RIVER INTERLINKING

adeshIndia Relati ons

Imtiaz Ahmed

Te est a, Tip ai mu kh an d Riv er Lin kin g

Da nge r to Ba ngl

critics believe that Mamata also took the opportunity to pressurise Delhi for an economic package for her state in exchange for her consent to the Teesta agreement. Teesta Things have originateproved s, woulddifficult on be both accounts. willing Bringing Sikto sharekim into the with fold, in West addition to Bengal. West Bengal, This is afor negotiating fair de-an mand. international But then

The ent the conside Sup interlin rs the rem king of rivers e rivers of the Cou seems country rts to have . Just ver overloo Bangla dict ked the desh dire regiona shares ctin l and 54 g internat rivers the ional with Gov implica India. ern tions of Any men what unilater al t of the Indi Indian action a to Court by imp strange India on any lem ly

of its inte rnat iona l rive Im tia rs z will Ah me deg d rade (i mt its iaz rela alt er tion @ s g m wit ail h its .c o neig m) hbo tea ch urs es whi Int er le nat also io nal adv Re erse lat io ly ns affe at the ctin Un g its ive rsi ecol ty ogy, of Dh eco ak no a, Ba my ng and lad soci es h. ety.

Ever

si nc e th e cu rre nt A w a mi Le ag ue re gi m e ca m e to po w er in 20 09 an d Ba ng la de sh si gn ed a

50-clause historic communi qu with India, following Banglade sh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas visit to New Delhi in January 2010, there has been great expectation with regard to the developm

ent ment between of over the two Bang Teesta counlades could nottries, h- be signedparticula India and itrly Teesta, relati was ons. cancelled Tipaimu Such at thekh and expe very lastIndias cminute. river tationStill, verylinking , few thinkproject, and see howe that ver, Banglade where got sh-India the relations slight relations hip is ly can go heading. marr back to One ed pre-2009 could fol- period of argue lowinuncertaint that g they, if not Mamata visit distant of neighbou Banerjee India rliness, had good s as onereasons Prim former to stall e Indian the Mini diplomat agreeme nt over ster once Man opined.1 Teesta with moha Banglade n But is Sing that thesh. From her h tocase? Dhak Can westandpoi a inseriously nt, given Septe speak ofthe paucity m- a ber qualitativof water 2011, e changeand before particin ularl Bangla- deciding to share deshy with when India the relations Banglawater ? Let medesh, she wanted a shari limit ng myself toguarante from agree issues ofe

water

Delh agreeme caused to i asnt wouldPrime to dilute theMinister how power ofManmoh muc the an Singh h federal by wate governm dropping r ent andout from Sikki that ishis travel m, somethin enwher g Delhitourage e the is to Dhaka the unwillin at g tolast allow. minute. As forJust for the eco-this nomic alone, package Delhi probably from Delhi inis exchange unwillin g to for consenti deliver ng tothe Indias economi foreign c policy package initiative to vis--vis Mamata Banglade so easily. sh, indeed, aTeestas Implicat federal ions matter, But lack amounts of to progress blackm on ail-ing Teesta the meant central three governm things. ent over First, and there is above now the pressure embarras on the sment ruling that Awami Mamata League had

dom ty, thatside of es- the India to ticall ruling another y, party through with gave Banglade the in tosh. critic Indias Second, ism demands there is bein while now a g getting slight mou little instrain in nted return. the by And thisDhakathe with Delhi oppo respect relations sitio to thehip, with n, asagreeme the well nt on theformer as atransit, privately sizea understo blaming ble od, the latter secti however, that the on ofmore inincident the the sensehas not non- of aonly parti moveme irked san nt ofHasina civil goods personall socie from oney, but
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RIVER INTERLINKING

rorism who also meeting supposed cost of the ly are the experts less than rulin from the keen on g South a newer Awa Asian Banglade mi Asso- sh-India Leag ciation relaue for tionship, its Regional including face. Cooperat panNow ion Bengali it has counfondto tries ness, salva hosted as it ge by Delhi would the in create situat February space ion for 2 by 2012. Banglade takin Finally, shi g a there is entrepren less now eurs flexi misgivin and ble, g in make if Banglade them sh not competit about an ors, apath Mamata particula etic, Banerjee rly in s postu the re motives. northagain Question east st s are states of Delh being India asked i. where And whether these her this nonoppositio beca Bengali n to me business Teesta clear men hold when and the a monoBang exchangepoly on of lades economi enclaves h, c inter has more activities estin to do . But gly with alon defendin then g the Teesta is g with interests not the Pakis of the sole tan, non- issue. faile Bengali Sharing d to business of waters atten communi on other d a ty in rivers, coun West particterter Bengal, ularly

Feni cost thedams, in as ruling and well Awa-mi this as League respect Man dearly atthe proposed u, home Muh since itTipaimu uri, too haskh Dam Kho to face ahas wai, national already Gum election played ti, in a yearsome Dhar and halfrole in marring la from Banglade and now! sh-India Dud Delhi hku needs torelations. mar, reflect And all on thisthere are got seriously good stalle and actreasons d asaccordin for this. a gly if it Critics resul wants to, t ofconsolid particula India ate therly s, orprogress environ rathe in Ban-mentalist and r gladesh- s several Mam India atas, relations technical experts, faux made pas thus far. on both sides of over the Damme the border Teestd a. AWhen ithave resol comes toquestion the ution water, ed feasibilit of the and the sharing y issue of riverssafety of anthe befor on equitable proposed e India basis isdam. s only one next aspect of feder the al problem electifacing on Banglade seem sh-India s un-relations. likel No less y, problema is but tic Indias that coul passion to d develop

ration of The 412 origi MW, nal that is, consi less than derat 30% of ion the for installed the capacity. dam 3 was Peo-ple to residing the contain area in the soon flood reflected the wate on r inimpact the the Cach construct of ar ion the dam plain s ofwould Assa have on m their but livelihoo and later d the began to emp oppose hasis the of project, the the as foldam shift lowing ed toreport hydr indicates oelec : tric powe r gene ratio n. The dam will have an installe d capa city of 1,50 0 MW with only a firm gene
Antidam campaig ners continue to voice against the construc tion of Tipaimu kh Dam in the State [of Manipur ]. United Commu nity Developme nt Platform , Moirang , Peoples Action for Develop mentTiddim, Social

Action Committee, Moirang -B Gram Panchay at and Bishnupur District Youth Council joined organise d a cycle rally at Moirang today.... Later, the rallyists faxed a memora ndum to Prime Minister Dr Manmo han Singh demandi ng the revocation of memora ndums of understa nding (MoUs) signed among Manipur Govern ment, National Hydro Electric Power Corporat ion and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL ) on 28 April 2010 and 22 October 2011 for the construc tion of Tipaimu kh Dam at the confluence of Tuivai and Barak rivers.

De m. Thei-cal ma memodrought, ndi randum and ng also pro demand unpredict tec ed forable tio immedi outcome n ate halt of of allfrom en the possible vir process seismic on es of me Tipaim changes, loss of nt, ukh na- Dam agricultu tur constru ral e, c-tion, ind taking producti ige consent on to the no from massive us people displace life in this an regard ment of d and people. tra constru And it is diti ction of on, small this the dams alarm me instead that got mo of big reflected dams. in ran The du represe January m ntation 2010 als also joint o reminde str d thecommuni ess prime qu and ed minister later in on that 7.8 up million the hol trees Septemb din and er 2011 g 24,82,2 joint ind 22 ige hectares statemen t issued no of us forest by pe will be Hasina opl submer es ged ifand rig Tipaim Manmoh hts ukh an, The an Dam is d commis Prime spe sioned.4 Minister llin Simila of India g reiterated out r is the cle oppositio the arl n to theassuranc y that ine the dam India pur Banglade - sh withwould pos reasons not take e steps on of ranging the co from nst environ Tipaimu ruc kh tio mental project n degradati that of on, the hydrolog would da adversel

y of impa ill-afford adversel ct given they itaffecting Bang risk had lades Banglade h. taken tosh-India But re-solve relations. then, some ofAnd India the there are s contentio good un- us issuesreasons willi that hadfor this. ngne marred Bangl ss tothe adesh halt relations has 57 the hip crossproje between boundary ct isthe tworiv-ers, not countries of which only for over54 are creat three shared ing decades. with mistr India and ust Bolt the but from the remainin Blue also g three bad On thewith ofMyanma feeli top this, ngs r. Any insid almost change like ain e the Bang bolt fromflow of lades the blue,any of came thethe h 54 vis- Indian rivers -vis Supreme shared India Courts by , averdict Banglade 27sh and facto on February r India is whic 2012 inbound to h thefavour ofhave an rulin national adverse isation impact g Awa and on mi interBanglade Leag linking shs ue of economy coul rivers , society, of India,environd which, ment, like and even Teesta polity. and Banglade Tipaimu sh being kh, hasa riverine similar, and a if notlower greater, riparian potential country

rema major the ins river judgment sensi systems: states: tive the Indus Apart from to rivers; divertin matt the g water ers Himalay from of an rivers; rivers wate and the which are r, peninsul surplus, whet ar rivers. to deficit her Insofar inlan as Indus areas, the d orand river marit peninsul linking ime. ar river plan in its But systems ultimat let usare e stage examconcerne of ine d there is develo p-ment the little will India Banglade also n sh can do enable flood Supr as modera eme changes tion. It Cour in those was compri t ver-river sed of dict systems two and do not compo see affect nents: to Banglade Peninsular what sh Rivers extendirectly. Develo t Although pment Bang much of and Himala lades the yan h Rivers content Develo need of the pment. s toSupreme The be Courts first worriverdict involve d major ed deals interabou with the linking t. Ipeninsul of the will ar river river system limit systems s and myse there is the lf to latter one envisag four reference ed the areas to the constru . Himalay ction of storFir an rivers age st, system reservo the and that irs on river is where the princip syste Banglade al ms. shs tributar India ies of worries rivers has lie. As Ganga three

an d Br ah ma put ra in In dia , Bh uta n an d

Nepal. This was to help transfer surplus flows of the eastern tributar ies of the Ganga to the west, apart

from linking the main Brahm aputra and its tributar ies with the Ganga and Mahan adi rivers.

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RIVER INTERLINKING

d to theedges A Himalay that part an rivers The from system, Union of the including India and unan the some swer Brahmap states ed utra and have quest the shown their ion Ganga. concerns of The and their why verdict apprehe Bhut seems to nsions about an have and overlook these projects, Nepa ed the includin l g regional question woul and ing the d beinterreliabilit inter national y of ested implicati water in ons of supply from stor linking distant age what the sources, of Indian distribut surpl Court ion of us considers water given wate the the r andrivers of exist-ing have the tribunal them country. awards and the diver This continue ted indeed d availto may be ability India true with of existing , respect water there to the surpluse is peninsul s... also ar riversstill it the but cer-goes on probl tainly to claim em not forthat of the these havi Himalay project ng an rivers. s are in such Secon the nationa stora d, the l ge apprehen interest adve , as is sions and the rsely the dis- unanim affec senters. ous ting Although view of Bang all the experts, lades verdict most h, as of the state its govern Indian river ments Supreme s are and particul linke Court acknowl

arl d by aproject y, similar constitut the statemen es the ce thisunanin- t: mous tra Court l may notview of go be veryall ver appropri experts nm remains ent ate a sus. forum

pect. But At for planning more the and importan same implantat tly, time, ion of although the such a the Court verdi proacknowl ct gramme edges ment having that ions wide some that national Indian The dimenstates Cour sions and are t is ramificat opposed not ions. If to the equi that is project, pped to the caseit fails to take then whygo such provide beyond athe expe such what is territorial rt to be ity of decis done India and ions and kind of asee they verdict notable dissenter essenwith respect s beyond tially to the the shoul river border d be linking and in left project? the for region. the And given the Third, centr con-cern displace al gove expresse ment. rnme d by bothThe nt national Court verdict and and the internati did make reference conc onal to erne environ s mentalist displace d state s to thed . project, people and And the this Indian develop Supreme ment is fol- Courts induced lowe claim displace that the

ment and as such remains aware of the cost of resettlem ent of displaced people without however knowing or calculati ng what such a cost would actually be. Arundhat i Roy once tried to calculate the cost of another develop mentinduced displace ment in India, the one resulting from the construct ion of large dams, and her finding remains pertinent to the river linking project as well:
Accordi ng to a detailed study of 54 Large Dams done by the Indian

Institute of Public Adminis tration, the average number of people displace d by a Large Dam in India is 44,182. Admitte dly, 54 dams out of 3,300 is not a big enough sample. But since its all we have, lets try and do some rough arithmet ic. A fi rst draft. To err on the side of caution, lets halve the number of people. Or, lets err on the side of abundan t caution and take an average of just 10,000 people per Large Dam. Its an improba ble low figure, I know, but never mind. Whip out your calculat ors. 3,300 10,000 =

33, ace-ment mindful 000 the in theof ,00 fact that form of 0

the riverany

ment ofApart Ro its ownfrom ys people as calcu a resultBanglade sh, India latio of thewill also n ecologic have to rema al ins imbalanc consider valid e that isthe now bound tointernati that re-sult onal impact India from the of this s construct river Supr ion oflinking eme storage project Cour reson t haservoirs Nepal, initia and the Bhutan ted linking and anot of thePakistan. her Himalay As it is, develan rivers. India and opm In thisPakistan ent- context, have indu India seen ced needs to many displ be points of

Th linking displaceat project ment of s people wh but at failed towithin it address Banglade wo has rks the issuesh athe out in to. meaningf potential 33 ul way. of mi creating lli on Potentia newer pe l for conflicts o- Conflict between ple s Banglade . Di What issh and spl worriso India, as ac me forwell as ed Banglade that by Bi sh, how-some of g ever, isthem Da not the could ms internal end up as alo ne displace enin ment of vironme the people ntal las t within refugees 50 India butacross ye the the ars displace- border! .5

conflict Ajaya over Dixit and the I had existijointly ng adhered river to and shari advocate ng d some pacts 15 years . back:
Fi nally, rivers rights . If the verdi ct of the India n Court has ignor ed one thing completel y and thoro ughly , it is the right of the rivers , some thing to whic h Ashis Nand y,
Right of the rivers must be codified and guaranteed by the state and the people. Such rights have already been codified for oceans and seas. Under the United Nations Conven -tion on the Law of the Sea, it is now the general duty of all coastal states to protect and preserv e the resourc es and the riches of the oceans and seas, not simply for the consum p-tion of future generati ons but for the repro-

duction of human life itself. River rights can be enacted with similar goals in mind Rivers also have their rights, includin g the right to be relativel y pollutio n free, to be relatively pollutio n free, to be a safe habitat for riverine forms of life and, within limits, to flow freely.... While interfer ence with rivers has contribu ted to moderni sation, bringin g electrici ty and irrigatio n facilitie s to a wider section of people, such diversio n of water from its natural course has often led to disas-

ter located extensio s, upstrea n of the the m has ir dried up river ma downstr linking gni eam project tud beds of beyond e several det rivers. the er In peninsul mi places, ar rivers ne this has d meant is bound by an at- to the tack on destroy sca the whatever le econom of ic and goodwil int other l India erf lifehas ere support achieved nce systems far. . of the so For people, Neither exa in turn India nor mp leading le, to the its wh creation neighbou ile of rs can lar environ afford ge- mental a sca refugee such watering le s.6 sur of fac The conflicts. verdict e irri otherwis And gat e isthere lies ion the hope! bereft of has wo imaginati Notes rse on, ne 1 Deb which, d Muk harji, the however, Dist pro is ant ble required Neig ms hbou of not only rs: wa when it India ter-comes to and Bang log managin lades gin the h in g g Atish an environ Sinha d ment for and soi Mad future l hup saligeneratio Moht a nit ns but (ed.), y, also in India unr n eg channelis Forei u- ing gn lat newer Polic ed y: relations Chall wit enge hdr hip s and aw between Oppo al India and rtunit of ies its wa (New ter riverine Delhi by neighbou : Acad da rs. Any emic ms

F o u n d a t i o n 2 0 0 7 )3 , p p 5 5 7 6 8 . 2 P a l l a b B h a t t a c 4 h a r y a , S A A R C E x p e r t s D i s c

uss AntiTerro r Mech anis m, The Dail y Star, 10 Febr uary 2012. Mohi uddin Alam gir, Indi as Tipai mukh Dam: Anot 5 her Farak ka for Bang lades h in the Offing? New Age Extr a, 1218 June 6 2009. Prot est again st Tipai mukh Dam Conti nues in Mani pur, Nort heast Toda y, 23 Febr uary 2012. Webs ite: http:/ /ww w.nor theas ttoda

y.in/o urstates / mani pur/p rotest again sttipai mukh damcontinue s-inmani pur/, acces sed on 26 Marc h 2012. Arun dhati Roy, The Grea ter Com mon Good (Bomb ay: IndiaB ook Distrib utors 1999), pp 910. Imtia z Ahm ed, Ajay a Dixit and Ashis Nand y, Water, Power and People : A South Asian Manifesto on the Politics and Knowle dge of Water (Colombo: Region al Centre for Strategi c Studies 1997), pp 910.

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