Teesta Waters Agreement

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

India and Bangladesh are likely to ink at least one major river agreement later this month. Apart from the major agreements under discussion, sharing of data of river waters and better flood control planning are expected to feature in the upcoming meeting of the Joint River Commission (JRC) that will meet in the last week of August ahead of PM Bangladesh September 6-7 India visit.

• There is a “strong possibility” that an agreement on the Kushiyara that flows from Assam into Bangladesh is part of one such agreement that may get “done” 

Teesta Water Dispute:

• Teesta River is a tributary of the Brahmaputra (known as Jamuna in Bangladesh). It flows through India and Bangladesh.
• The river rises in the eastern Himalayas. It further flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal to Bangladesh. It then enters the Bay of Bengal.
• The Teesta water dispute is the most contentious issue between India and Bangladesh.
• However, the Teesta river water sharing agreement has not gotten signed yet, due to opposition from West Bengal.
• Drainage: It covers nearly the entire floodplains of Sikkim while draining 2,800 sq km of Bangladesh. For West Bengal, it is the lifeline of half-a-dozen districts in North Bengal.
• Bangladesh sought a fair and equitable distribution of Teesta waters from India, on the lines of the Ganga Water Treaty 1996.
• The treaty is an agreement to share surface waters at the Farakka Barrage near their mutual border.
• In 2015, the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Dhaka generated expectations to take forward the issue but it still remains unresolved.
• In India, individual states have significant influence over transboundary agreements, impeding the policy making process.
• West Bengal is one of the key stakeholders of the Teesta agreement and is yet to endorse the deal.