Dhaka, Delhi agree to ink framework accord

Bangladesh and India have agreed to sign a framework agreement for sharing of the waters of six common rivers - Manu, Muhuri, Gomti, Dharla, Dudhkumar and Khowai at the technical committee meeting of the Joint River Commission (JRC).
During the meeting, Bangladesh requires detailed information on the 'use' of waters of the common rivers for ensuring her equal rights over the water flows of the common rivers as a downstream country.
"Both the sides shared information of these six common rivers. We shared data of the 'certain points' from 1996 to 2018. We requested them to provide all information of the use of waters of these rivers to calculate the exact amount of our share," an official said preferring anonymity.
However, the technical committee of the JRC concluded its two-day virtual meeting on Wednesday without making any comments or discussion on water sharing of Teesta River.
"Both the governments are going to take preparations to hold the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) meeting prior to the Prime Minister level meeting between Bangladesh and India in March. This meeting is part of that," a senior official said.
Senior officials from Dhaka and New Delhi discussed 10 points - Six from Bangladesh and four from India - at the meeting. The meeting has been taken place after three years.
Meanwhile, the commission assessed the sharing of the      water of the River Ganges, Padma in Bangladesh, in 2020 under an agreement signed in 1996 on the matter, said the officials.
Bangladesh in five months in the lean season, from January to May, in 2020 received more water than the amount agreed in the deal, a senior official claimed.
But Bangladesh-India experts committee said different thing.
A six-member expert team from Bangladesh and India started the water measurement and monitoring in January 2, 2021, which will continue till May 31.
About 14,000 cusecs of water less is available at Pakshi Hardinge Bridge Point this year compared to January last year, according to the Pabna Water Development Board's water Hydraulic Department.
In the first 10 days from January 1 last year, there was 1.61 lakh cusecs of water in the Ganges at Farakka Point. Of this, Bangladesh's share was 60,071 cusecs and India's share was 40,000 cusecs.
At the same time, the amount of water at Hardinge Bridge Point was about 1.25 lakh cusecs whereas, currently only 88 thousand cusecs of water is available there.
Issues like construction of river embankment to prevent erosion, two-km stretch of the un-demarcated Mahurirchar land and other unresolved matters were also discussed at the meeting.
The Indian side discuss that they wants to lift more water from the Feni River.
"Presently they (India) are withdrawing 1.82 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the Feni River. They want to strike the final deal on the issue," a senior official said.
India and Bangladesh share as many as 54 rivers and there's only one agreement between them - to share the waters of the Ganges River that was signed in December 1996.
It has become difficult to protect river banks from erosion along the border in Rajshahi, Chapainwabganj, Rangpur, Kurigram and Sylhet districts.
The rivers constituting the border often change their course due to erosion inside Bangladesh territory, creating problems for the people living along the frontiers.
Despite the finalisation of all formalities after a survey, the Indian side has refused to sign the final agreement on a two-km stretch of the un-demarcated Mahurirchar land for long, sources said.
About 3,000 acres in Majorgaon, Amolshid, Lakshmibazar, Sultanpur, Senapatirchak and Manikpur in Zakiganj upazila are now part of the Indian state of Assam due to erosion by the Kushiyara, while 250 acres in Ballah, Uttarkul, Munshibazar, Rosulpur and Dighli on the banks of the Surma River in Sylhet region have also been washed away to India due to erosion on the Bangladesh side.
As per the Mujib-Indira Treaty of 1974, the midstream of the rivers forms the border between the two countries.
But as the rivers have shifted their courses inside Bangladesh territory, Bangladeshis are being deprived of their cultivable land, which has fallen on the Indian side following erosion, according to sources in the Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB).