India and Bangladesh in talks for major river agreement ahead of PM Hasina’s visit

India and Bangladesh in talks for major river agreement ahead of PM Hasina’s visit

Subject : Geography

Section: Mapping

Context: 

• There is a “strong possibility” that an agreement on the Kushiyara that flows from Assam into Bangladesh is part of one such agreement that may get “done” during the Joint River Commission (JRC).
• The Awami League government has been insistent on sealing the Teesta waters agreement, which has eluded settlement so far.
• It is understood that the next JRC will focus on the “positive side” and take the negotiation beyond the Teesta and to “other big rivers” and intensify collaboration on the rivers like Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gomti, Dharla and Dudhkumar, where India and Bangladesh have greater scope of collaboration.
• Bangladesh and India share 54 rivers and Dhaka has been keen on accessing more data from the Indian side to plan better fisheries and flood control strategies.
• Both sides are also expected to take up the Ganga Waters Treaty of 1996 that is scheduled to be renewed in 2026.

Ganga Waters Treaty of 1996

• The treaty was signed by Prime Minister D. Deve Gowda and PM Hasina in December 12, 1996 and was expected to be renewed after thirty years.
• It is an agreement to share surface waters at the Farakka Barrage near their mutual border based on “equitable” distribution

About Teesta river:

• Teesta river is a tributary of the Brahmaputra (known as Jamuna in Bangladesh), flowing through India and Bangladesh.
• It originates in the Himalayas near Chunthang, Sikkim and flows to the south through West Bengal before entering Bangladesh.
• The Teesta Barrage dam helps to provide irrigation for the plains between the upper Padma and the Jamuna.

The Kushiyara River

• The Kushiyara River is a distributary river in Bangladesh and Assam, India.
• It forms on the India-Bangladesh border as a branch of the Barak River, when the Barak separates into the Kushiyara and Surma.
• The waters of the Kushiyara thus originate in the state of Nagaland in India and pick up tributaries from Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.