The Ganges Water
Diversion: Environmental
Effects and Implications
M. Monirul Qader Mirza
(Edited)
Dordrecht; Kluwer
Academic, 2004
Water Science and
Technology Library.
Political differences and mutual recriminations have long characterised the uneasy Indo-Bangladesh bilateral relationship. Among the primary issues of contention between the two states has been that of water-sharing of the Ganga River. The construction of a barrage by India at Farakka in West Bengal diverted the river water into two distributaries, thereby reducing the water inflow into Bangladesh. While India saw this construction as a sovereign right, Bangladesh held it as a violation of its own rights as a lower riparian country. In 1996, after close to two decades of political deadlock on the issue, the two countries arrived at an agreement on mechanisms of water-sharing that determined the extent of Bangladesh's right to access the river's dry season flows. But even though a political agreement has been reached, the barrage and its impacts remain hotly contested in both India and Bangladesh.
The roots of the dispute lie in the barrage's vastly different consequences on the two sides of the border. India commissioned the barrage in 1975 to make the Calcutta port navigable. By diverting the Ganga into the Hugli-Bhagirathi River, on which Calcutta is located, India hoped that the barrage would regenerate the city's harbour. However, the project also resulted in the reduction of the river's dry season flow into Bangladesh, causing a subsequent regional environmental decline. Dhaka claims that the barrage caused an adverse impact on the country's agriculture, fisheries and navigation. This emerged as the basis of opposition to the project from both Bangladeshi politicians and civil society.
Even while the political debate and acrimony has continued for decades, there has been inadequate scientific work on the barrage's impact. Monirul Qader Mirza, a scientist and editor of the 2004 The Ganges Water Diversion, is well aware that "much of the techno-political debate over the impact of the Farakka Barrage on Bangladesh is based on observations and anecdotal evidence rather than sound analyses of relevant data". Mirza's compilation deals with the environmental effects of the Farakka project, as well as that of other smaller but numerically significant lift transfers along the river; in so doing, he provides a much-needed scientific perspective. The book offers a breath of fresh air on an issue that has been reduced to a largely polemical and politicised debate, tinged with resounding hydro-nationalism.