JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha flags Bihar's water concerns, opposes renewal of Ganga water treaty with B'desh

Patna: JD(U) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha on Thursday urged the Centre not to renew the Ganga water-sharing treaty with Bangladesh when it expires in December, alleging that Bihar's share of water has been "stolen" for the last three decades.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here after the completion of the first phase of the Nitish Samvad Yatra, Jha said the issue was important for Bihar and alleged that the state had been denied a substantial share of its water.

"This issue is very important for the state. While states in India fight pitched battles over water-sharing issues among themselves, Bihar's water has been stolen for 30 years and transferred to Bangladesh," Jha said.


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The first phase of the yatra covered Buxar, Bhojpur, Begusarai and Khagaria districts.

The yatra is scheduled to cover 12 districts along the Ganga before concluding in Katihar.

Jha, along with JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha and other party leaders, will visit Saran, Patna, Vaishali, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar in the remaining phase.

Jha, a Rajya Sabha MP, said the party received "massive public support and participation" during the first phase of the yatra, indicating that the issue was gaining traction among the people.

The Ganga water-sharing treaty, signed between India and Bangladesh on December 12, 1996, is a 30-year agreement governing the sharing of dry-season water flows at the Farakka Barrage.

Jha claimed that under the agreement, Bangladesh receives 1,500 cumecs of assured water between January 1 and May 31, while only around 400 cumecs enters Bihar at Buxar during the season. One cumec equals 1,000 litres of water per second.

"That means 1,100 cumecs of Bihar's own water is drained to Bangladesh," he alleged.

Jha urged the Centre not to renew the treaty and said that, if it was renewed, the state's projected water requirements up to 2050 must be taken into account.

He also criticised the governments at the Centre and in Bihar at the time the treaty was signed in 1996, alleging that they had "carried out grave injustice" to the people of the state.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad was the chief minister when the treaty was signed, while H D Deve Gowda was the prime minister heading the United Front government.

"IK Gujral, the then Union foreign minister, signed the treaty without considering its implications on Bihar. Our leader Nitish Kumar has been regularly raising the issue of the Ganga water-sharing treaty, but those ruling the state at that time compromised with Bihar's interests to retain power," Jha said.

He also linked the accumulation of silt on the Bihar side of the Farakka Barrage to the worsening flood situation in the state.

"Silt accumulation on the Bihar side of Farakka Barrage is a related issue and is responsible for worsening the flood situation in the state," Jha said.

"While Bangladesh gets water as part of the treaty, Bihar is left with the silt," he quipped.

Responding to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's demand that the Centre declare Bihar floods a national disaster and provide Rs 5,000 crore in assistance, Jha said the state government was making all possible efforts to deal with the situation.