This book deals with environmental effects on both sides of the border between Bangladesh and India caused by the Ganges water diversion. This issue came to my attention in early 1976 when news media in Bangladesh and overseas, began publications of articles on the unilateral withdrawal of a huge quantity of water from the Ganges River through the commissioning of the Farakka Barrage in India. I first pursued the subject professionally in 1984 while working as a contributor for Bangladesh Today, Holiday and New Nation. During the next two decades, I followed the protracted hydro-political negotiations between the riparian countries in the Ganges basin, and I traveled extensively to observe the environmental and ecological changes in Bangladesh as well as India that occurred due to the water diversion. The Ganges, one of the longest rivers of the world originates at the Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas and flows across the plains of North India. Eventually the river splits into two main branches and empties into the Bay of Bengal. The conflict of diversion and sharing of the Ganges water arose in the middle of the last century when the government of India decided to implement a barrage at Farakka to resolve a navigation problem at the Kolkata Port.

scihub/10.1007/978-1-4020-2792-5.pdf

Kluwer Academic Publishers

Springer London, Limited

Springer Netherlands

Springer Nature

Water science and technology library, 49, Dordrecht, 2005

Water Science and Technology Library, 49, Dordrecht, 2004

United States, United States of America

1, 20060203

lg2777989

This book presents multi-disciplinary analyses of the environmental effects and implications in Bangladesh and India of the Ganges water diversion. The analyses demonstrate that the downstream part of the Ganges River basin in Bangladesh, which has a sensitive ecosystem, has become very vulnerable to water diversion and as a result it has caused significant damage to many economic sectors and ecosystems. Areas upstream of the Farakka Barrage in India have become more vulnerable to floods and riverbank erosion. The Kolkata Port has marginally benefited from the water diversion. In the Hooghly River estuary, populations of flora and fauna have thrived. In the downstream areas of Bangladesh costly adaptation measures have been adopted and in many cases damages are irreparable. A regional cooperative framework is presented to foster water resources and environmental development in the Ganges River basin

2020-08-30