How is river Teesta helpful to farmers and fishermen ?
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Answer:
- The Teesta river originates in Sikkim and flows through West Bengal as well as Bangladesh. India claims a share of 55 percent of the river's water.
- Bangladesh wants a higher share than it gets now. Currently, its share is lower than that of India's.
- Negotiations on how to share the water have been going on since 1983. A 2011 interim deal - that was supposed to last 15 years - gave India 42.5 percent of the Teesta's waters and gave Bangladesh 37.5 percent. Banerjee opposed this deal so it was shelved and remains unsigned. In fact, she was scheduled to accompany the then PM Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh to sign that deal in 2011, but cancelled the trip.
- Bangladesh wants 50 percent of the Teesta's waters between December and May every year, because that's when the water flow to the country drops drastically. "The historical flow of the river at Rangpur is 5,000 cusecs, but we're getting only 500 cusecs of water now. This has affected farmers whose standing crops are withering away and also fishermen who are facing loss of livelihood," said a Bangladeshi expert to TOI a couple of years ago.
- India says it has its own compulsions. "Not enough water is flowing into the Teesta to meet our irrigation needs. We have to increase the area under irrigation in North Bengal to boost agricultural production. We will achieve our target of bringing in 1.5 lakh acres of farmland," said the then West Bengal irrigation minister Rajib Banerjee, three years ago.
- The river is Bangladesh's fourth largest transboundary river for irrigation and fishing. The Teesta's floodplain covers 2,750sq km in Bangladesh. Of the river's catchment - an area of land where water collects - 83 percent is in India and 17 percent is in Bangladesh.
- That means more than one lakh hectares of land across five districts in Bangladesh are severely affected by withdrawals of the Teesta's waters in India, said the Observer Research Foundation. These five Bangladesh districts then face acute shortages during the dry season, it added.
- Banerjee has in the past countered the above line of argument citing the amount of Teesta waters India already gives Bangladesh. "When we need a certain quantity of water to maintain our Kolkata Port and fulfil the need of farmers, water is released from Teesta and Farakka barrages to Bangladesh sacrificing the state's interest" she said in 2013.
- Hydropower on the Teesta .is another point of conflict. There are at least 26 projects on the river mostly in Sikkim, aimed at producing some 50,000MW.
- Banerjee yesterday proposed sharing the waters of other rivers, like the Torsa river. As north Bengal is completely dependent on the Teesta, she said, rivers like the Torsa, which are closer to the border of India and Bangladesh, are good options. The Torsa, in fact, has connectivity with Bangladesh's Padma river. The West Bengal CM proposed that the two countries set up a commission to ascertain the level of water flowing through the Torsa and the quantum of water that can be shared.
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Answer:
Teesta, 4th largest transboundary river after GBM river is a life line for both Indian states and it's strong ally Bangladesh. Originates from kangse glacier, from Sikkim and flows through Sikkim - West Bengal - Bangladesh sweeping a length of 414 km out of which about 190 km lies in India and about 120 in Bangladesh. It meets the mighty Brahmaputra( jamuna ) and meets the bay of Bengal finally.
What's the issue ?
Teesta is very important for various reasons for both India and Bangladesh. The sharing of waters after satisfying all parties remained an elusive target.
Economic issues ?
Teesta sweeps about 2700 sq km in Bangladesh which heavy depends on its water for agricultural, fishing and other economic needs at the same time northern parts of Bengal also depends on the same water for irrigation. Hence, during lean period when the 60 billion cubic meter flow gets reduced to 500 million it gives rise to issues of sharing waters .
Political roadblocks ?
Several arrangements like the first ad-hoc in which 39 and 36 % were allocated to India and Bangladesh respectively ,the set up of joint river commission, hopes of reaching a pragmatic solution in 2011, 2013 all remains failed due to major opposition from W.bengal. Recent visit of Bangladesh PM in 2017 has given hope to solve the issue at the earliest.
What can be done ?
Proposed solutions include
1. Release of 25% of water from upstream barrage by W.bengal in addition to 25% already available in downstream barrage.
2. Augmenting the flow during lean period by Interlinking of rivers to supply additional water. MKSG interlinking project is a viable solution.
3. Creation of huge reservoirs in India to store the increased monsoonal flow and release it during lean period.
Strategic importance ?
This remains as a litmus test of relation between the neighbours as Bangladesh is a strong all weather friends and present Awami league government has helped India a lot to counter anti India activities in North East. To make sure future cooperation which will benefit India with chicken neck problem with northeast to safeguard it's interest from outside powers like china and ensure regional cooperation India needs to find a viable solution even if it has to give more to Bangladesh , India will gain in long run.
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