Patna: JD(U) on Friday organised a meeting at its state headquarters to discuss the protection of Bihar’s interests during the proposed renewal of the India-Bangladesh treaty on sharing Ganga waters. Party national president and former chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the meeting, but he did not address the gathering.JD(U) state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha recalled Nitish’s contribution to highlighting problems affecting Ganga’s stretch in Bihar. He also referred to issues raised by party working president Sanjay Kumar Jha in Rajya Sabha over the treaty and its implications for the state.Jha, who launched a phased mass-awareness campaign called Nitish Dialogue last month, said the initiative would cover 12 districts along Ganga to highlight what the party describes as the neglect of Bihar’s interests when the treaty was signed on Dec 12, 1996. The treaty is due for renewal in two months.At Friday’s meeting, participants were shown a documentary and given a booklet outlining the issues involved.During the lean season from Jan to May, Bangladesh receives 1,500 cubic metres per second (cumecs), or around 53,000 cusecs, of Ganga water, of which around 1,100 cumecs is contributed by Bihar, Jha said.“Today, the state needs Ganga water for industrial use and also as drinking water and for irrigation purposes,” Jha said. He added that the treaty should not be renewed unless Bihar’s water requirements until 2050 were assured.JD(U) has previously raised concerns over the impact of Farakka barrage on Ganga in Bihar. In early 2016, the then Nitish govt organised a two-day meeting of national and international water experts and activists to discuss the effects of the barrage, built in the early 1970s. The meeting highlighted concerns over large-scale silt deposition in the riverbed, flooding and ecological imbalance along the river’s stretch in the state.Patna Declaration issued at the end of the meeting recommended formulating a national policy on silt removal.
