Water security for Bangladesh Mahmud ur Rahman Choudhury In addition to the food, energy and physical security issue, Bangladesh and its people will soon be facing a massive water security problem which will outweigh all other problems in gravity because without sweet-water (the water we drink and wash with, farm with, grow fishes in, water our plants, vegetables and fruits with) nothing gets done; without sweet-water life and living is impossible. Sweet-water, provided with by rains and snow, carried by rivers, stored underground in natural reservoirs and stored overground in both artificial and natural reservoirs, is quite literally the life-line to survival of all living beings including humans. For Bangladesh that survival is at stake because ever since 1972, right after Bangladesh became independent, India has been daming off our rivers in its upper reaches, starting with the Farraka Barrage which went into operation in 1974. The Indian Plans The Ganges-Brahmaputra basin is Bangladesh and the 54 or so major and minor rivers which flow through it to the Bay of Bengal, all originate in the Himalayas in Nepal, Bhutan and India, all pass through India and India has put into effect plans to garner all the waters of all these rivers to ensure its own water security, leaving Bangladesh high and dry, quite literally. So besides the Farraka, Teesta and dozens of other smaller barrages along dozens of other smaller rivers, India is building the Tipaimukh dam and Fulertal barrage upstream of the Surma and Kushiara running through the Sylhet division. Since 2004 India is implementing its "River Linking Project" which will link up major rivers in India to their sources in Nepal and Bhutan where massive reservoirs would be built to hold up water. The canal systems developed or under development for the "River Linking Project" will divert waters of major rivers in the east to the much drier west of India. The barrages/dams at Farraka, Teesta and the upcoming ones at Tipaimukh and Fulertal are part of a well thought out plan, implemented in phases. Effects on Bangladesh The effects of the Indian "River Linking Project", the dams and the barrages are already proving horrendous for Bangladesh and can be looked at under three broad heads: Siltation of rivers, Periodic Desertification & Flooding: The artificially controlled reduction of water flows along rivers result in increasing siltation of all rivers in Bangladesh and with reduction of flows of major rivers, large tracts of land in the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin are turning into semi-arid regions unfit for habitation or cultivation; with the building of Tipaimukh dam and Fulertal barrage even more areas will turn inhabitable. With the River Linking Project completed, India will have complete control of waters of all rivers running through Bangladesh: during dry seasons withdrawal of waters from already silted up rivers will make of Bangladesh a desert and during the monsoons, release of excess waters will flood the whole of Bangladesh since silted up rivers will be unable to carry waters to the sea. Such periodic desertification and flooding will neither permit habitation nor cultivation, turning Bangladesh into hostile territory for any sort of permanent settlement - the nation-state of Bangladesh will, for all practical purposes, cease to exist. Changes in Weather Patterns: Ice caps and glaciers in the Himalayas are melting and unpredictably increasing flows in some 54 major rivers passing from India through Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal. As the ice and glaciers keep on melting due to global warming, water flows will suddenly rise and then decline drastically, also changing precipitation cycles and patterns. Additionally, cultural artifacts built up in India such as dams/barrages etc interfere with natural drainage systems, increasing risks of weather patterns changes. With the weather becoming increasingly unpredictable, monsoon rains are not coming around when they ought to, summers are getting hotter and longer and winters are becoming shorter and severer. This has a severe effect on agriculture and cropping patterns in Bangladesh, making it difficult for farmers to predict what crops to plant and reap at what times of the year. Besides unpredictable weather makes it impossible to plant and reap certain types of cereals, vegetables and fruits which for centuries have been the main crops. So, agriculture is going to suffer making it difficult to get food in quantities and types that our people need. Lack of Adequate Clean Waters: Climatic changes and cultural artifacts are not only affecting rivers and the waters that they contain but also under-ground water is being affected. Dams and barrages constructed upstream in India are drastically reducing the availability of water in Bangladesh. As precipitation becomes uncertain and as rivers dry up, under-ground water is not being replenished and natural geological systems are put into disarray, throwing up minerals such as arsenic which are extremely harmful to all living beings including plants, animals and humans. As sea levels rise and rivers dry up, salinity will keep on increasing, affecting both land and water and making more and more land uninhabitable, jeopardizing life and living. What must Bangladesh do to Survive National interests being paramount, one doesn't see India backing out from its program of linking rivers through building dams/barrages/reservoirs and canals to garner waters from rivers, notwithstanding Bangladesh's profuse profession & rhetoric of undying friendship and love towards India. One must consider that such "friendship" did not prevent India from building and putting into operation the Farraka barrage in the period 1971 to 1974, when India-Bangladesh relations were at their zenith ever; neither will friendship & good neighborly relations now prevent India from going ahead with the Tipaimukh dam, the Fulertal barrage or the greater River Linking Project. The only way to persuade India to giving us our rights to survival is to pursue an aggressive and sustained diplomatic and media offensive in every multi-lateral forum including the UN, the SAARC, the OIC, the EU, building world opinions, putting continuous pressure on India to desist from measures which will make Bangladesh uninhabitable. Unfortunately though, that way too is being frustrated by some cabinet ministers of the AL government who comment that people are "talking too much" about the issue and that the Tipaimukh dam and the Fulertal barrage will be "beneficial" to Bangladesh because they would be producing electricity, some of which will come to Bangladesh. The moot point is who is going to use that electricity and for what if vast tracts of Bangladesh become uninhabitable, devoid of populace and habitations! |
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