Dhaka: Bangladesh on Wednesday approved a mega project to build a barrage on the Padma river, saying the structure is expected to help "negate the negative impact" of India's Farakka Barrage upstream.
The development comes months before the 1996 Indo-Bangladesh Ganges Water Sharing Treaty is due to expire in December. Padma river is known as Ganges in India.
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The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, cleared the first phase of the Padma Barrage project at an estimated cost of Tk 34,497.25 crore (approx USD 280 million), officials here said.
One of the main objectives of the project is to store water on the Bangladesh side to "negate the negative impact of the Farakka Barrage" on the Ganges, Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee told reporters after the ECNEC meeting.
He, however, clarified that issues relating to the 54 common rivers shared by India and Bangladesh are not linked to the project.
The minister said the barrage is being built in Bangladesh's national interest and did not require any discussion with India.
"Padma Barrage is a matter of Bangladesh's own interest and there is no need for any discussion with India over the issue," he said.
Anee, however, said discussions with India on the Ganges waters are continuing.
India commissioned the 2,240-metre-long Farakka Barrage in West Bengal in 1975 to divert water from the Ganges into the Hooghly river in order to flush out silt and maintain the navigability of the Kolkata port.
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The Farakka issue has long remained a sensitive subject in Bangladesh, with successive governments and experts alleging that reduced dry-season water flows downstream caused salinity intrusion, river degradation and adverse effects on agriculture and ecology in Bangladesh.
India has consistently maintained that the Farakka Barrage was built primarily to preserve the Kolkata port and that water-sharing issues have been addressed through bilateral mechanisms and agreements, including the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty between the two countries.
