Necessity of Regional Co-operation - The Ganga: Water Use in the Indian Subcontinent - page 272

sell hydro-power to India and Bangladesh in a big way. An index plan of three
river basins is shown in Fig. 14.3. On the other hand, as stated, Bangladesh has
excess water, especially in monsoon months, which go waste, as it flows into the
sea. High floods damage the crop and cause shortage of food and power for an
exploding population and tardy industrial growth. Inter-basin transfer of water in a
large scale to boost agriculture, transport and generation of hydro-power can mate-
rialize with bilateral negotiations and understanding with India. Unless this is done,
Bangladesh can never achieve a balance of trade with India. The Ganga Water
Treaty of 1996 was possible through such bilateralism. As it is, the Ganga basin
is already developed and water available to it may not be in excess of the future
requirement of India and Nepal. Therefore, the water resources of the Brahmaputra
and the Meghna, which are almost untapped, can be gainfully utilized by construct-
ing storage dams, barrages at suitable locations and also by inter-basin transfer of
water from the Brahmaputra to the Ganga, as proposed by Indian representatives
of the Joint River Commission (JRC) for augmenting the Ganga flow at Farakka.
Construction of dams across the tributaries of the Brahmaputra, such the Subansiri,
the Dihang and the Lohit in Indian soil and at Tipaimukh across the Meghna will
help produce massive hydro-power for use by both countries.
The Working Group of ESCAP (earlier ECAFE) in Bangkok reported in 1968
that as the Brahmaputra during her long journey through Tibet into India goes
through seven major falls and along precipitous gradients, it has potential for huge
hydro-power which would have been equal to the total global production of elec-
tricity in that year. Harnessing of this massive potential would also help mitigate the
flood hazards that Brahmaputra leaves on the Assam valley in India and Bangladesh,
almost every year.
This would be possible through regional co-operation between India and China at
the first instance and with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal at a later stage, with tech-
nical and financial assistance by the USA, Japan, Russia, Canada, Britain and some
international agencies under the United Nations. There has not been much progress
in this direction and as it appears, Bangladesh which will benefit the most from such
cooperation with India and other concerned countries is not much interested.
Augmentation of the Ganga flow at Farakka by inter-basin transfer of water from
the Brahmaputra basin to that of the Ganga, as proposed by India, will not only
revive Calcutta Port, improve navigability, but will be an immense source of irriga-
tion, increase crop yield along its banks, generate ample hydro-power and mitigate
flood hazards in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam and Bangladesh. The World Bank
is of the view that such diversion would be a more logical and better economic
solution of the problems of water scarcity in both countries, but the merits of the
diversion and its timing need careful examination. Some 566 cumecs, or 20,000
cusecs to 1,132 cumecs, or 40,000 cusecs, can be transferred from the Brahmaputra
to the Ganga without creating much problem in the river. The World Bank adds that
there could be potentiality to use almost the entire dry-season flow of the Ganga
which would boost agriculture and industry in India's upper riparian States.
On the other hand, Bangladesh held that there would be enough water in the
Ganga basin for India, Nepal and Bangladesh; therefore, augmentation must be