Bridging the gap
17 September 2011
Mamata Banerjee may fret and Sheikh Hasina may fume but both need to understand that the
Teesta water-sharing agreement should not be based on random statistics but on realistic need, writes samir dasgupta
Teesta water-sharing agreement should not be based on random statistics but on realistic need, writes samir dasgupta
With the Indo-Bangla Teesta water-sharing treaty being abandoned at the eleventh hour ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Bangladesh visit over West Bengal chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee’s reservations about the quantum to be shared, it will be helpful to examine how far her concerns and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resultant annoyance are valid.
The surface and ground potential of water resources in the Brahmaputra Basin, consisting of the sub-basins of the Sankosh, the Raidak, the Torsa, the Jaldhaka and the Teesta ~ all of which flow through north Bengal ~ are 96,852 million cubic meters (MCM) or 3,072 cubic meter per second (cum/sec) and 6,143 MCM, respectively, of which the Teesta sub-basin needs 32,124 MCM of surface water along with another 439 MCM of ground water to ensure continuous flow. A report dated 27 February 1987 compiled by an expert committee on irrigation constituted by the department of irrigation and waterways, Government of West Bengal confirms this. The committee, while studying the state’s surface and ground water potential, had recommended a number of technical steps to utilise the natural resource best. The panel had also suggested simultaneous flood control in order to minimise overflow into Bay of Bengal via Bangladesh. It would seem to the writer, who was one of the non-official members of the panel, that the state government, for reasons best known to itself, never heeded the recommendations of that panel of experts.
Currently, in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, West Dinajpur and Malda districts of the state serviced by the Brahmaputra Basin, about 60,000 hectares of land is irrigated by using 3,468 MCM or 110 cum/sec per annum with another 2,962 cum/sec to spare, of which 36 cum/sec of surface water is used to irrigate around 20,000 hectares in Saidpur, Rangpur and East Dinajpur in Bangladesh.
Before arriving at an acceptable quantum of Teesta water to be shared by the neighbouring countries, it is necessary to estimate the total area that needs to be irrigated with surface water from the Teesta sub-basin both in Bangladesh and West Bengal in India. Apparently, available surface water is sufficient to meet the requirement of both countries. The water-sharing agreement should not be based on random statistics but on realistic need. For example, the tracts to the south and to the west of the Teesta-Brahmaputra (Jamuna) confluence do not need any water from the Teesta sub-basin as their requirements are met by the Jamuna sub-basin in Bangladesh.
In the interest of hydel power generation in India, we should not overlook the fact that by discharging water to Bangladesh through the Teesta barrage, India generates additional hydro-power as a by-product. Both India and Bangladesh would do well to apply appropriate technology to increase the retention capacity of the Teesta and Dalia barrages.
In the past, there was a proposal to link the Brahmaputra with the Ganges via the Teesta not only to control flood in Bangladesh but also to facilitate increased flow of water through the Hooghly to flush silt out of the Kolkata port. This was envisaged in order to offset the shortage stemming from the decades-old Farakka agreement with Bangladesh. There is no reason why the proposal cannot be revived and made to come to fruition by the two neighbouring countries, with perhaps, assistance from the World Bank.
Considering all this, neither chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee nor Sheikh Hasina should base their requirements on the absolute quantum of water available in the Teesta but on the actual quantity of water needed to irrigate the relevant area in both the Indian state and the neighbouring country.
The writer is a retired technocrat and a former member of Expert Committee on Irrigation: Irrigation and Waterways Department; Government of West Bengal
The surface and ground potential of water resources in the Brahmaputra Basin, consisting of the sub-basins of the Sankosh, the Raidak, the Torsa, the Jaldhaka and the Teesta ~ all of which flow through north Bengal ~ are 96,852 million cubic meters (MCM) or 3,072 cubic meter per second (cum/sec) and 6,143 MCM, respectively, of which the Teesta sub-basin needs 32,124 MCM of surface water along with another 439 MCM of ground water to ensure continuous flow. A report dated 27 February 1987 compiled by an expert committee on irrigation constituted by the department of irrigation and waterways, Government of West Bengal confirms this. The committee, while studying the state’s surface and ground water potential, had recommended a number of technical steps to utilise the natural resource best. The panel had also suggested simultaneous flood control in order to minimise overflow into Bay of Bengal via Bangladesh. It would seem to the writer, who was one of the non-official members of the panel, that the state government, for reasons best known to itself, never heeded the recommendations of that panel of experts.
Currently, in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, West Dinajpur and Malda districts of the state serviced by the Brahmaputra Basin, about 60,000 hectares of land is irrigated by using 3,468 MCM or 110 cum/sec per annum with another 2,962 cum/sec to spare, of which 36 cum/sec of surface water is used to irrigate around 20,000 hectares in Saidpur, Rangpur and East Dinajpur in Bangladesh.
Before arriving at an acceptable quantum of Teesta water to be shared by the neighbouring countries, it is necessary to estimate the total area that needs to be irrigated with surface water from the Teesta sub-basin both in Bangladesh and West Bengal in India. Apparently, available surface water is sufficient to meet the requirement of both countries. The water-sharing agreement should not be based on random statistics but on realistic need. For example, the tracts to the south and to the west of the Teesta-Brahmaputra (Jamuna) confluence do not need any water from the Teesta sub-basin as their requirements are met by the Jamuna sub-basin in Bangladesh.
In the interest of hydel power generation in India, we should not overlook the fact that by discharging water to Bangladesh through the Teesta barrage, India generates additional hydro-power as a by-product. Both India and Bangladesh would do well to apply appropriate technology to increase the retention capacity of the Teesta and Dalia barrages.
In the past, there was a proposal to link the Brahmaputra with the Ganges via the Teesta not only to control flood in Bangladesh but also to facilitate increased flow of water through the Hooghly to flush silt out of the Kolkata port. This was envisaged in order to offset the shortage stemming from the decades-old Farakka agreement with Bangladesh. There is no reason why the proposal cannot be revived and made to come to fruition by the two neighbouring countries, with perhaps, assistance from the World Bank.
Considering all this, neither chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee nor Sheikh Hasina should base their requirements on the absolute quantum of water available in the Teesta but on the actual quantity of water needed to irrigate the relevant area in both the Indian state and the neighbouring country.
The writer is a retired technocrat and a former member of Expert Committee on Irrigation: Irrigation and Waterways Department; Government of West Bengal
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