What Went Wrong? - The Ganga: Water Use in the Indian Subcontinent - page 215

Chapter 11
What Went Wrong?
Reactions to the 1996 Treaty were diverse and both in praise and blame. Some
people welcomed it and praised New Delhi and Dhaka for reaching a long-term
accord at last. Others criticized it, alleging that it would harm the interests of both
the countries, particularly of Calcutta Port and would not resuscitate the Hooghly-
Bhagirathi, to the extent envisaged and the very purpose of the barrage would be
defeated in the long run. Some questioned and suspected the role, played by Jyoti
Basu and Dr. Asim Dasgupta, his Finance Minister and felt that they had sacrificed
the interests of West Bengal and of India at large.
What is the truth behind these mixed and diverse reactions? In my view, there
were certain questions and issues which the Treaty did not address, or did it
perfunctorily; these are:
a) Were the problems of the two countries about the Ganga genuine?
b) Was it necessary to sign such a long-term (30-year) treaty in haste?
c) Were all major issues regarding the Ganga addressed in depth?
d) Were all affected parties consulted before inking the accord?
e) Was a long-term treaty really necessary?
f) Was the treaty technically sound and its implementation feasible?
g) Could national debates be held in two countries before signing the
accord?
I venture to deal with these questions from my long association with the Farakka
Barrage project, right from its foundation-laying to the conclusion of the 1996
Treaty and beyond (My answers below are in the same sequence, as above).
a) The unbridgeable differences between the two countries arose from (i) the
stands, adopted by each; (ii) diverse opinions on the technical schemes for aug-
mentation of the Ganga flow at Farakka; (iii) absence of stable governments in
both the countries before and after the Treaty; (iv) India's policy of bilateralism
toward Bangladesh; (v) India's refusal to involve Nepal as a third party to solve the
augmentation problem.
New Delhi held that as the Ganga river flowed within the two countries, India
and Bangladesh, both the issues of sharing of water and augmentation of flow were