New Delhi: As the Centre and West Bengal entered a tussle over water sharing between India and Bangladesh, the Union government sources accused the Mamata Banerjee-led government of spreading 'false claims', adding that the state government was kept in loop throughout the development.
The matter pertains to the 1996 Ganga water Sharing Treaty between India and Bangladesh. "False claims spread by West Bengal Government that they were not consulted on the Internal Review of the India-Bangladesh Treaty of 1996 on Sharing of the Ganga/Ganges Waters at Farakka," a government official, who requested anonymity, said.
The sources said that on July 24, last year, the Centre sought the West Bengal government's nominee in the Committee for carrying out an internal review of the India-Bangladesh Treaty of 1996 on Sharing of the Ganga/Ganges Waters at Farakka.
In August, the West Bengal government conveyed the nomination of Chief Engineer (Design & Research), Irrigation and Waterways Directorate, West Bengal government, for the Committee.
Following this, on April 5, this year, the Joint Secretary (Works), Irrigation and Waterways Department, West Bengal government, conveyed their total demand for the next 30 years from the stretch downstream of Farakka Barrage, the sources added.
This comes after West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing her reservations about the talks between the Centre and Bangladesh government on water sharing.
She alleged that the state government was not consulted before the negotiations, terming it a 'unilateral' decision by the Centre. CM Mamata also chaired a meeting with the chairman of municipalities and municipal corporations in Howrah, where she accused the BJP of renewing the Farakka Treaty without any consideration of the livelihoods of the people of Bengal.
Terming the BJP's "Bangla Birodhi" (anti-Bengal) mindset, she said the people of Bengal will "not remain silent." "Without any consideration for the livelihoods of the people of Bengal, PM Narendra Modi is in the process of renewing the India-Bangladesh Farakka Treaty. This is yet another demonstration of the @BJP4India-led Centre's Bangla-Birodhi mindset," CM Mamata said in the meeting.
"The people of Bengal will not remain silent while their rights and resources are bartered away by a government that has consistently shown contempt for their needs and aspirations," she added.
During Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina's visit to India last week, PM Modi said that the two countries have decided to start talks at the technical level for the renewal of the Ganga River treaty.
A technical team will also travel to Bangladesh to review the protection and management of the Teesta River in Bangladesh, he said. Following this, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said that a joint technical committee will initiate discussions for the renewal of the Ganges water sharing treaty.
He said that "conservation and management of the Teesta River" will also be undertaken in Bangladesh with suitable Indian assistance. Under the Farakka Agreement, India and Bangladesh agreed to share the water of River Ganga at Farakka, a dam on the Bhagirathi River around 10 km from the Bangladesh border.
The deal lapses in 2026. The Teesta River has a network of small channels with islands in between, created by the large amounts of sediment carried down from the Himalayas accumulating on the river bed. This causes frequent floods and severe erosion of the river bank during the monsoon, and in the dry season, the river basin faces a shortage of water.
