Bangladesh wants more info on shared rivers with India

Bangladesh wishes to collect more information on a deal with neighbouring India regarding six small rivers and best possible use of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty.  

Dhaka wants to discuss water sharing of the rivers -- Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar -- in more detail on the final day of the ongoing meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC).

The two-day virtual meeting between the two countries began on Tuesday. According to multiple sources, reports on water flow data of the aforementioned rivers collected from January 1996 to December 2018 have been exchanged at the meeting. 

However, Bangladesh believes that more information is needed on how the water of these rivers is being used on the Indian side, reports Bangla Tribune. 

According to a source, a framework agreement was signed in 2011 at a meeting between the two countries' prime ministers. The clauses of that agreement state that basin-based river water management can benefit both the countries.

Seeking anonymity, a government official who attended the meeting said: "In the river water sharing agreement, it is mentioned how much water a country received in the dry season. In order to ensure good use of water during the monsoon season, we need to move towards basin-based water management.”

The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty was reviewed and the annual report was also approved at the meeting, being held after three long years.

In 2020, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the water sharing scenario was different and Bangladesh received more water through the Ganges than the average of the last 40 years.