>Narky Blert at 13:13, 12 June 2021

2021-06-12T13:13:55Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox dam
| name = Farakka Barrage
| image = Highway on Farakka Barrage, a barrage in Farakka, West Bengal 13.jpg
| image_caption = Highway on the Farakka Barrage, with the railway track by its side
| name_official =
| location_map = India West Bengal
| location_map_size =
| location_map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|24|48|16|N|87|55|59|E|display=inline,title}}
| dam_crosses = [[Ganges River]]
| res_name =
| location = [[Malda district|Malda]] & [[Murshidabad District|Murshidabad]], [[West Bengal]], India
| dam_length = {{convert|2304|m}}
| dam_height =
| dam_width_base =
| construction_began = 1961
| opening = 1972
| cost = {{Indian Rupee}}156.25 crore
| res_capacity_total =
| res_catchment =
| res_surface =
| plant_turbines =
| plant_capacity =
| plant_annual_gen =
| extra =
| website =
}}

'''Farakka Barrage''' is a [[Barrage (dam)|barrage]] across the Ganga river located in [[Murshidabad district|Murshidabad]] district in the [[India]]n state of [[West Bengal]], roughly {{convert|18|km|mi}} from the border with [[Bangladesh]] near [[Shibganj Upazila, Chapai Nawabganj|Shibganj]]. [[Farakka Barrage Township]] is located in [[Farakka (community development block)]] in Murshidabad district. Construction of the Farakka barrage started in 1962, was completed in 1970 at a cost of $208 million.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Farakka Barrage - Banglapedia|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Farakka_Barrage|access-date=2020-09-07|website=en.banglapedia.org}}</ref> Operations began on 21 April 1975. The barrage is about {{convert|2304|m}} long.<ref>{{cite web |title=Farakka Barrage Project Farakka |url=http://mowr.gov.in/index3.asp?sslid=296&subsublinkid=714&langid=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428204901/http://mowr.gov.in/index3.asp?subsublinkid=714&langid=1&sslid=296 |archive-date=2012-04-28 }}</ref> The [[Feeder Canal (Farakka)]] from the barrage to the [[Hooghly River|Bhagirathi-Hooghly River]] is about {{convert|26|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} long.<ref name="SalmanUprety2002">{{cite book|last1=Salman|first1=Salman M. A.|last2=Uprety|first2=Kishor|title=Conflict and cooperation on South Asia's international rivers: a legal perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GEr4fyDbqgC&pg=PA135|access-date=27 April 2011|year=2002|publisher=World Bank Publications|isbn=978-0-8213-5352-3|pages=135–136}}</ref> The Ganges river splits into two rivers - [[Hooghly River|Bhagirathi-Hooghly River]] and [[Padma River]], a little after Farakka Barrage and both flow into the [[Bay of Bengal]].

== Purpose ==
The barrage was constructed by [[Hindustan Construction Company]]. Out of 109 gates, 108 are over the river and the 109th one over the low-lying land in [[English Bazar|Malda]], as a precaution. The Barrage serves water to the [[Farakka Super Thermal Power Station]]. There are also sixty small canals which can divert some water to other destinations for drinking purposes etc.

The purpose of the barrage is to divert {{convert|64000|cuft/s|m3/s|order=flip}} of water from the Ganges to the [[Hooghly River]] for flushing out sediment deposition from [[Port of Kolkata|Kolkata harbour]] without the need of regular mechanical dredging. After commissioning the project, it was found that the diverted water flow from the Farakka barrage was not adequate to flush the sediment from the river satisfactorily. In addition, there are regular land/bank collapses in to the Ganga river due to the high level back waters of the Farakka barrage. Substantial high land is already converted into low level river bed causing displacement of huge populations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gangapedia.iitk.ac.in/sites/default/files/Rudra.pdf |title=The Encroaching Ganga and Social Conflicts: The Case of West Bengal, India. |access-date=23 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523010822/http://gangapedia.iitk.ac.in/sites/default/files/Rudra.pdf |archive-date=23 May 2014 }}</ref> The water diverted from the Farakka barrage is less than 10% of Ganga river water available at Farakka.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.compositerunoff.sr.unh.edu/html/Polygons/P2846800.html |title= Ganga river water flow data at Farakka, India.|access-date=26 May 2014}}</ref> The Indian government is contemplating to cement line/widen/deepen the Farakka feeder canal to increase the flow.

==Farakka water sharing treaty==
As per the treaty between India and Bangladesh, signed in 1996, for sharing of the Ganges water at Farakka, the division is as follows:<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ssvk.org/koshi/reports/treaty_on_farakka_india_bangladesh_4_ganga_river_water.pdf | title = Treaty between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on sharing of the Ganga/ Ganges waters at Farakka | publisher = ssvk| access-date = 12 August 2017}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Availability at Farakka||Share of India||Share of Bangladesh
|-
|70,000 cusecs or less||50%||50%
|-
|70,000 – 75,000 cusecs||Balance of the flow||35,000 cusecs
|-
|75,000 cusecs or more||40,000 cusecs||Balance of the flow
|-
|}

==Impact==
[[File:Pawan Kumar Bansal inspecting the damaged gate number 16 at the Farakka Barrage, Murshidabad district, West Bengal. The State Minister of Irrigation & Waterways, Micro & Small Scale Enterprises & Textiles.jpg|thumb|left|400 px|Union minister, [[Pawan Kumar Bansal]], inspecting damaged gate no. 16 at Farakka Barrage in 2012]]
The [[Ganges]] is one of the major rivers of the world. It rises at an elevation of about {{convert|4356|m|ft}} in Gangotri on the southern slope of the Himalayan range. About 70% of the total population of Bangladesh and about 50% of the Indian population live in the Ganges basin; 43% of the total irrigated area in the country{{which|date=October 2018}} is also in the Ganges basin and there are about 100 urban settlements with a total population of about 120 million on its banks. As a result, [[Bangladesh]] and [[India]] have had many debates about how the Farakka Barrage cuts off Bangladesh's water supply and how to [[sharing the water of the Ganges|share the water]]. Right from the beginning, this created a concern for Bangladesh as it constitutes the low-lying part of Gangotri. After the completion of the barrage at the end of 1975, it was agreed to run it with specified discharges for a period of 41 days from 21 April to 31 May during the remaining period of the dry season of 1975 under an accord announced as a joint press release on 18 April 1975. But after the assassination of [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] on 15 August 1975, relations between the two countries became greatly strained and India continued to withdraw water even after the agreed period. The diversions led to a crisis situation in Bangladesh in the dry season of 1976. In 1977, Bangladesh went to the [[United Nations]] and lodged a formal protest against India with the General Assembly of The United Nations, which adopted a consensus statement on 26 November 1976. Talks between the two countries were resumed in December 1976. No consensus was reached.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abbas |first=B. M. |date=1984 |orig-year=First published 1982 |title=The Ganges Water Dispute |edition=2nd |location=Dhaka |publisher=University Press |pages=5, 9, 10 |oclc=20820859}}</ref>

Twenty years later, in 1996, a 30-year agreement was signed. It did not contain any guarantee clause for unconditional minimum amounts of water to be supplied to Bangladesh or India, nor could the future hydrological parameters taken into account as is always the case when water resources are planned on historic data series. As a result, the agreement is sometimes perceived to be failed by some sections in Bangladesh to provide the expected result.<ref>Nurul Kobir, a journalist of Bangladesh on first day of India-Bangladesh dialogue held 7–8 November on Dhaka</ref> Constant monitoring of the implementation of Negotiations in lean season continue to the present today. In Bangladesh, it is perceived that the diversion has raised salinity levels, contaminated fisheries, hindered navigation, and posed a threat to water quality and public health.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wolf |first=Aaron T. |date=2001 |title=Water and Human Security |url=http://ucowr.org/files/Achieved_Journal_Issues/V118_A5Water%20and%20Human%20Security.pdf |journal=Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education |volume=118 |page=31}}</ref> Lower levels of soil moisture along with increased salinity have also led to [[desertification]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Islam |first=Nahid |date=1992 |title=Indo-Bangladesh Common Rivers: The Impact on Bangladesh |journal=Contemporary South Asia |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=203–225 |doi=10.1080/09584939208719682}}</ref> However, this barrage still has significant effect on the mutual relation of these two neighboring countries.

Farakka barrage has been criticized for the [[floods in Bihar]] as it is causing excessive siltation in the Ganga.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/815066/over-50-years-ago-bengals-chief-engineer-predicted-that-the-farakka-dam-would-flood-bihar|title=Over 50 years ago, Bihar’s chief engineer predicted that the Farakka dam would flood Bihar}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category}}
* [[Farakka Super Thermal Power Station]]
* [[Farakka Long March]] (1976 protest)
* [[Ganges Barrage Project]]
* [[Sharing the water of the Ganges]]
* [[River bank erosion along the Ganges in Malda and Murshidabad districts]]
* [[Indian Rivers Inter-link]]
* [[Kalpasar Project]]
* [[List of longest bridges in the world]]
* [[List of longest bridges above water in India]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Murshidabad topics}}
{{Malda topics}}
{{Bangladesh-India relations}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dams in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Barrages in India]]
[[Category:Bangladesh–India relations]]
[[Category:Water and politics]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Murshidabad district]]
[[Category:Bridges over the Ganges]]
[[Category:1972 establishments in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Dams completed in 1972]]

Farakka Barrage - Revision history

>Narky Blert at 13:13, 12 June 2021