Southwest may turn wasteland

India's decision to build 16 barrages, one in every 100 kilometres of the Ganges, would ultimately kill the river and spell disaster for ecology in Bangladesh, say green campaigners.

The Indian government plans to construct the barrages under the Ganges waterway Project to ensure three-metre navigability for plying of vessels in 1,620 kilometres of the Ganges between Allahabad and Haldia.

It has sought loan assistance from the World Bank for the project, and a team of WB experts and officials has already visited Gaighat in Patna on August 4.

Citing reports of Indian newspapers and environmental groups, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) yesterday urged the Indian government to scrap the plan that would harm the ecology of both the nations.

Bapa made the appeal yesterday at a press conference at Dhaka Reporter's Unity in the capital.

It demanded that all structures in the transboundary rivers, shared by the two countries, are removed. It also called upon the Bangladesh government to raise the issue in the upcoming Saarc Summit in Kathmandu next month.

Bapa Secretary General Dr Abdul Matin read out a written statement. Former environment planner of United Nations Prof SI Khan and Bangladesh Environment Network Representative Mahmudur Rahman also spoke.

“The move will kill the river. It is the last nail in the coffin of the Ganges,” said Matin.

Following the Farakka barrage's construction in the Ganges in 1975, the flow of the river to Bangladesh reduced by around 90 percent, said Prof SI Khan.

Urging the government to protest India's plan, both the experts said Bangladesh should be a party to the UN Watercourse Convention.

The Farakka barrage alone diverted around 40,000 cusec of water from the Ganges to the Hoogly river, reducing the flow of the Ganges downstream known as the Padma in Bangladesh.

The sudden fall in water level caused massive siltation at the mouth of the Gorai, one of the distributaries of the Ganges, and the Padma near Kushtia.

Further diversion of water would affect Gorai's distributaries, including the Kumar, the Kalindi and the Dakua, which have been in a terrible state due to the Farakka barrage.

The reduction in flow of these rivers has been affecting the Sundarbans, and India's new move would eventually destroy the mangrove forest, fear experts.

Salinity has already reached 100 kilometres inwards the coast in the southwestern region. Farmers there cannot produce high-yielding variety of rice in more than one lakh hectares of coastal land. They produce only one variety of rice once a year during the rainy season.

It is causing a negative impact on the region's food security as well as on the farmers' economic condition.

Indian experts, environmentalists and even a Bihar minister have protested the central government's decision to build the barrages.

According to a Times of India report on September 27, State Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary expressed reservations about the Centre's decision to construct barrages across the Ganges.

“Stating that the construction of the barrages across the river would be dangerous for its life, Choudhary said already shoals (stretches of sand between the river banks) have been formed due to construction of Farakka barrage,” reported the Indian newspaper.

“Bihar government has neither been informed about it nor consulted on the matter, even as 450km of the Ganga passes through the state. Already, foreign consultants have been sounded to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) on the proposed Allahabad-Haldia waterway,” said the report quoting the Bihar minister.

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley described the 1,620-km national waterway project-1 as “Jal Marg Vikas” in the recent Budget speech and allocated 4,200 crore rupees for it.

In June, the Indian government gave the World Bank a proposal for financing the project. The proposal was based on a study by Danish Hydrological Institute.

The WB responded in July with an offer to provide technical assistance for the initial study, whose outcome would decide investments on the project, says a report by Gopal Krishna of Ganga Protection Committee, a citizens' platform.

“It is quite disturbing that the government has initiated the project without learning the lesson from the failure of the Farakka barrage,” mentions the report.

The impact on the entire transboundary Ganges basin must be examined to comprehend the cumulative environmental impact of the proposed project keeping in mind the experience with 2,240-metre-long Farakka barrage, it added.

Leading Indian water expert Rajendra Singh also criticised the Indian government's plan, according to another report on the website of Zee News on August 18.

He cautioned the Indian government over its plan to build barrages, saying it would be disastrous for both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and for the millions of people living along the Ganges.