Brianna Besch

Macalester College
St. Paul, MN
Map of the Ganges Basin

EncyclopediaBritannicaInc. http://media
2.web.britannica.com/ebmedia/45/5945004D91141E7.gif

The Ganges runs 2,500 miles with a

basin of 9,243 miles shared between
India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China

Sharing the Ganges: Water Conflict

Between India and Bangladesh

http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2009/02/02/sp2.jpg

Background on the
Ganges River and
Surrounding Area
The Ganges/ Brahmaputra system has
the third largest discharge and largest
sediment load in the world, 1,086,000
ft/s and 1.84 billion tons a year
respectively1

Map of the Ganges River and

Tributaries

In 2003 the basin was home to 405

million people, 346 in India, 19 in Nepal,
40 in Bangladesh

Brahmaputra and Ganges

Rivers: Discharge
Hydrographs, 1981
Bandyopadhyay, Jayanta , Water Management, pg 413

The source of the Gangues lies in the Himalayas

It is fed mainly by glacial melt from April to June
Flow is severely seasonal
Heaviest flows occur during monsoon months, June
to October, which bring 85% of all rainfall to the area
Bangladesh experiences widespread flooding during
the monsoon season
Droughts are common in the dry season when the
Ganges flow into Bangladesh is only 55,000 ft/s
Water is desperately needed in the dry season for
crop irrigation
Bandyopadhyay, Jayanta , Water Management, pg 420

The Farakka
Barrage

The Farakka Barrage

In 1951 India announced intentions build a

Barrage across the Gangues 10km from the
Bangladesh border
Google Maps,
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF The Barrage diverts water into the
8&rlz=1T4SKPB_enUS343US344&hl=en&tab=wl
Baghirathi-Hooghly River to flush out silt and
increase navigation accessibility to Calcutta.
The Barrage was commissioned in April 1975
This Barrage gave India control over Ganges flows into
Bangladesh during the dry season
In the spring of 1975 India withdrew 40,000 of the
55,000 ft/s of water from the Ganges
http://www.sos
There were disastrous consequences on Bangladesh
arsenic.net/images/faraka1.jpg

Negotiations Between India and

Bangladesh
India and Bangladesh were unable to reach a water agreement 1975
In 1976 Bangladesh failed to involve the United Nations
In 1977 a five year water sharing treaty was reached
This treaty gave Bangladesh 80% of Ganges flow during the dry season
This was followed by two memorandums of understanding lasting through
1988, these did not include a minimum flow into Bangladesh.
No further agreements were
Areas dependent upon Ganges
reached from 1988-1996
Flow according to (a) the
India withdrew 40-45,000
ft/s from the Gangues every
Government of India and (b) the
dry season of this period
Government of Bangladesh.
In 1996 the two countries
reached a 30 year treaty
This treaty dictates that
Bangladesh receive a
minimum flow of 35,000 ft/s
from January to May
The relationship created by
the 1996 treaty resulted in
further agreements between
India and Bangladesh
Bandyopadhyay, Jayanta Water Management, pg 436

Consequences of the Barrage

On India
Little silt was flushed from the Baghirathi-Hooghly River
Calcutta has declined as a port city

Flooding in
Bangladesh

On Bangladesh
Increased salinity of soil and water
Decline of soil quality and crop yields
Shrinking fish population
Decline of fishing villages and loss of
a livelihoods
Decline of mangrove forest
http://www.idrc.ca/uploads/user Increased erosion rates and sedimentation
S/10323813490nrj10.jpg
Increased salt water intrusion
More sever flooding during the monsoon season
Direct damages are estimated to be three billion US dollars

Works Cited
1,2:Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Ganges River. Encyclopdia Britannica. 2009. Accessed October 31st 2009.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/225359/Ganges-River
3: Sarkar, S. K., A. Bhattacharya, and B. Bhattacharya. 2003. "The river Ganga of northern India: an appraisal of its
geomorphic and ecological changes". Water Science and Technology : a Journal of the International Association on Water
Pollution Research. 48: 121-128.
4: Chaturvedi, M. C., Srivastava, V. K. 1979. Induced Groundwater Recharge in the Ganges Basin. Water Resources
Research. Vol. 15 No. 5. 1156-1166
5: Bandyopadhyay, Jayanta. 1995. "Water Management in the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin: Emerging
Challenges for the 21st Century". International Journal of Water Resources Development. 11 (4): 411-442.
6, 7: Khan, Tauhidul Anwar. Management and sharing of the Ganges. Natural Resources Journal. Vol 36, no. 3.
06/02, 1997. Pg 455-479
8: Mirza, M. Monirul Qader, R. A. Warrick, and N. J. Ericksen. 2003. "The Implications of Climate Change on
Floods of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in Bangladesh". Climatic Change. 57 (3): 287-318