The West Bengal government was kept in loop regarding the Teesta water-sharing talks held with the Bangladesh government earlier this month, central government sources have told News18.
Mamata Banerjee on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing “strong reservation” over the Centre excluding the state government from discussions with Bangladesh regarding Teesta water sharing and the Farakka Treaty and urged him to not hold any such discussion with the neighbouring country without involving the West Bengal government.
The sources said that the West Bengal government was part of the review process following the discussions regarding the India-Bangladesh Treaty on the sharing waters of the river Ganga at Farakka. It also listed three instances, saying it showed that the government was kept in loop.
They said it ensured West Bengal’s participation in critical discussions on the India-Bangladesh Ganga/Ganges Waters Treaty by including a representative of Chief Engineer rank from the West Bengal government in the committee formed on July 24, 2023, for the treaty’s internal review and formulation of India’s strategy after 2026.
“The presence of the West Bengal representative on this committee ensured that the state’s concerns and inputs were considered during the review process,” the sources said, adding that it shows the central government put in a ‘deliberate and structured effort’ to include West Bengal in the decision making process.
They said that in order to ensure the timely involvement of West Bengal in the review process, Manash Chakraborty, Chief Engineer (Design and Research) at the Irrigation and Waterways Directorate, was appointed to represent the Government of West Bengal in the committee in August last year.
They claimed that the West Bengal government actively participated in the process and provided crucial data essential for the treaty’s renewal deliberations and added that earlier in April, Biplab Mukhopadhyay, Joint Secretary of the Irrigation & Waterways Department, conveyed West Bengal’s domestic and industrial water demand projections for the next 25-30 years to the Central Water Commission, Ministry of Water Resources.
“These actions unequivocally show that the Government of West Bengal was kept well-informed and actively involved in the treaty review and renewal process,” sources said.
“I am writing this letter in context of the recent visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. It seems that water sharing issues relating to the Ganges and Teesta rivers may have been discussed during the meeting. Such unilateral deliberations and discussions without consultation and the opinion of the state government is neither acceptable nor desirable,” Mamata Banerjee said in her letter.
Comments
0 comment