Test of the treaty

Expectations were high in Bangladesh when the newly-signed Farakka Treaty came into effect on 1 January 1997. Bangladeshis swung into action to take advantage of the additional flows as the control gates at Farakka opened to release the waters. Work was begun to restore the lean season flows on the Gorai, a distributary of the Ganga, and the long-silent pumps on the Ganga-Kobadak project were restarted to prepare for the Kharif crop plantation. There was also new hope for inland navigation, fisheries and fresh water supplies to the southern Khulna region. But everyone knew that, euphoric government pronouncements notwithstanding, the true test of the Farakka Treaty signed in December 1996 between India and Bangladesh would lie in the water levels in March. And as the dry days of March approached, the Ganga´s flow progressively dwindled. On the last week of the month, the discharge at Farakka was only 46,000 cubic feet per second (cusec), much lower than the 50,000 cusec minimum threshold mentioned in the Treaty. As it was insufficient to fulfill the allocation specified in the Treaty, Indian and Bangladeshi officials met to seek a solution and immediately went into a deadlock.

The entire edifice of the 1996 Treaty actually rests on the stated availability of dry season flow in the Ganga at Farakka. The 1997 lean season, serving as its first litmus test, showed that there was not enough water to meet its elaborate allocation schedule (for more details of the Treaty, see Himal jan/Feb 1997). All in all, it became evident that the architects of the Treaty had been rather optimistic in assessing water quantum available at Farakka.