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Khaleda against India linking rivers

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA Sept. 18. The Bangladesh Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, says she is hopeful that India will not unilaterally withdraw water from the international rivers through its much-publicised river-linking projects.

Answering questions from ruling alliance lawmakers in Parliament on Wednesday, she said Bangladesh had conveyed its concern to India through the diplomatic channels as the project would cause "great damage to the country's environment, agriculture, industries and overall ecology."

She said that India's proposed masterplan for inter-linking the rivers was against the international laws.

"Bangladesh is keeping a close watch on the developments and gathering information from various sources for scrutiny. A high-powered taskforce is engaged in reviewing the whole matter," she said.

Quoting experts, she said that if India went ahead with its plan, not only Bangladesh but also other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries like Nepal and Bhutan would also be affected. She said that as a member of SAARC, Bangladesh always maintained good relations with India and never done anything that could cause it damage. It expected this to be reciprocated, she said.

Referring to newspaper reports, she said that once the Indian masterplan was implemented, water from the Brahmaputra and its important tributaries such as Manosh, Sangkosh, Torsha and Raidhak would be diverted through Subarna Rekha of West Bengal and Mahanadi of Urishya to Krishna- Cauvery in the Deccan and Maharashtra and Gujarat of the western region.

Experts had said that there would be "serious repercussions" in Bangladesh if the water of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra were diverted, she said.

Pointing out that the Ganges and the Brahmaputra were the main sources of Bangladesh's dry season water availability, she said that if water was drawn from these two, it would cause colossal damage to Bangladesh.

She, however, did not reply to a question whether the Government had taken any decision on raising the issue at international fora.

Replying to another question, she said the country shared 54 common rivers with India and three others with Myanmar, but because of its disadvantageous geographic location, it was not in a position to control the flow of these rivers.

The Government was making efforts to dredge the rivers and canals as drought had become a regular feature of life in the northern region.

Due to water withdrawal by India during the dry season, the regions in Bangladesh dependent on the Ganges experienced drought and salinity, she said.

Referring to media reports in India, the Prime Minister said the Indian leaders made statements in favour of the river grid project that would cost more than $2 billion.

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