Take it up with UN

It is unlikely that the dispute over sharing Teesta's water can be solved through bilateral negotiations with India and regional approaches and so should be taken up with the United Nations, demanded water and environment experts yesterday.

"We appeal to the government to go to the UN Sixth Committee (the primary forum for the consideration of legal questions in the General Assembly) for solving our water problems with India," said Dr SI Khan.

The maritime boundary disputes with India and Myanmar were solved only after Bangladesh took it up at the international level. River issues will also find solutions in the same manner, added the former water and environment expert at the UN.

India has been withdrawing water upstream from most of the 54 international rivers, including the Teesta, but Bangladesh has been negligent in presenting internationally the massive damages this has caused, said the experts.

An International Farakka Committee (IFC) estimate says that the Farakka barrage on the Ganges and Gazaldoba barrage on the Teesta results in damages in Bangladesh amounting to Tk 30,000 crore a year.

Following the Farakka barrage's construction, salinity in Bangladesh's south-west has increased 100 fold while water scarcity during the dry season is immensely affecting fishing and agriculture in vast parts of the north, said IFC Bangladesh President Prof Jasimuddin Ahmed.

If this continues, the Sundarbans also cannot be saved, he told a roundtable, "Teesta water issue: will it be ever resolved?" organised by the South Asia Youth Peace and Prosperity Society in the capital's Jatiya Press Club.

Engineer Enamul Hoque, former director general of Water Resources Planning Organization, said, "We need to make the world know of the consequences of these barrages and claim compensation."

Bangladesh's waterways have been reduced to only 2,000 kilometres from 24,000 kilometres, experts said.

 "If the rivers are not protected, Bangladesh can not be saved," said Dr Jasimuddin, former Jahangirnagar University vice-chancellor.

Following a long wait, Bangladesh and India were scheduled to sign a Teesta water sharing deal during the then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September 2011.

However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's last minute opposition halted the attempt.

Bangladesh Water Partnership President Prof Shahidul Hasan and political scientist Prof Dilara Chowdhury also addressed the roundtable, moderated by journalist Mostafa Kamal Mozumder.