Agreements & MOUs - The Ganga: Water Use in the Indian Subcontinent - page 184

Table 10.8 Estimate of dry season water demand and storage capacity

Sl. no. Assessment Demand Probable Storage

A) Indian's Assessment

a) For Nepal Not estimated Not estimated

b) For India

320,000 (cusecs)

i) Irrigation (Rabi season)

ii) Calcutta Port 40,000 (cusecs) 80,000 (cusecs)

To t a l 360,000 (cusecs) 80,000 (cusecs)

c) For Bangladesh

i) Irrigation 50,000 (cusecs)
ii) For Gorai River 5,000 (cusecs)
To t a l : 55,000 (cusecs)
Total (India's Assessment-excluding Nepal) 415,000 (cusecs) 80,000 (cusecs)

B) Bangladesh Assessment

i) For Nepal

24 (MAF) 50 (MAF)

130,000 (cusecs)

For India 150 (MAF) 54 (MAF)

180,000 (cusecs)

iii) For Bangladesh 33 (MAF)

Total (Bangladesh Assessment) 207 (MAF)

614,000 (cusecs)

104 (MAF)
310,000 (cusecs)

considered, highlighting the needs of different parts of India and also the problem
of flooding of both the countries. The proposal described a 'flood-drought-flood
syndrome', a perennial problem for both Bangladesh and India and indicated the
urgency and importance of control of floods and removal of drought, facing both
the countries.
India realized that simultaneous development of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra
basins would be absolutely necessary for the development of water resources in
two countries, on which hinged the welfare of more than 400 million people in the
two river-basins, which was nearly one-tenth of the world's population. Though the
implementation of such schemes would be very expensive and need high techni-
cal expertise, large-scale development of both the countries would be possible only
with such an effort. A joint venture for the development of the two basins by linking
the Ganga and the Brahmaputra and facilitating inter-basin transfer of water could
open up a new communication system, develop agriculture, generate hydro-electric
power, increase fish breeding and catch and many other allied benefits. Scarcity of
water in the Bhagirathi, the Jalangi, the Mathabhanga and the Gorai would be mit-
igated and Calcutta Port in India and Chalna port in Bangladesh would improve.
B. G. Verghese, a renowned former editor of a major Indian newspaper and asso-
ciated with a noted think-tank, the 'Centre for Policy Research' New Delhi, in a
lecture delivered in New Delhi on 12 th December 1977 remarked: