Greenwatch ReportA day-long dialogue in Dhaka on August 21 discussed issues of creating an enabling environment in the interest of the co-management of Brahmaputra River and improved water governance by Bangladesh and India.It’s aim was to develop collective information contributing to collective knowledge of the basin that is expected to provide insights into co-management of this transboundary river with a view to addressing the future of the river’s water resources, the people and the ecosystems dependent on them.
The dialogue, jointly organised by the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM), BUET, South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies, India (saciWATERs), and the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IITG) is the first of two country-level meetings. The second country-level dialogue is to be held at Guwahati following which a third synthesis meeting will be held to firm up the initiative.
The meeting brought together researchers, academicians, water professionals, representatives from NGOs and representatives from the media to discuss Brahmaputra related dialogues or policy for co-management of the river and to exchange ideas for future probable platform of mutual interactions.
The programme is being funded by the Asia Foundation, New Delhi, under a project titled ‘Transnational Policy Dialogue for Improved Water Governance of Brahmaputra River’. Project papers say, the overall goal of this activity is to influence policies for joint management of Brahmaputra River by Bangladesh, India and other countries which contribute to the flow of the river.
The objectives are to a) create a regional knowledge base and network of actors to inform and influence policy for co-management of the river; b) facilitate forums for learning about issues critical to the future of the river’s resources, people and ecosystems dependent on them, enhance capability of key actors to develop people-oriented and ecosystem-friendly policies; and c) write about the need for co-management of the river using popular and Internet-based media.
The Brahmaputra River Basin, the mainstream of which originates from the Tibetan Plateau, is the biggest trans-Himalayan river basin, encompassing parts of the territory, ecosystems, people, economies and politics of China, Bhutan, India and Bangladesh. The basin covers an area of 651,335 square kilometres and is home to about 118 million people with a density of 182 people per square kilometre.
In the Dhaka meeting Dr. Anjal Prakash of SaciWATER made an impressive presentation on the Indian perspectives on the Brahmaputra and said that approaches to management of the river would be different from what we have now if there is proper understanding of ‘sharing’ of its water and the fragility of the ecosystems dependent on it.
He said when the water ministers of Bangladesh and India meet they bring with them baggage (bureaucrats who hold rigid traditional positions). The union government of India views water from a security point of view and concentrate on hydropower generation in Utter khand and Sikkim. But there is wastage of resources for unplanned development. The official Indian position is also characterised by inefficiency, corruption, technical bias and non-sharing of information. With China constructing some structures at upstreams of the Brahmaputra however, ‘we are now at a receiving end as China is also not sharing information,’ he said.
In Sikkim there are eight dams within a stretch of 120 kilometres for which waters of the Teesta are being diverted. At downstream, the Teesta is no longer the same mighty as it used to be in the past. Anjal Prakash thus asserted that even if the Teesta water sharing treaty was signed it cannot be said for sure how much of water would flow into the Bangladesh part.
He deplored that the rivers are not looked upon as rivers but viewed from the point of view of national boundaries, and underscored co-management of these systems. Anjal however opined that if viewed from the perspectives of poverty, agriculture needs and climate change vulnerability of the people of the North Eastern states of India Bangladesh might be in a disadvantaged position to assert its water claims.
Dr Anjal Prakash stressed that skills other than technical engineering expertise are required to facilitate and enable the trans-boundary water negotiation process. “Diplomatic and negotiation skills are needed together with an understanding of the technicalities. Multi-track diplomacy often comes handy in complex negotiations between countries,” he added.
Keynote speaker water expert Prof. Ainun Nishat claimed on the other hand that dams would increase flow of rivers instead of decreasing the same and said he expected Teesta flow augmentation following the construction of dams at upstream in Inidia.
Prof. Nishat, Vice-Chancellor of BRAC University, underlined the need for collective efforts of all co-riparian countries of the Brahmaputra including China, if she is interested, for a basinwide approach to co-management of the river shifting from the principle of water sharing at border. He said that the Joint Communiqués of the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh of January 2010, September 2011, and their Framework for Cooperation of September 2011 contained the political mandate for a shift to this approach by mankin mention of common basin management of common rivers for mutual benefit, to enhance navigability and accessibility of river routes and ports; and .. to preserve common ecosystems.
He described the Brahmaputra as Bangladesh’s main river accounting for 70 of her water flow. The Ganges contributes 10 per cent, the Meghna five percent and remaining 10 percent comes from 51 other common rivers. Narrating the course of negotiations pursued since 1972 Prof Nishat saw flaws in the Bangladesh position at different times and said time was ripe now to pursue negotiations based on a holistic approach making use of the political guidelines provided for, instead of maintaining rigid positions. He described how India’s rigid bilateral approach overtime changed to basinwide approach after going through a ‘simultaneous and concomitant’ move to secure third party participation following the deluge of 1988 and the public statements made by Indian’s then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to address such disasters.
Bangladesh being a small neighbour and lacking power equity with India, should welcome involvement of other countries to create independent bodies to oversee basin-wide management of the river. Apart from the co-riparian countries – he made mention of a recent tripartite meeting in Dhaka of Bangladesh, Bhutan and India – Prof Nishat made mention of the US and the UN which are also taking interest in sustainable management of the rivers. ‘If we can restore navigation, the rivers will survive,” he said adding, a basinwide approach should encompass hydropower, navigation, co-operation in water management as well as cross-border pollution.
Former Advisor of caretaker government Ambassador CM Shafi Sami dwelt on the international law governing trans-boundary water resources sharing and management which have not become binding on the parties, and underscored the need to concretise and crystallise principles and laws relating to the precious water resources and to create institutional mechanism that will have capacity of enforcement as well as conflict resolution.
He said that the Indo-Bangla Joint Rivers Commission is a fragmented and partisan organisation reporting to the water and foreign ministries of their governments, but does not have a common office nor a common platform. The former Adviser made a plea for the establishment of a really integrated organisation which is multilateral and is more powerful to deliver results.
Shafi Sami expressed his confidence that the joint initiative for common understanding of the river, its resources, the people and the ecosystems dependenton it would greatly influence policies of all the co-riparian states to strive for quality governance of water of the Bahmaputra river.
Prof Mansur Rahman, director, IWFM, who presided over the inaugural session said that without involving those who are involved in the physical and biophysical processes of the rivers proper understanding of these systems would not be possible. He noted with caution that the more the intervention on the common rivers the less the inflow of sediment to the downstream with adverse impacts on delta building and its sustenance in Bangladesh.
Executive Director of the Joint Rivers Commission Jahid Hossain Jahangir dwelt on the temperature and rainfall variability between seasons in Bangladesh which formed seven percent of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Ganges Basins, and observed that the water problems of the country is compounded by overabundance of during the wet season and scarcity in the dry season. Thus supply is less when the demand is high during the dry season, he said emphasising on joint management of rivers for sharing their benefits.
Editor of Greenwatch Dhaka, Mostafa Kamal Majumder, drew attention to the plight of deltaic Bangladesh formed by the mighty rivers. Although the 93 per cent of the basins of the three major rivers – Ganges, Brahmaputra and the Meghna – lie outside Bangladesh, all these rivers flow through the country before emptying into the Bay of Bengal. Intervention on flows the rivers pose threat to physical security of the land due to interruption of the dynamic process that not only built the largest delta in he world over the millennia but also maintained its balance by putting layers of sand and sediment on the low-lying lands which experience regular subsidence for tectonic reasons.
He made mention of the ecosystem functions of the rivers and their services to life and livelihood, and said these systems should remain alive in order to benefit from their services by all. Quoting from Indian water expert Ramaswamy Iyer he said rivers don’t die, they are killed. Mostafa said fresh urge for dam building is being notices in the sub-continent when decommissioning of dams have started in the developed countries to offset their adverse impacts. Referring to a resolution adopted in an international water conference he said an initiative for sustainable management of all Himalayan rivers under a joint commission is urgent to sustain the environment, life and livelihood people in the region.
Prof. Rezaur Rahman of IWFM presented the findings of a study which showed that Ganges dolphins in the rivers of Bangladesh are under stress and their population is going down. This indicates shrinkage of their food supply and threat to habitat due to deterioration of the river ecosystem in the country underlining the need for identification of their causes to find remedies. The deterioration of the river ecosystem is bound to affect other flora and fauna, life and livelihoods, he said.
Malik Abdullah Fida Hasan, Director, Climate Change Study Division of CEGIS, Dhaka, narrated the international instruments adopted since the 1992 Earth Summit for sustainable development of water resources and the emphasis put on basin-wide and integrated management of water resources for the benefit of all.
Engineer Mozadded Farooq told the audience that there is nothing as excess of water during the wet season because that much of water is needed to flush the basin and recharge its ground water all over including Bangladesh.
Ambassador Human Kabir, Vice President, Bangladesh Enterprises Institute drew attention to securitisation of the water issue and fragmented thinking on the same. Talk of water sharing from Farakka means we have nothing to say on what is happening beyond Farakka. As a big neighbour India pushed the policy of bilateralism, we also competed – the result was competition not cooperation. He said that while India remained solid on its stand, Bangladesh had problems of building national consensus on the issue. We also had weak backward linkages and lack of coordination with civil society groups, he said.
Huayun Kabir noted the sub-regional development initiatives that have emerged and the SAARC, though weak now, underlining the needs for economic integration of the region. Against this backdrop creative diplomacy is the need of the hour. The emergence of India as an economic power has also created a positive environment because a confident India is better for its neighbours. He said that the JRC should be reformed to address transnational issues of water resources from flood control to irrigation and ecosystems management.
Secretary to the government for Rural Development and Cooperatives Mr Mihir Kanti Majumder presented an IUCN study how life and livelihood in Bangladesh are dependent on the river ecosystems that need to be protected from destruction. Prof. mashfiqus Salehin of IWFM who moderated the third session on advocacy and diplomacy hoped the initiative would succeed to meet its goal and objectives.
Speakers at the meeting said that this dialogue approach will result in a an open environment that enables listening to each other and starting to understand each other’s view points, not hampered by political or other power oriented positions.
The participants acclaimed the positive environment created by IWFM, BUET in initiating a transnational dialogue and felt that these processes will go a long way in having more trust and better outcomes for the benefit of the Brahmaputra River and people whose livelihood and basic survival is dependent on co-management of the river.
