THE GANGES WATER DIVERSION: ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS AND IMPLICATIONS

Water Science and Technology Library

VOLUME49

Editor-in-Chief

V. P. Singh, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, U.S.A.

Editorial Advisory Board

M. Anderson, Bristol, U.K. L. Bengtsson, Lund, Sweden

J. F. Cruise, Huntsville, U.S.A. U. C. Kothyari, Roorkee, India

S.E. Serrano, Philadelphia, U.S.A. D. Stephenson, Johannesburg, South Africa

W.G. Strupczewski, Warsaw, Poland

The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.

THE GANGES WATER DIVERSION: ENVIRONMENTAL

EFFECTS AND IMPLICATIONS

edited by

M. MONIRUL QADER MIRZA Adaptation and Impacts Research Group (AIRG),

Environment Canada, c/o Institute for Environmental Studies (IES), University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Springer-Science+Business Media, B.V.

A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-90-481-6665-7 ISBN 978-1-4020-2792-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-2792-5

Printed an acid-free paper

AII Rights Reserved © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2004

Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2004 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover Ist edition 2004

No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording

or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered

and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.

Dedication

To my parents, wife (Hasna) and son (Hamim)

Preface

This book deals with environmental effects on both sides of the border between Bangladesh and India caused by the Ganges water diversion. This issue came to my attention in early 1976 when news media in Bangladesh and overseas, began publications of articles on the unilateral withdrawal of a huge quantity of water from the Ganges River through the commissioning of the Farakka Barrage in India. I first pursued the subject professionally in 1984 while working as a contributor for Bangladesh Today, Holiday and New Nation. During the next two decades, I followed the protracted hydro-political negotiations between the riparian countries in the Ganges basin, and I traveled extensively to observe the environmental and ecological changes in Bangladesh as well as India that occurred due to the water diversion.

The Ganges, one of the longest rivers of the world originates at the Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas and flows across the plains of North India. Eventually the river splits into two main branches and empties into the Bay of Bengal. The conflict of diversion and sharing of the Ganges water arose in the middle of the last century when the government of India decided to implement a barrage at Farakka to resolve a navigation problem at the Kolkata Port. The navigation problem was unique in nature and there was no consensus on its causes, which were related to high salinity, heavy slitation, poor navigability on account of a large number of sandbars, sharp bends and sunken ships, and the increasing frequency and intensity of tidal bores.

While observing the hydro-political negotiations as well as the effects of water diversion, I realized that a multi-disciplinary book addressing the environmental effects and implications of water diversion was necessary. The contributors to this book are experts in their fields and each has a wide range of experience on the subject. A balanced approach is adopted in reporting the environmental changes of water diversion. Deviating from the usual focus of reporting only adverse effects, in this book, positive effects of the Ganges water diversion is also included. Bangladesh in the downstream reach of the river is suffering from low dry season discharge, morphological changes, increased water and soil salinity, decreased agricultural productivity, damages to ecosystems, etc. The Hooghly Estuary in India is benefited from the diversion in terms of increased growth of flora and fauna and the decrease in salinity levels. The adjacent areas upstream of the Farakka Barrage suffer from the increased flood and riverbank erosion hazards.

In addition to a thorough analysis of the environmental effects and implications, this book presents three new important issues - risk analysis, vulnerability, and adaptation related to water diversion. With the application of statistical theory, it is demonstrated that continued diversion of water upstream of the Farakka Barrage put the allocation arrangement of the 1996 Ganges Water-Sharing Treaty between India and Bangladesh at

vii

viii Preface

risk. A risk analysis of the agreed discharge values was not carried out before signing the Treaty. Such analysis is necessary as the occurrence of discharge values is very important for water development planning in both countries. Vulnerability and adaptation science has undergone comprehensive evolution in recent years especially with regard to climate change and variability and in this book these concepts are applied in terms of water diversion. Statistical distribution demonstrates how vulnerability has increased with the increased chances of the occurrence oflow flows. System resiliency has decreased and in many cases damages are irreparable. Some autonomous adaptations have taken place. Costly planned adaptation measures are also implemented and some are at planning stages.

This book is a timely contribution to water-related conflicts that are now, generally becoming more prominent in the world, particularly in South Asia. In India, a national river inter-linking plan is being envisaged, which is comprised oflarge-scale inter-basin water transfer options. Concerns are being raised that the plan, if implemented, would cause significant adverse environmental effects in many regions oflndia and Bangladesh. I am confident that the analytical presentations and discussions outlined in this book will be a wake-up call to politicians, policy makers, and water engineers in terms of the environmental implications of massive water diversions, especially on sensitive downstream ecosystems. I hope that the analytical contents of the book will generate dialogue around the issues of water diversion and will assist in better environmental management. In addition, this book will be of interest to water and environmental researchers, lawyers, academia, donors and investors, non-government organizations, and water activists of South Asia and beyond.

Adaptation and Impacts Research Group (AIRG) Institute for Environmental Studies (IES) University of Toronto 33 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E8 Canada Email: monirul. mirza@utoronto. ca

M. MONIRUL QADERMIRZA Editor

Acknowledgements

Special thanks go to Dr. Q.K. Ahmad, Chairman, Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP) for associating me with the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basins Study funded by The Ford Foundation, which enabled me to have a deeper insight into the Ganges water-sharing problem. I gratefully acknowledge the education I received from four Bangladeshi engineers on this issue. They are: late B.M. Abbas A.T., M.F.A. Siddiqui, M. Shahjahan and Amjad Hossain Khan. In addition, I express my gratitude to the Hydrological Sciences Journal, International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), International Journal of Water, Springer-Verlag New York Inc., Dr. Ben Crow, Department of Sociology, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA and Dr Mokhles Rahman, Institute for Waste Management and Contaminated Site Remediation, Dresden University of Technology, Germany for allowing me to reproduce some of the figures and texts and Professor Ainun Nishat, IUCN, Dhaka, Bangladesh for granting me time to discuss the Ganges water diversion problem and its environmental effects. Thanks to Petra van Steenbergen and Martine van Bezooijen of Kluwer Academic Publishers for their initiative and guidance. Many reviewers spent enormous amounts of time in critically reviewing the chapters. Farzana Abdulhusein drew many maps and figures and patiently prepared the camera-ready copy. Jane Davie, Department of Geography, University of Toronto also provided cartographic assistance. Professor Marie Sanderson at the Adaptation and Impacts Research Group (AIRG), Environment Canada gave constructive editorial comments on many chapters. I gratefully acknowledge all of these contributions. The costs of design and typesetting the book has been covered by the AIR G. My sincere appreciation and thanks to Don Maciver, Director of the AIRG for his support. I am very grateful to the contributors of this book who invested much time in preparing the chapters. Without their efforts this book would not have materialized. I express my gratitude to my family from whom I took much time during the preparation of this book. Finally the views expressed in this book belong to the authors and do not reflect the views of their respective organizations.

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Glossary

aman a type of rice which is grown in the kharif season. There are two types of aman (transplanted and broadcasted) and they are grown in the high lands and low lands, respectively.

aus a rice crop which is planted during kharif-1 season in the low lands.

boro a rice crop usually planted in November-December and harvested in April-May. High yielding boro requires irrigation.

char a sand bar which is formed within a river or estuary.

cusec cubic feet per second

ghat a river terminal where people are transported from one bank to the other bank by boats/ mechanized ferries.

kharif a cropping season (April-November).

rabi a cropping season (November-May). Usually vegetables, pulses and boro rice are grown during rabi season.

Rs. Rupees, the currency oflndia, Nepal and Pakistan, with a different value in each country.

thana smallest administrative unit in Bangladesh.

taka name of Bangladesh currency.

XI

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments Glossary

1 THE GANGES WATER DIVERSION: ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS AND IMPLICATIONS- AN INTRODUCTION M. Monirul Qader Mirza

1.1

1.2

1.3 1.4

2

Ganges Basin: Hydro-Meteorological Setting, Limitations and Water Diversion Water Diversion and Dispute Resolution: The Phases of Negotiations Water Diversion and Environmental Concerns Road Map to the Book

HYDROLOGICALCHANGESINBANGLADESH M. Monirul Qader Mirza

2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5

3

Introduction The Ganges Basin: Hydro-Meteorological Setting The Data Hydrologic Changes in the Ganges System Conclusions

ROLE OF FARAKKABARRAGE ON THE DISASTROUS 1998 FLOOD IN MALDA (WEST BENGAL) S.K. Mazumder

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4

Introduction Brief Description of the Flood Causes of Flood and Role ofFarakka Barrage Conclusions

Xlll

Vll

ix Xl

1

3 3 7

13 14 19 20 31

39 42 43 48

XIV Table of Contents

4 IMPACT OF UPSTREAM HUMAN INTERVENTIONS ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE GANGES-GORAI SYSTEM Maminul Haque Sarker

4.1 Introduction 4.2 Approach 4.3 Geo-Morphological Settings 4.4 Hydro-Morphological Characteristics 4.5 Natural and Human Interventions and Their Impacts on the Ganges 4.6 Changes in the Ganges River and its Impact on the Gorai River 4.7 Future of the Gorai River 4.8 Discussion and Concluding Remarks

5 EFFECTSONWATERSALINITYINBANGLADESH M. Monirul Qader Mirza and Maminul Haque Sarker

5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8

6

Introduction Dynamics of River Salinity in the Southwest Region The Data Analytical Methods Reduced Dry Season Flow and Effects on Salinity Projection of Salinity under the Ganges Water-Sharing Treaty Implications oflncreased Salinity in Bangladesh Conclusions

FARAKKABARRAGEANDITSIMPACTONTHEHYDROLOGY AND FISHERY OF HOOGHLYESTUARY M. Sinha

6.1 6.2 6.3

Introduction The Impact Concluding Remarks

49 50 52 56 59 69 74 77

81 83 87 87 87 94 96 101

103 104 122

Table of Contents

7 IMPLICATIONSONECOSYSTEMSINBANGLADESH Ansarul Karim

7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 7.10

8

Introduction Bounding the Ganges Dependent Ecosystems Impact on Physical Environment Impact of Reduced Freshwater Flow on Vegetation Impact on Faunal Richness Water Quality and Aquatic Biota Salinity and Fish Fauna of Conservation Significance Ecosystem Integrity Impacts on Ecosystem Services

WATERINGTIIEBANGLADESIDSUNDARBANS Alan Potkin

8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6

9

Introduction The Forested Mouths of the Ganges The Ganges-Brahmaputra Link Canal Water Development in Nepal Social Impacts of Reservoirs Towards Watering the Sundarbans

ADVERSE EFFECTS ON AGRICULTURE IN THE GANGES BASIN IN BANGLADESH M. Monirul Qader Mirza and Md. Altaf Hossain

9.1 9.2 9.3

9.4 9.5 9.6

Introduction Agro-Climate ofthe Ganges Basin in Bangladesh Degraded Agro-Ecological Constraints and Agriculture in the Ganges Basin Water Diversion and Effects on Agriculture Affected Area and Production Loss Concluding Remarks

125 125 126 131 143 150 151 152 153 159

163 163 168 169 172 174

177 180

184 189 191 194

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10 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE GANGES WATER DIVERSION AND ITS INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASPECTS Md. Nazrul Islam

10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8

11

Introduction Environmental Impact oflndian Water Diversion Projects Legal Responses in the 1996 Treaty The 1997 Watercourse Convention A Comparison between the 1996 Treaty and the 1997 Convention Customary Rules in the 1997 Convention Global Environmental Conventions and Soft Law Instruments Conclusions

WATCHINGTHEFARAKKABARRAGE:ROLEOFMEDIA Moinuddin Naser, Harun-Ur-Rashid and Farzana Abdulhusein

11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7

12

Introduction Reflection ofFarakka in the Media The Role of Media The Function of Media Adaptation Authoritative Differences Over Resources Conclusions: Media Should Show the Way Ahead

VULNERABILITY TO THE GANGES WATER DIVERSION: ADAPTATION AND COPING MECHANISMS M. Monirul Qader Mirza

12.1 12.2

12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6

Introduction Vulnerability, Adaptation and Adaptive Capacity: A Brief Review of Concept and Issues Water Diversion, Incremental Hazards and Thresholds Adaptation and Coping Mechanisms: A Synthesis Cost of Adaptation Concluding Remarks

197 199 202 207 213 215 218 220

223 225 230 237 238 238 240

247

248 257 264 280 281

Table of Contents

13 THE GANGES WATER SHARING TREATY: RISK ANALYSIS OF THE NEGOTIATED DISCHARGE M. Monirul Qader Mirza

13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5

14

Introduction The Data The Analytical Methods How to Reduce the Risk? Concluding Remarks

REGIONAL COOPERATION ONWATERAND ENVIRONMENT IN THE GANGES BASIN: BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVES Q.K. Ahmad and Ahsan Uddin Ahmed

14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4

14.5 14.6

Introduction The Ganges Basin Cooperation Potential in the Ganges Basin: A Framework Experiences of Past Cooperation and Past Efforts Towards Forging Cooperation An Emerging Issue: The Case oflnter-Linking of Rivers in India Concluding Remarks

ANNEX I

INDEX

'}}57

'}}59

289 296 300

305 306 309

312 319 322

327

357

xvii