CM: People of north Bengal won’t have water to drink

Kolkata: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday criticised Centre for discussing the Farakka treaty with Bangladesh without consulting Bengal govt, adding that sharing the waters of the Teesta with Bangladesh was not feasible as people in north Bengal wouldn’t even have water to drink.
The Farakka treaty is set to expire in Dec 2026 and PM Narendra Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina recently discussed its renewal.
“Bengal is the main party in the Farakka treaty, but we were not invited for the Modi-Hasina talks. It’s very unfortunate,” Banerjee said. The CM pointed out that Teesta has limited water, especially in the summer months, and there are 14 hydroelectric power stations on the river in Sikkim. A study commissioned by Bengal govt in 2011 also concluded that allocating more water to Bangladesh would adversely affect farmers in north Bengal. Teesta irrigates 9,22,000 hectares of land in north Bengal.
“The central govt has done nothing to prevent erosion of river banks in Malda and other areas. They haven’t dredged Farakka either. Centre had promised to dredge Farakka properly before the water enters Bangladesh and had also promised to repair and rebuild houses damaged due to erosion. A Rs 700-crore package was also fixed. But nothing has been done. In fact the BJP led government even didn’t inform us when they began fresh talks with Bangladesh over the water sharing,” she said.
“Such decisions of giving away Teesta water shouldn’t be taken based on Teesta’s present condition. During monsoon, Teesta always gets flooded. They should see how dry Teesta gets in summer. Sikkim has already drawn too much water by making 14 hydel power stations,” she said.
The Teesta water sharing agreement has been pending since 2011 when Banerjee refused to accompany then-PM Manmohan Singh to Dhaka to sign the pact. Bangladesh has been lobbying with Delhi for the agreement.
The CM had earlier threatened to stage large-scale agitations across Bengal if Centre did not reconsider its decision on sharing the waters of Teesta. In her June 24 letter to the PM, Banerjee had written: “We want to give as much water as feasible to Bangladesh, but the priority is Bengal. We cannot support Centre’s decision to give all the water to Bangladesh. There is no water in the Teesta river. No discussion on sharing of Teesta waters and the Farakka treaty should be taken up with Bangladesh without the involvement of Bengal govt.”