Dhaka to sign Teesta water-sharing deal soon

Dhaka, Sept 11: Foreign minister Dipu Moni has said the government will “soon” sign a deal with India on sharing water of the common river Teesta over which Bangladesh has the largest irrigation project.

She told journalists at a news briefing on Friday on her just-concluded India visit that Indian separatist ULFA leader Anup Chetia would not be handed over to India as per an extradition treaty the government was going to sign with New Delhi.

She said India would allow products from the land-locked Nepal and Bhutan to reach Bangladesh via Indian territories and the two countries would be able to use Mongla port.

“Both the countries want to sign a deal on sharing water of the river Teesta as soon as possible,” said Moni, who toured India from Sep 7 to 9.

The minister said the agreement would be inked as soon as joint hydrological observation team, comprising experts from Bangladesh and India, prepared the draft on water availability and other related issues.

“The joint hydrological observation team will meet this month.

“We want to expedite the negotiation on Teesta water-sharing and strike a deal on it,” Moni told bdnews24.com after the news conference.

Bangladesh and India have been engaged in dialogue on the sharing of the Teesta for years, according to water resources ministry sources.

During dry season, the river faces water crunch as India has constructed Gozaldoba Barrage in the upstream and diverts water from the river that enters Bangladesh’s greater Rangpur region.

Bangladesh’s Teesta barrage (first phase) in the downstream covers irrigation projects on 7,50,000 hectares of land, as per the Water Development Board.

Water shortage in the Teesta very often disrupts irrigation in the vast tracts of land and put Bangladesh’s agriculture in trouble.