KUSHIYARA RIVER TREATY 

Context

Key points

• The agreement comes in a year when both lower Assam in India and Sylhet in Bangladesh witnessed deadly floods.
• It highlights the requirement for greater cooperation on flood control and irrigation-related issues between the two countries.

Kushiyara agreement

• Over the last century, the flow of the Barak river has changed in such a way that the bulk of the river's water flows into Kushiyara while the rest goes into Surma.
• The agreement is aimed at addressing part of the problem that the changing nature of the river has posed before Bangladesh as it unleashes floods during the monsoon and goes dry during the winter when the demand for water goes up because of a crop cycle in Sylhet.

• There are various estimates about the area that will benefit from this supply but it is generally understood that the approximately 10,000 hectares of land and millions of people will benefit from the water that will flow through a network of canals in Sylhet benefiting the farmers involved in Boro rice.
• This rice is cultivated during the dry season of December to February and harvested in early summer.
• Bangladesh has been complaining that the Boro rice cultivation in the region had been suffering as India did not allow it to withdraw the required water from the Kushiyara.

Bangladesh uses the water

• The water of Kushiyara will be channelled through the Rahimpur Canal project in Sylhet.
• The Rahimpur Canal project in the Zakiganj subdivision of Sylhet was built to help the farmers access Kushiyara's water but the facility used to remain dry during the lean season without serving the purpose for which it was built.
• The eight km long canal is the only supplier of water from the Kushiyara to the region and Bangladesh has built a pump house and other facilities for the withdrawal of water that can now be utilised.

Importance of Rahimpur canal 

• The water of the Kushiyara has been used for centuries in Sylhet's subdivisions like the Zakiganj, Kanaighat and Beanibazar areas.
• But Bangladesh has witnessed that the flow and volume of water in the canal have reduced during the lean season.
• The utility of the river and the canal during the lean/ winter season had gone down affecting the cultivation of rice as well as a wide variety of vegetables for which Sylhet is famous.
• The additional water of Kushiyara through the Rahimpur Canal is the only way to ensure a steady supply of water for irrigation of agriculture fields and orchards of the subdivisions of Sylhet.

India's objection

• The Kushiyara water sharing agreement was finalised during the August 25 Joint River Commission.
• It was signed during Prime Minister Hasina's visit and was made possible as India withdrew its objection to the withdrawal of Kushiyara's waters by Bangladesh through the Rahimpur Canal.
• Withdrawal of India's objection is likely the main part of the agreement.
• Before this, Bangladesh had carried out the Upper Surma Kushiyara Project which included clearing and dredging of the canal and other connected channels of water.
• But the channels could not be of much use to Bangladesh because India objected to the move and claimed that the dyke and other infrastructure interfered with border security as Kushiyara itself forms part of the border between the two sides.
• The agreement indicates that the economic benefits possible from the river outweighed the security concerns.

Hurdles to the Teesta agreement

• The Kushiyara agreement is relatively smaller in scale in comparison to Teesta which involves West Bengal and has problems with the proposal.
• It did not require a nod from any of the States like Assam from which the Barak emerges and branches into Kushiyara and Surma.
• The reduced water flow of the Kushiyara during winter and Teesta too and raises important questions about the impact of climate change on South Asian rivers that can affect communities and trigger migration.

Conclusion 

• Bangladesh has cited low water flow in its rivers during the winter months as a matter of concern as it affects its agriculture sector.
• The coming decades will throw up similar challenging issues involving river water sharing as the impact of the climate crisis becomes more visible with water levels going down in several cross-border rivers.

For Prelims &Mains Perspective