Freeman14H at 11:58, 22 November 2025

2025-11-22T11:58:22Z

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{{Short description|Sharing of the Ganges' waters between India and Bangladesh}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
[[Image:River Ganges and tributaries.png|thumb|350px|Map of the [[Ganges River]] from its origin in northern [[India]] to its entry into the [[Bay of Bengal]] through [[Bangladesh]].]]

A long-standing dispute exists between [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]] over the appropriate allocation, and development, of the water resources of the [[Ganges River]], which flows from northern India into Bangladesh. The issue had remained a subject of conflict for almost 35 years, with several bilateral agreements and rounds of talks failing to produce results.

However, a comprehensive bilateral treaty was signed by Indian Prime Minister [[H. D. Deve Gowda]] and Bangladeshi Prime Minister [[Sheikh Hasina Wajed]] on 12 December 1996 in the Indian capital New Delhi. The treaty established a 30-year water-sharing arrangement and recognised Bangladesh's rights as a lower-level [[riparian]].<ref name="AME">{{cite web |url=http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/indobang.htm |title=India-Bangladesh Water Dispute |author=Robie I. Samanta Roy |date=November 1997 |website=American.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428191039/http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/indobang.htm |archive-date=28 April 2008 |access-date=30 May 2008}}</ref><ref name="IMT">{{cite book |last=Haq |first=Enamul |year=2012 |chapter=Ganges Water Sharing |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Ganges_Water_Sharing |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref><ref name="IPCS">{{cite web |url=http://www.ipcs.org/article/bangladesh/the-ganges-water-sharing-treaty-genesis-significance-310.html |title=The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty: Genesis & Significance |author1=Saswati Chanda |author2=Alok Kumar Gupta |date=24 January 2000 |website=Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies |access-date=30 May 2008}}</ref>

== Background ==
[[Image:Bangladesh-en.png|right|thumb|300px|A map showing major rivers in Bangladesh, including the [[Padma River]].]]

Descending from India's northern plains, the Ganges River forms a boundary of 129-kilometre boundary between India and Bangladesh and flows for another 113 kilometres inside Bangladesh. At [[Pakaur]] in India, the river begins its attrition with the branching away of its first [[distributary]], the [[Bhagirathi River (distributary)|Bhagirathi River]], which goes on to form the [[Hooghly River]]. About 10 kilometres from the border with Bangladesh the [[Farakka Barrage]], built in 1974, controls the flow of the Ganges, diverting some of the water into a [[Canal|feeder canal]] linking the Hooghly to keep it relatively [[silt]]-free.<ref name="IB">{{cite book |date=1989 |editor1-last=Heitzman |editor1-first=James |editor2-last=Worden |editor2-first=Robert |chapter=India |chapter-url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/106.htm |title=Bangladesh: A Country Study |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/ |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |pages=188–191}}</ref>

After entering Bangladesh, the main branch of the Ganges is known as the [[Padma River]] until it is joined by the [[Jamuna River (Bangladesh)|Jamuna River]], the largest distributary of the [[Brahmaputra River]], which descends from [[Assam]] and [[Northeast India]]. Further downstream, the Ganges is joined by the [[Meghna River]], the second-largest distributary of the Brahmaputra, and adopts the Meghna's name as it enters the Meghna estuary. Fanning out into the 350 km wide [[Ganges Delta]], it finally empties into the [[Bay of Bengal]]. A total of 54 rivers flow into Bangladesh from India.<ref name="BRI">Sudha Ramachandran (8 June 2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20060616030234/http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HF08Df04.html ''India, Bangladesh fight against the current'']. Asia Times. Accessed 30 May 2008.</ref>

== Efforts at resolution ==

Indian Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] and Bangladesh's founding leader [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] signed the wide-ranging [[Indo-Bangladeshi Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace]] on 19 March 1972;<ref name="IB"/> as per the treaty, the two nations established a [[Joint River Commission]] to work for the common interests and sharing of water resources, [[irrigation]], floods and [[cyclone]]s control.<ref name="IMT"/>

==Farakka Barrage==
The [[Farakka Barrage]] is a dam on the Bhagirathi River located in the Indian state of West Bengal, roughly {{convert|10|km|mi|abbr=on|1}} from the border with Bangladesh. India uses it to control the flow of the [[Ganges]] River. The dam was built to divert Ganges River water into the Hooghly River during the dry season, from January to June, to flush out the accumulating silt which in the 1950s and 1960s was a problem at [[Kolkata Port]] on the Hooghly River.<ref name="IB"/> Bangladesh has determined that its rivers were drying up because of excess drawing of water by India.<ref name="BRI"/> In May 1974 a joint declaration was issued to resolve the water–sharing issue before the Farakka Barrage began operation.<ref name="IPCS"/> This was followed by an interim agreement in 1975 to allow India to operate the feeder canals of the Barrage for short periods.<ref name="AME"/><ref name="IMT"/>

However, India withdrew from the process of negotiations by September 1976 as both nations grew apart after the [[assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]], the President of Bangladesh, in August 1975 during a military coup d'état, and the related [[15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état|establishment of military rule in Bangladesh]].<ref name="IB"/> Bangladesh protested India's unilateral action at a summit of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] (NAM), and at the 31st session of the [[United Nations General Assembly]].<ref name="IMT"/> At the urging of other nations and the U.N., both India and Bangladesh agreed to resume dialogue, but with no results.<ref name="IMT"/>

===Temporary agreements===
Bilateral relations had improved in 1977 during the governments of the then-Prime Minister [[Morarji Desai]] of India and the then-President [[Ziaur Rahman]] of Bangladesh;<ref name="IB"/> in 1977 both leaders signed a 5-year treaty on water-sharing, but this expired in 1982 without being renewed.<ref name="AME"/><ref name="IMT"/><ref name="IPCS"/>

Bangladesh attempted to internationalise the affair by lobbying the U.N. General Assembly and the [[South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation]] (SAARC) without any result.<ref name="AME"/>

== 1996 Treaty ==
[[Image:Ganges River Delta, Bangladesh, India.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Ganges Delta]] spanning [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]].]]

The formation of an [[Awami League]] government in 1996 under [[Sheikh Hasina Wajed]], the daughter of Sheikh Mujib, led to a fresh thaw in relations and negotiations restarted. Both countries leaders met in the Indian capital on 12 December 1996 and signed a 30-year, comprehensive treaty.<ref name="AME"/><ref name="IMT"/><ref name="IPCS"/>

As per the 1996 treaty for sharing the Ganges waters 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
|-
|}

Both nations were able to co-operate in harnessing the water resources; the treaty also permits the construction of [[barrage (dam)|barrages]] and irrigation projects in [[Kushtia]] and the [[Gorai-Madhumati River]] in Bangladesh, draining the south-western districts and thus preserving the environment, natural and economic resources.<ref name="IMT"/>

== Assessment ==

The 1996 treaty established a long-term solution and considerably eased strains in [[Indo-Bangladeshi relations]].<ref name="AME"/><ref name="IPCS"/> The 1996 treaty has been attacked by the [[Awami League]]'s (AL) main rival, the [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]] (BNP), which is regarded as hostile to India, but BNP did not renege from the treaty when it came to power in 2001. The BNP and other Bangladeshi political factions allege that India is drawing excessive water and the amount allocated to Bangladesh is unjust and insufficient.<ref name="AME"/><ref name="BRI"/> India in turn complains that the water allocated to Bangladesh leaves it with less water than necessary for the functioning of [[Kolkata Port]] and the [[National Thermal Power Corporation]] in Farakka.<ref name="BRI"/>

Other critics have also stressed environmental reasons for India to reconsider its drawing of water at Farraka. Alarming increases in [[deforestation]] and [[erosion]] at the upper levels of the Ganges River increases the deposition of silt at the lower level, which is already measured at 2 million tonnes annually, along with increased [[salinity]], have 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> In Bangladesh, 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> Such silt levels are believed to be adversely affecting the Hooghly River and Kolkata Port.<ref name="AME"/>

==Future cooperation==
The flood waters from Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Meghana rivers joining the Sea can be harnessed by constructing a [[coastal reservoir]] to mitigate [[Climate change in Bangladesh|climate change effects]] on both Bangladesh and India and also for achieving [[water security]], [[food security]], and [[energy security]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sasidhar |first=Nallapaneni |date=May 2023 |title=Multipurpose Freshwater Coastal Reservoirs and Their Role in Mitigating Climate Change |url=https://www.ijee.latticescipub.com/wp-content/uploads/papers/v3i1/A1842053123.pdf |access-date=2023-06-05 |journal=Indian Journal of Environment Engineering |issn=2582-9289 |volume=3 |issue=1|pages=31–46 |doi=10.54105/ijee.A1842.053123 |s2cid=258753397 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Bangladesh-India relations}}
{{Waters of South Asia}}

[[Category:Bangladesh–India relations]]
[[Category:Treaties of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Rivers of Bangladesh| ]]
[[Category:Water and politics]]
[[Category:Ganges]]
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1996]]
[[Category:Treaties of India]]
[[Category:Water conflicts]]
[[Category:Water supply and sanitation in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Water supply and sanitation in India]]

Ganges water dispute - Revision history

Freeman14H at 11:58, 22 November 2025