Context: For the first time in 26 years, India and Bangladesh agreed to share the waters of a significant transboundary river, the Kushiyara, while negotiations over a long-delayed agreement to share the Teesta River’s waters, which are politically sensitive are still ongoing.

India-Bangla water disputes: A backgrounder

• The Teesta River and the Ganges River dispute are the two main long-standing water conflicts between India and Bangladesh.

• Both rivers are important supplies of water for fishermen, farmers, and boatmen in both nations.

• Since the sacred river flows from India to Bangladesh, the Ganga river dispute has been a source of contention between the two countries for the past 35 years.

• There hasn’t been a long-term solution for sharing water offered despite several rounds of bilateral negotiations failing.

• In order to establish a water sharing arrangement for the following 30 years, a treaty was signed in 1996. This deal is about to expire.

Kushiyara river

• Kushiyara River is a distributary river in Bangladesh and Assam.

• It forms on the India-Bangladesh border as a branch of the Barak River when the Barak separates into the Kushiyara and Surma.

• The waters of the Kushiyara originate in the state of Nagaland and pick up tributaries from Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.

• From its origin at the mouth of the Barak, also known as the Amlshid bifurcation point, the Kushiyara flows westward forming the boundary between Assam, India, and the Sylhet District of Bangladesh.

What is the Kushiyara River Treaty?

• The first such deal since the 1996 signing of the Ganga water treaty, India and Bangladesh reached an interim agreement on water sharing for the Kushiyara River.

• India withdrew its objection to withdrawal of Kushiyara’s waters by Bangladesh through the Rahimpur Canal.

• 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.

• It goes dry during the winter when demand of water goes up because of a crop cycle in Sylhet.

Terms of the treaty

• Under this MoU, Bangladesh will be able to withdraw 153 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the Kushiyara out of the approximately 2,500 cusecs of water that is there in the river during the winter season.

• The agreement addresses Bangladesh’s concern over water supply along the river, during the winter months but flood control in the basin of Kushiyara is expected to require much more work.

How will Bangladesh use the water?

• The water of Kushiyara will be channelled through the Rahimpur Canal project in Sylhet.

• The Rahimpur Canal project in Zakiganj upazila or 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 withdrawal of water that can now be utilised.