Nirmalya Banerjee, TNN | Sep 12, 2011, 04.59AM IST
KOLKATA: For West Bengal to fight with Bangladesh over sharing of Teesta water is like a man quarrelling with his friend for an terminally ill woman who is beautiful but suffering from multiple organ failure and with little chance of revival.
It's like a fight between two friends over a not-so-promising project.
The Teesta Barrage Project that had been conceived way back in 1975-76 had a grand plan for revival of the agricultural economy of six North Bengal districts - Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda - which did not have any industrial base. More than 35 years down the line, it remains far from complete, even though the needs may have changed and there is little chance that that the entire project, as originally conceived, would ever be executed.
The original plan was to construct the project in three phases. Of those, the first phase was to be completed in three stages. Though the original plan was to construct the project in three different phases and divide the first phase into three different stages
Of these three stages, the first one was divided into two sub-stages. But, after more than three decades, construction is still going on for the first sub-stage of stage I. At the completion of the entire project, the original plan was to bring under irrgation 922,000 hectares and at the completion of the first sub-stage of Stage-I, 342,000 hectares was supposed to get irrigation water.
But RSP leader Subhas Naskar, who till recently was the irrigation minister of the previous Left Front government of West Bengal, says there is little chance of the project progressing beyond the first sub-stage of Stage-I of the first phase and the final target area to be benefited from the whole project may be just 342,000 hectares. According to him, it may not be feasible now to extend the project beyond this stage which comprises the construction of three barrages - the main Teesta barrage and two pick-up barrages on the Mahananda and Dauk rivers - and four main canal systems, the Teesta-Mahananda main canal, the Mahananda main canal, the Dauk Nagar main canal and the Nagar Tangon main canal. Besides, some of the agricultural fields which were initially supposed to benefit from the project have since converted to tea gardens.
According to an irrigation department status report, while the three barrages and two of the main canals have been completed, the distribution system comprising "minor and sub-minor" canals, which would actually carry the water to the paddy fields, are largely incomplete. Naskar says that there are problems, even with the main canals, which make them dysfunctional. The issue that is being raised is, with the distribution system in the command area not yet ready, the water that flows down the Teesta would be wasted even if it is not shared with Bangladesh.
Naskar argues that neither India nor Bangladesh has any clear idea how much water is really required to irrigate the command areas of the Teesta project in the two countries. For, according to him, at the 25th meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission between the two countries in 1983 it had been agreed upon that an expert committee would be set up which would make an on-the-spot survey of the command areas of the Teesta project in the two countries to make an assessment how much water was actually needed by West Bengal and Bangladesh to irrigate the command areas, but the committee never really got off the ground.
According to Naskar, the water requirement of Bangladesh from Teesta should not be as high as that of West Bengal as the command area of the barrage that Bangladesh has built at Dalia on the river is about 110,000 hectares. This figure is supported by a research paper titled, "Teesta River Water Sharing: A Case Study in Teesta Barrage Project", authored by Bangladeshi scholars Md Nurul Islam, Md Ashfaqe Azam and Dr Q R Islam, and available on the net, though it mentions the same as the target for irrigation in the first phase.
West Bengal irrigation minister Manas Bhunia has blamed the previous Left Front government for the delay in completion of the project and Naskar is prepared to accept that, at least partially. Bureaucratic delays and corruption had stood in the way of timely completion of the project, he says. But, he also puts the blame on a "system failure" which had stood in the way of efficient execution of the project during the Left Front regime. For instance, when a section of irrigation department contractors and engineers engaged in corrupt practices, the panchayats and people's representatives had done little for physical verification of the assets being created. "For such a gigantic project, it is not possible for the irrigation department alone to monitor everything without active participation of local bodies," he says.
As irrigation minister, Naskar was also surprised to find that there was little enthusiasm among the farmers in North Bengal - who would have been the major beneficiaries - over the project. "Farmers were largely indifferent. There were numerous disputes and court cases over acquisition of land for setting up the project infrastructure. During surveys, too, there was resistance. The local-level mobilization of farmers in support of the project that was necessary was largely absent," says Naskar.
He also puts a part of the blame on the Centre which had taken a long time in according the Teesta Barrage Project the status of a national project. The status was finally given in 2009, but only for the first stage of phase I. With this, the Centre would bear 90 per cent of the project cost, but the project would have to be completed by 2015.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Shadow-boxing-over-Teesta-Project/articleshow/9950746.cms
KOLKATA: For West Bengal to fight with Bangladesh over sharing of Teesta water is like a man quarrelling with his friend for an terminally ill woman who is beautiful but suffering from multiple organ failure and with little chance of revival.
It's like a fight between two friends over a not-so-promising project.
The Teesta Barrage Project that had been conceived way back in 1975-76 had a grand plan for revival of the agricultural economy of six North Bengal districts - Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda - which did not have any industrial base. More than 35 years down the line, it remains far from complete, even though the needs may have changed and there is little chance that that the entire project, as originally conceived, would ever be executed.
The original plan was to construct the project in three phases. Of those, the first phase was to be completed in three stages. Though the original plan was to construct the project in three different phases and divide the first phase into three different stages
Of these three stages, the first one was divided into two sub-stages. But, after more than three decades, construction is still going on for the first sub-stage of stage I. At the completion of the entire project, the original plan was to bring under irrgation 922,000 hectares and at the completion of the first sub-stage of Stage-I, 342,000 hectares was supposed to get irrigation water.
But RSP leader Subhas Naskar, who till recently was the irrigation minister of the previous Left Front government of West Bengal, says there is little chance of the project progressing beyond the first sub-stage of Stage-I of the first phase and the final target area to be benefited from the whole project may be just 342,000 hectares. According to him, it may not be feasible now to extend the project beyond this stage which comprises the construction of three barrages - the main Teesta barrage and two pick-up barrages on the Mahananda and Dauk rivers - and four main canal systems, the Teesta-Mahananda main canal, the Mahananda main canal, the Dauk Nagar main canal and the Nagar Tangon main canal. Besides, some of the agricultural fields which were initially supposed to benefit from the project have since converted to tea gardens.
According to an irrigation department status report, while the three barrages and two of the main canals have been completed, the distribution system comprising "minor and sub-minor" canals, which would actually carry the water to the paddy fields, are largely incomplete. Naskar says that there are problems, even with the main canals, which make them dysfunctional. The issue that is being raised is, with the distribution system in the command area not yet ready, the water that flows down the Teesta would be wasted even if it is not shared with Bangladesh.
Naskar argues that neither India nor Bangladesh has any clear idea how much water is really required to irrigate the command areas of the Teesta project in the two countries. For, according to him, at the 25th meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission between the two countries in 1983 it had been agreed upon that an expert committee would be set up which would make an on-the-spot survey of the command areas of the Teesta project in the two countries to make an assessment how much water was actually needed by West Bengal and Bangladesh to irrigate the command areas, but the committee never really got off the ground.
According to Naskar, the water requirement of Bangladesh from Teesta should not be as high as that of West Bengal as the command area of the barrage that Bangladesh has built at Dalia on the river is about 110,000 hectares. This figure is supported by a research paper titled, "Teesta River Water Sharing: A Case Study in Teesta Barrage Project", authored by Bangladeshi scholars Md Nurul Islam, Md Ashfaqe Azam and Dr Q R Islam, and available on the net, though it mentions the same as the target for irrigation in the first phase.
West Bengal irrigation minister Manas Bhunia has blamed the previous Left Front government for the delay in completion of the project and Naskar is prepared to accept that, at least partially. Bureaucratic delays and corruption had stood in the way of timely completion of the project, he says. But, he also puts the blame on a "system failure" which had stood in the way of efficient execution of the project during the Left Front regime. For instance, when a section of irrigation department contractors and engineers engaged in corrupt practices, the panchayats and people's representatives had done little for physical verification of the assets being created. "For such a gigantic project, it is not possible for the irrigation department alone to monitor everything without active participation of local bodies," he says.
As irrigation minister, Naskar was also surprised to find that there was little enthusiasm among the farmers in North Bengal - who would have been the major beneficiaries - over the project. "Farmers were largely indifferent. There were numerous disputes and court cases over acquisition of land for setting up the project infrastructure. During surveys, too, there was resistance. The local-level mobilization of farmers in support of the project that was necessary was largely absent," says Naskar.
He also puts a part of the blame on the Centre which had taken a long time in according the Teesta Barrage Project the status of a national project. The status was finally given in 2009, but only for the first stage of phase I. With this, the Centre would bear 90 per cent of the project cost, but the project would have to be completed by 2015.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Shadow-boxing-over-Teesta-Project/articleshow/9950746.cms