Bangladesh river water deal likely

Bangladesh river water deal likely

For Prelims

About Kushiyara River:

It is a branch of the Barack River and originates in the state of Nagaland at the mouth of the Barak, also known as the Amlshid bifurcation point.

It forms the boundary between the Indian state of Assam and Beanibazar Upazila of Bangladesh.

It joins with other rivers and forms the Meghna River which ultimately flows into the Bay of Bengal.

About Joint River Commission (JRC):

Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) established on 19 March 1972, as per the joint declaration of the prime ministers of India and Bangladesh.

According to the statute of JRC, the Commission (JRC) is appointed by the Government and is composed of a Chairman and three Members, two of which are engineers.

The Chairmanship of the Commission is held annually in turn by Bangladesh and India.

The JRC is headed by Water Resources Ministers of both the countries.

JRC is responsible for 54 rivers shared by India and Bangladesh.

About Teesta River

It originates in the Tso Lhamo Lake and Teesta Khangse Glacier in Sikkim, flows through Sikkim and West Bengal to Bangladesh and joins the Brahmaputra River which is called Jamuna in Bangladesh.

Teesta is the largest river of Sikkim and second largest river of West Bengal after Ganga.

Almost half a dozen districts in West Bengal are dependent on Teesta River.

About Teesta Water Dispute

The mean annual flow of the river is 60 billion cubic metres. A significant amount of it flows during the monsoon season i.e., between June to September. During lean season i.e., from October to May, the flow is only 500 million cubic metres per month.

In the month from December to March, Bangladesh wants 50% of the water supply, whereas India has claimed a share of 55%.

This disagreement led to the interim deal of 2011 which was supposed to last 15 years and gave India 42.5 percent of the Teesta’s waters and gave Bangladesh 37.5 percent. This however was opposed by West Bengal and hence a solution was not reached.

 

Source: THE HINDU