The New Nation - Internet Edition

M.T.Hussain

Thanks to the BBC Radio Bengali Service for the program they had at Kustia in Bangladesh on the 22nd March (08). Important elements of the issue India's Farakka Barrage and its effect on the environment of Bangladesh were fairly discussed. Unfortunately, although I followed the program in my radio and in a few Dhaka dailies, I missed as I expected, anything of the huge losses Bangladesh incurred in the last three decades in terms of monetary specific figures.

I had occasion over a decade ago to do a small work on the ill effects of India's Farakka Barrage built in early 1970s across the river Ganga, 11 miles up from the common border, having had considerable documentation from authentic sources from home and abroad. The sources provided facts and figures about losses Bangladesh incurred. I don't have the figures updated; but they may, hopefully, serve as bases to enumerate the latest figures of losses Bangladesh incurred on aggregate basis.

The losses due to Farakka Barrage built across the river Ganga beginning operation by India at the upstream since May 1975 of this common international river as is well known covered main areas like agricultural production yearly losses alone at Taka 39,000 million or 39 billion during the period of 1976-1994 or 18 years (See, GOB, Adverse Impact of Farakka, 1995, page 84) or Taka 3.16 billion each year in the affected south western region of Bangladesh covering about one-fourth of the total geographical area of the country. Then was listed the loss due to fall of fish production in the rivers in down stream of the Ganga, other rivers known as Padma, Garai, Madhumati, Arial Khan etc. Another document noted as a token of the quantum of production of Hilsa fish, the renowned and most tasty variety, at 120,000 metric tons a season (See, Hasan Zaman, Menace of Farakka, 1970, pp.41-42), the price of which at Taka 40,000 per ton would amount to Taka 480,0000000 million that fell in one year by one fifth or in Taka value 95 million ( GOB, Statistical Yearbook 1991, pp.233-35). Loss of employment opportunity for catching fish for non-availability of fish in the nearly dried up rivers in lean season here that depended in the main natural flow of the Ganga past the Barrage and also country boat transport workers, both figures that stood nearly at 400,000 man days before the Barrage started to have had reduced sharply that in early 1990s nearly halved and now seriously reduced further. Assuming their earning level of the job losers at an average of Taka 50/ per day in early 1990s, the loss stood at Taka 50,000,000 per day, that is, 180,000,000 or Taka 1.8 billion a year. Dredging cost of increased silt deposits including increased fuel costs, equipments and manpower, according to a government report of 1995 stood at Taka 150 million. Losses of forest resources, particularly in the Sundarbands, according to their estimate in early 1990 stood at Taka 9,853 million.

Flood damage costs almost in recurring feature year after year was not available but such amount would stand nearly at Taka one billion a year. Adverse cost impact for salinity intrusion inside sweet water area and arsenic spread were not available to me.

Professor Ain Un Nishat had some useful work on the adverse effects of the Farakka on Bangladesh environment, but I found nothing in terms of concrete money figure in his works I came across (See, Ain Un Nishat, Green House Effectt, 1990). Taking all these known items into account and making intelligent guess on some unknown elements and making them up to date in the end of 2007, one estimate made the total losses in 33 years on account of the Farakka Barrage in Bangladesh at nearly 7,000 billion US dollars.

One might argue about the validity of the figures, but none can blow out that the losses Bangladesh suffered in the last 33 years and certain to suffer in the years ahead on the same account need a few things urgently done. One, India, as is already proved would not sincerely listen to the begging call of Bangladesh, because, the agreements made one after another for sharing of water in the last three decades have hardly been duly honored by India. The argument India advanced was that they had not enough for themselves in the upper stream to spare the agreed quantum in the downstream for Bangladesh. How far the argument is tenable needs to be scrutinized at some other international expertise level. Even if their argument is taken as valid, they have no right to flout Bangladesh's right but should agree to apportion equitably the quantum available. It is as such only the international community could help in the matter.

It may be an option for Bangladesh to sue India in the International Court of Justice not only for the compensations for the losses so far incurred but also for compliance by India of all laws, norms, conventions and usages in all such water sharing measures of international river like the Ganga/ Padma is.

Bangladesh is not only a thickly populated country having all kinds of resource constraint for ensuring minimum decent living for all its 150 million people as at present having 40% living below poverty line and quantum in absolute figure is continuing to increase further.

Should the agricultural lifeline of the economy continues to seriously impinge on the overall environment for India's artificial control of natural flows of water in the 53 common rivers from the upstream during lean season and so engineering unusual floods during monsoons one year after another, the onslaught on the economy of Bangladesh is certain to aggravate further the economic lives of the common people.

That is what the sensible ones would only predict. Such a prediction was made about two decades ago in an editorial of the London daily, The Times, in its 6 September 1988 issue in these concluding words. 'But in the interests of a common humanity, of good neighbourliness, and of future generations, a determined start must be made on a regional plan for the management of the area's waters. The only alternative is death and destructions on a mass scale for Bangladesh'.