India’s Farakka gate opening without warning flooded Rajshahi

The opening of all Farakka gate by India without pre-warning has flooded Bangladesh’s Rajshahi region overnight last week defying all agreements. This is however a continuing story of defiant Indian attitude though every such action affects Bangladesh adversely.  About flood in Bihar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Benarjee has ruled out the complaint of Bihar Chief Minister blaming the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) water reservoir in Chhatishghar state, formerly a part of Bihar for floods in the southern Bengal districts. It appears that Farakka Barrage is emerging as a case for new dispute between West Bengal and other Indian states in the upstream as floods have hit Bihar and other north Indian states.  But the most noticeable point is that ruling BJP at the centre has blamed the Bihar government run by a regional opposition party for lack of preparedness to face the floods. It wants to keep out of the dispute but Prime Minister Narandra Modi has assured Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that the centre is planning to send a team to look into the matter.

Meanwhile central government’s water experts held the view that there is no scientific evidence to prove that floods occurred in Bihar resulted from Farakka barrage.

The barrage was built and then commissioned on the Gangese River in West Bengal in 1975 by India. It was a unilateral decision without taking into account the concern of Bangladesh as a lower riparian country.

Bangladesh suffered over the past 40 years.  Now the upper Indian states in the Ganges basin such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madya Pradesh and some others have come out with complaint of floods and other ecological disasters resulting from the barrage.  The only difference is that while Bangladesh suffers from draught and Indian states are complaining of flood resulting from the dam.

The problem in India resulted from blocking the natural flow of water at Farakka point in rainy season and sedimentation in the Ganges riverbed formed caused floods in the states located in the upstream.  What appears natural is the common fate of the people living on common river basin – be it in India or Bangladesh. Dhaka has therefore always laid emphasis on joint basin management to use water for benefit of all. Experts had opposed the barrage while it was being built on the same issues now adversely affecting people’s life in northern India.  India had ignored Bangladesh’s concern but nonetheless it has started causing disastrous impact on Indian side as well.  Demolition of Farakka Barrage is not a simple matter, nor is lifting of millions of tonnes of silt from Ganges riverbed is easy.  But tempering the natural river flow has caused environmental degradation will continue as it has already been seen how once mighty Padma river has dried up.

The river bank of Teesta is also drying up to show how accumulated silt is impacting the flow of water in the Ganges at the upstream of Farakka by blocking of natural water flow into the downstream. Experts are also apprehending disaster in West bengal’s Maldah region by building Gazalduba barrage and other barrages in the upstream of the Teesta river in India. India may continue to ignore Bangladesh’s interest to share Teesta water but the common dispensation of the nature can’t be avoided in the long run.  India had built Farakka Barrage to divert Bhagirati river water into Hoogly river for irrigation and navigation including keeping the Indian Kolkata port functional. But reports say they have failed to do as planned.

“Today it is time to re-evaluate the usefulness of Farakka Barrage.

From the point of utility, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.  Therefore, it would be proper for the (Indian) central government to seriously consider the removal of the Farakka barrage”, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is reported to have told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week. Mamata Banerjee has avoided commenting so far on the issue, instead blamed the centrally-run Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for floods. “They are man-made floods, it is because of rain.”

She has warned if the DVC and the central water commission release water from their dams without discussing with West Bengal, the state will go to court. River management experts, however, said Bihar chief minister is not entirely wrong, the Farakka Barrage has caused siltation in the upstream but demolishing the barrage is not the answer. “The idea is ridiculous,” says Dr Kalyan Bhadra, currently chairman of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board but best known as a river water management expert. He warned: “about 200 kilometres of the non-tidal part of river would dry up. It would be a disaster for Bengal.” Water from the barrage is used for irrigation, water supply to towns on river banks downstream and it has kept the Kolkata Port alive. Its demolition would also affect Bangladesh, Indian media reports quoted experts as saying.

Dr Bhadra concedes Mr Nitish Kumar’s point that Farakka is worsening siltation level in the upstream. But that is not the only cause of floods in Bihar. Rivers from Nepal are also bringing huge volume of water. He felt that flood preparedness could alleviate the impact of the inundation.

Meanwhile, Dhaka expressed concern last week to the Indian government’s opening of all floodgates at Farakka without informing Bangladesh so that it could have taken measures to cope with the situation.  Water surges in Padma River overnight flooding vast areas of Rajshahi region affecting people in the downstream.

‘We have expressed our concern to our Indian counterpart over the sudden rise in the Padma water levelahi,’ state minister for water resources Muhammad Nazrul Islam has been quoted as saying.  What is highly disappointing is that the Joint River Commission (JRC) meeting which was scheduled to be held twice in a year was not held in the past six years. It showed how indifferent India is over common river consultation and utilization of water and other resources.

The last meeting was held in New Delhi in March 2010. Bangladesh suffered a lot from the adverse effect of Farakka over the past decades, India’s problems now started to come to the fore. It tells us one thing that there is no alternative to joint collaboration to deal with joint rivers and facing the challenge of nature together.