Teesta issue before Mamta’s demand for Indo-Bhutan joint river commission
Recently West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded a joint river commission with Bhutan, a new challenge for India’s hydro diplomacy. The proposal comes in the context of the renewal of the Ganga water sharing agreement between New Delhi and Bangladesh and the Teesta plan. The proposal will add new dimension to it.
It is known that Mamata Banerjee has demanded the formation of Indo-Bhutan joint river commission in Ninth Governing Council of Niti Aayog held in Delhi under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He spoke about this special proposal to protect Terai-Duars area of North Bengal from flood situation during monsoon.
In written and oral demands, Mamata Banerjee said that the water that comes down from Bhutan due to heavy rain has flooded a large part of North Bengal. So Indo-Bhutan River Commission needs to be done.
Every year India is flooded by several rivers of Bhutan Large areas of India’s Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts adjacent to Bhutan are often washed away by heavy rains in the mountains due to India’s failure to provide advance warning of rain from Bhutan. Jaldhaka, Dayna, Banarhat, Nagrakata, Binnaguri, Chamurchi in Jalpaiguri district including Basra, Kaljani, Sankosh, Birbiti, Howri, Reti, Sukriti in Alipurduar district coming down from Bhutan. On the other hand, several areas in Alipurduar District’s Janiga, Kalchini, Birpara, Madarihat blocks were flooded. Tea gardens, agricultural land, forest areas are also heavily damaged.
Alipurduar MLA and PAC Chairman Suman Kanjilal said, “I have been trying to say for a long time that during the monsoons, Bhutan is severely affected by the erosion of the rivers that come down from the mountains.” Protected forests, agricultural lands in national parks are in trouble due to waterlogging Wildlife is being harmed I have raised this matter in the assembly As it is an international matter of two countries How is the control of this river in Bhutan possible? Central intervention is very important Center needs to take action The Chief Minister will discuss it on July 29.
In the discussion of this proposal in the Legislative Assembly, the Minister of State Manas Bhuiyan said, if there can be Indo-Bangladesh Joint River Commission, Indo-Nepal Joint River Commission, then why not have a Joint River Commission with Bhutan. Many rivers in Bhutan flow through North Bengal. Every year due to heavy rains the water of those rivers floods. Therefore, the Indo-Bhutan Joint River Commission should be created immediately.
A former official of the state’s irrigation department said many rivers in India flow into Bangladesh, so a joint river commission was formed between the two countries in 1972 to discuss common river issues. Similarly, since some parts of North Bengal are connected with Bhutan, the joint river commission will help solve the problem of flash floods and erosion in that part.
Because most of the rivers flowing from Bhutan to India join the Brahmaputra, which then flows from Assam to Bangladesh. But it will be interesting to see what the Center does, he said.
Meanwhile, Mamata’s demand for a joint river commission with Bhutan comes at a time when India’s hydro diplomacy with Bangladesh faces several challenges.
10 agreements and memorandums of understanding were signed between the two countries during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Delhi on June 22. On that day at Hyderabad House in Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that a technical team from India will visit Bangladesh very soon to study the Teesta Development Project. At the same time, he also said that the 2026 Ganga river water distribution agreement will expire. Technical experts of both countries will start discussions for its renewal.
After that, Mamata targeted the central government on this issue a week ago. Mamata’s complaint was that the central government of India was trying to sell water to Bangladesh without informing Bengal. Mamata also warned, “If the Center takes a unilateral decision, there will be a big movement across the country.”
The Chief Minister also wrote a letter to the Prime Minister regarding the issue. Although the Indian Ministry of External Affairs called Mamata’s allegation “baseless”, the ministry made it clear that “the government is taking all decisions on this issue in consultation with the representative of Mamata Banerjee’s government.”
It should be noted that the Ganga water sharing agreement was signed between Bangladesh and India in 1996, but there are several other rivers under discussion, one of which is the Teesta water sharing agreement. Although all preparations were made for the signing of the Teesta Treaty in 2011, it is believed that the agreement did not materialize due to the opposition of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Source: The Telegraph Online
