Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general and local government minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday said that the establishment of good ties between Bangladesh and India would depend on the successful renewal of the Ganges water sharing treaty.
Fakhrul said that the issue of Ganges treaty, set to expire on December 31 this year, must be addressed immediately through discussions between Bangladesh and India in line with the aspirations of the people in the lower riparian country.
He made the remarks at a discussion marking Farakka Long March Day organised by the BNP at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh on Saturday in the capital.
Farakka Long March Day, the minister said, is a symbol of resistance among the people of Bangladesh.
‘It reminds us of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani who fought against the injustice committed by our neighbouring country through the construction of the Farakka Barrage, which threatened the lives, livelihoods, and biodiversity dependent on the Padma River,’ Fakhrul said.
He said that as the Ganges water sharing treaty was not extended and water inflow was not guaranteed, the government moved swiftly by deciding to build the Padma Barrage.
Water resources management expert professor Ainun Nishat at the event said that the existing water sharing treaty with India must be renewed immediately to ensure Bangladesh’s long-term water security.
The current operational window of the agreement is set to expire around May 31, though its legal validity would continue until December 31 this year, he mentioned.
‘The agreement must be a long-term one. If the deal is reached for only two, three, five or seven years, it will not be sustainable. The language of the renewed agreement should clearly state that it will continue unless replaced by another arrangement through mutual consultation and consensus,’ he said.
Ainun Nishat called for a shift in regional water diplomacy, urging both Bangladesh and India to move beyond the traditional concept of simple water sharing and adopt a comprehensive basin-wide management approach.
He said that such a framework would allow the two neighbouring countries to jointly plan and manage all shared rivers in a coordinated and sustainable manner.
Ainun Nishat described the Padma Barrage project, recently approved by the government, as a critical infrastructure required for Bangladesh’s long-term water security.
The proper name of the project, he observed, should be Ganges Barrage rather than Padma Barrage, as the project was intended to manage the flow of the Ganges River before it merged with the Brahmaputra.
The expert said that this project would bring immense benefit for the people of southwestern region of Bangladesh.
He further observed that salinity became so severe in regions like Satkhira that the population growth rate had dropped to a negative 0.4 per cent as parmanent citizens were forced to migrate because their ancestral land was no longer habitable.
BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, vice-chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu, senor joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and BNP chairperson’s advisory council members Mizanur Rahman Minu and Ataur Rahman Dhali, among others, spoke at the event.
