Water sharing agreement needs to be secured

IT IS alarming that increasing salinity is affecting crop production and shrinking availability of fresh water in the country’s south-western region, posing threat to lives and livelihoods in around one-thirds of the whole country. This increase in salinity is mostly attributable to withdrawal of river water upstream in India and rise in sea-level caused by climate change. According to an eminent water resources specialist, the salinity intrusion rose abruptly in the region immediately after commissioning of the Farakkah Barrage over the trans-boundary river Ganges by India in 1975. The observation by rights activists that saline water which is indispensable for shrimp cultivation has also rendered people of the region jobless by affecting the environment and agriculture adversely is also a point that cannot be dispensed with. The shrimp cultivation policy came into being with the objective to increase employment opportunities, alleviate poverty and meet the nutrition demands of the people. But the ground reality is just the opposite; local agriculture, livestock, and environment have been affected by shrimp cultivation while the financial benefits are going to a section of influential group of people.
How withdrawal of river water upstream by India has left a negative impact on the environment and worsened the condition of the ordinary people in those areas can be witnessed if a visit is paid to those places. Multifarious impacts of increased salinity on the environment are decreased diversity of crops and fish and pollution of water. These ecological imbalances seriously impinge on the socioeconomic environment of a locality, causing lower production of crops and vegetables, loss of valuable fruit trees, fresh water crisis for drinking and related diseases like diarrhoea and dysentery, loss of grazing lands and livestock and poultry resources and decline in household incomes. It has negatively affected the livelihoods of landless and marginal farmers, making it difficult for them to survive in the area. Increasing salinity in water has other ramifications as well. There are allegations that leaders and activists of the ruling party and other influential people close to the ruling quarters have increasingly engaged themselves in various criminal activities, including land grab to cultivate shrimp. What is regrettable is that repeated public demands for deterrent action against the perpetrators have fallen on deaf ears.
At this juncture, it is imperative on the part of the incumbents to come up with a solution to all these issues to bring about positive changes in the fate of these hapless people. To revitalise the process of ecological restoration, the government also needs to talk with India about the water sharing agreement to resolve the ‘Farakkah Barrage’ issue. The Awami League-led government has not appeared adequately assertive on the issue of water sharing of trans-boundary rivers so far. As such, the failure to secure the water sharing agreement squarely falls on the shoulder of this government. In any case, it needs to redouble its efforts and get the agreement done immediately to revitalise the process of ecological restoration.