite repeated assurances, the government is reluctant to develop ties with China, fearing Indian repercussion. They claimed that China has promised financial help to Bangladesh to implement the MoU on the Brahmaputra river.
From its origin in Tibet, the river flows through the Himalayas to reach India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and is considered to be a lifeline of Bangladesh as it provides 67 per cent of the country’s waters.
The MoU was signed between the two countries on March 19, 2010, during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to China. It states that both Bangladesh and China would cooperate on hydrological data sharing and flood control to reduce the Brahmaputra’s annual disaster in Bangladesh. It also stated that the countries would cooperate with each other on water resources management, hydrological data sharing and disaster reduction, based on the exchange of letters between the ministries of water resources in 2005. It pointed out that China would assist Bangladesh in dredging of riverbeds and capacity building.
The Chinese side implemented their obligation providing hydrological data on the upstream of the Brahmaputra. Bangladesh had only to respond by implementing other obligations. However, neither the foreign ministry nor the water resources ministry has taken any step for such implementation during the past two years.
The foreign ministry reportedly considers that the MoU is not an agreement but an understanding, and that both sides would have to enter into an agreement to translate the spirit of understanding into action.
However, water resources minister Ramesh Chandra Sen said his ministry was busy implementing important water projects, including dredging of the river. On completion of those projects, they would look into the MoU that was signed between Bangladesh and China.
Responding to a query, the minister said there is no immediate plan to build a barrage on the Brahmaputra. Unfortunately, one of the components of the MoU is dredging of the river bed, considered vital for flood control during the monsoon, as well as developing the water retention capacity of the Brahmaputra flowing within Bangladesh.
According to the sources, the Chinese side has expressed its intentions through different unofficial channels to provide technical and financial assistance on dredging the river bed of the Brahmaputra. But the Bangladesh side has so far failed to take any initiative in this regard, the sources pointed out.
Local experts said that under the water resource management, Bangladesh could approach China to develop either a dam or a barrage on the Brahmaputra. The dam could provide potentials for harnessing thousands of megawatt of hydro-electricity. The barrage could also provide opportunity for expanding vital irrigation facilities to the water hungry northern Bangladesh. Power ministry sources, however, said they were not aware about the MoU signed between Bangladesh and China.
Water experts like Prof. Umme Kulsum Navera, head of the department of water resources engineering of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), considers that the government should immediately enter into an agreement with China for water resource management of the river.
The Chinese government and the EXIM bank of China is ready to provide financial assistance to Bangladesh for dredging of the Brahmaputra and construction of a multipurpose barrage, said AKM Mayeedul Islam, a lawmaker.
Explaining the government’s silent role, the former minister observed: “The government does not want to develop a steady relationship with China, fearing that it would peeve India”.
“Several times I have sent demi-official (DO) letters to Sheikh Hasina for implementing the MoU signed with China. But the water resources ministry did not take any initiative in this regard,” Islam complained.
Recently, India’s Supreme Court has ordered the Indian government to implement a project to link all major rivers in the region “in a time-bound manner”. “Bangladesh will become a desert, if India implements the river-linking project,”.
Source: The Independent.