Ganga flood pressure rises, Bihar urges West Bengal to open all Farakka gates

The risk of flooding in India’s Bihar is intensifying as water levels in the Ganges rise. The pressure has also reached the Farakka Barrage. Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Sunday made an urgent request to West Bengal Chief Minister Shuvendu Adhikari to open all the gates of the Farakka Barrage to control the flooding. He said opening the gates would allow the Ganges water to flow more quickly and help manage the flood situation in Bihar.

In a post on X, Samrat Choudhary wrote, “Considering the rising water level of the Ganga River and the flood situation in Bihar, I spoke over the phone today with the Honorable Chief Minister of West Bengal, Shri Shuvendu Adhikari, and requested that all the gates of the Farakka Barrage be opened.”

He said Shuvendu had assured him that prompt action would be taken on the matter.

The Bihar chief minister wrote, “Opening the gates of the Farakka Barrage will normalize the flow of Ganga water and help control the flood situation in Bihar. Chief Minister Shri Shuvendu Adhikari has assured that prompt action will be taken in this regard. The safety and relief of Bihar are our highest priority.”

Earlier in August 2024, all 109 gates of the Farakka Barrage were opened after water levels in the Ganges rose following heavy rainfall in Bihar and Jharkhand. Reports that nearly 1.1 million cusecs of water would be released at once raised concerns about flooding in Bangladesh. However, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said at the time that this did not immediately create a flood risk in the Ganges Padma basin of the country.

Meanwhile, Janata Dal United lawmaker from Bihar Sanjay Jha has expressed concern over the 1996 Farakka Barrage agreement between India and Bangladesh. He said Bihar’s interests must be taken into consideration before the agreement is renewed.

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has assured that the concern would be raised during discussions on renewing the agreement. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary told the media about this on Saturday. A day earlier, on Friday, August 21, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Janata Dal United Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Kumar Jha met Jaishankar in New Delhi. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior officials from the External Affairs, Jal Shakti and Finance ministries were also present at the meeting.

India and Bangladesh share 54 transboundary rivers. Under the 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, water is distributed through the Farakka Barrage during the dry season. However, despite several rounds of bilateral discussions over the sharing of Teesta River water, no solution has yet been reached.

A proposed agreement in 2011 called for India to receive 42.5 percent of the Teesta water and Bangladesh 37.5 percent. The remaining water was proposed to be distributed after considering other factors. However, the proposal was not implemented due to opposition from the West Bengal government.

Source: ANI, Times of India (Adapted)