Bangladesh has decided to seek an explanation from India on the West Bengal government’s reported proposed projects on the Teesta reducing its flow, the foreign ministry said here on Thursday, amid a protracted unsettled process of the trans-boundary river’s water sharing,
The foreign ministry’s comments came in response to a recent Indian media report suggesting that the West Bengal government has decided in principle to dig two new canals to divert the Teesta waters for irrigation purposes in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts.
“We will prepare a paper on the issue with the consultation of our water resource ministry and JRC (Joint River Commission) . . . (then) we will ask the Indian side on the issue,” Bangladesh’s foreign ministry spokesperson Seheli Sabrin told a news briefing.
She added that Dhaka was analysing “the situation with caution” and currently the foreign office was in touch with the water resource ministry and JRC to collect information about the proposed projects. According to the media report, the Bengal government has in principle decided to set up three hydropower projects in the Darjeeling hills, risking further offence to Dhaka which has been waiting more than a decade for a treaty on the sharing of the Teesta’s waters.
The Bangladesh foreign office said Dhaka would determine its course of action to resolve the issue after getting a response from New Delhi.
