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shift and dredging requirement in the Hooghly, salinity, navigation channel records,
rainfall data in Bangladesh and details of the Ganga - Kapotaksha pumping station
in Bangladesh. Both sides agreed that the period of release of water would be too
short and that the observations would not lead to any conclusion, because when the
diversion began 21st April 1975, the critical period was coming to a close and the
river has already begun to rise.
Meanwhile, the Joint Rivers Commission was functioning smoothly and after its
13th meeting in Dhaka in June 1975, it submitted its report to the two governments
on augmentation of dry-season flow of the Ganga. It considered three aspects -
availability of water at Farakka, requirement of water by both countries and the
probable means of augmentation. On availability, the commission agreed that, on the
basis of 75% dependability, the fair weather flow of the Ganga at Farakka in the lean
months was of the order of 55,000 cusecs. It may be mentioned here that the original
project report on the Farakka barrage, prepared in 1961 by the Government of India,
also fixed the minimum flow to be 55,000 cusecs. As regards requirements, each
side had reservations about the other's figures. The commission, therefore, adopted
a working demand of 95,000 cusecs, made up of 55,000 cusecs for Bangladesh and
40,000 cusecs for India, as if the entire lean season flow of 55,000 cusecs would have
hypothetically flown into Bangladesh, had the barrage not been there at Farakka. As
stated, East Pakistan and its successor government of Bangladesh had gradually
increased these requirement from 2000 cusecs in 1954 to 49,000 cusecs in 1968 and
then to 55,000 cusecs in 1975.
On augmentation of the Ganga flow, the Commission agreed with the view that
it would be feasible to increase the dry-season flow of the river by some means but
the two sides gave two different schemes. India proposed augmentation of flow by
diverting water from the Brahmaputra to the Ganga at Farakka by a link canal. This
was in line with Clause 17 of the Joint Declaration of May 1974. Bangladesh pro-
posed augmentation through storages in the Ganga basin in its uppermost reaches,
involving Nepal as a third party. India's proposal involved excavation of about
220 mile (352 km) long canal, joining the Brahmaputra with the Ganga above
the Farakka Barrage, which will pass through Assam in India, Rangpur district of
Bangladesh and then through Dinajpur and Malda districts of West Bengal. It also
involved construction of a barrage across the Brahmaputra at Jogigapa in Goalpara
district in Assam. On the other hand, Bangladesh proposal involved construction of
a number of storage dams on rivers Kosi, Gandak, Karnali etc. within Nepal and
bringing down the stored water to the Ganga through the rivers of north Bengal and
Bangladesh, like Kosi, Mahananda, Karatoya etc. which will also generate hydro-
electricity for utilization by three countries. However, neither side could agree to
the other's proposal. In this stalemate, Indian delegates proposed seeking instruc-
tion from the two governments by referring the matter to them through the JRC in
the spirit of the Joint Declaration; this was also not agreed to by Bangladesh. Thus,
the JRC was sharply divided. Considerable data in respect of the Farakka Barrage
Project, which were sought by Pakistan since 1960, were supplied by India; these
were detailed hydrological information on the Ganga and the Hooghly, Calcutta
port statistics, salinity, silt and dredging data etc. India also arranged for the visit
of Pakistan experts to the Farakka project site in October, 1968. They differed with
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