This announcement arrives mere months before the Indo-Bangladesh Ganges Water Sharing Treaty is set to expire in December. In India, the Padma is referred to as the Ganges.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, approved the initial phase of the Padma Barrage project at a projected cost of Tk 34,497.25 crore (approximately USD 280 million), as reported by officials.
A key goal of the project is to retain water on the Bangladeshi side to “counteract the negative effects of the Farakka Barrage” on the Ganges, stated Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee during a press briefing following the ECNEC meeting.
However, he clarified that matters concerning the 54 shared rivers between India and Bangladesh are not related to this project.
The minister emphasized that the barrage serves Bangladesh’s national interests and does not necessitate dialogue with India.
“The Padma Barrage is in Bangladesh’s own interest, and discussions with India are unnecessary regarding this matter,” he added.
Anee mentioned that negotiations with India regarding the Ganges waters remain ongoing. “Discussions concerning the Ganges are essential, and those discussions are happening,” he remarked.
India instituted the 2,240-meter-long Farakka Barrage in West Bengal in 1975 to redirect water from the Ganges to the Hooghly River, facilitating silt removal and ensuring the navigability of Kolkata port.
The Farakka Barrage has long been a contentious issue in Bangladesh, with multiple governments and experts arguing that diminished dry-season water flows downstream have led to salinity intrusion, river degradation, and adverse impacts on agriculture and ecology in the downstream nation.
India has consistently argued that the Farakka Barrage was constructed chiefly to protect Kolkata port and that water-sharing discussions have been handled through bilateral agreements, including the 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty.
The state-operated BSS news agency has reported that the Padma River project seeks to “revitalize major river systems, mitigate salinity intrusion, and enhance irrigation and ecological sustainability” throughout significant regions of Bangladesh.
Officials stated that the project, fully funded by Bangladesh and slated for completion by 2033, will encompass 19 districts across the Rajshahi, Dhaka, and Barishal divisions.
They elucidated that the project is structured to restore the flow and navigability of principal river systems in these three divisions, which have experienced considerable degradation over the years.
Project documents indicate the planned barrage is anticipated to improve navigability and water flow in major rivers, avert salinity intrusion from the Bay of Bengal, and bolster agriculture, fisheries, and biodiversity conservation.
Additionally, two hydropower plants with a total generation capacity of 113 MW are envisioned under this project.
In contrast, independent experts in Bangladesh have raised alarms regarding the Padma Barrage project, warning that it might induce environmental and morphological repercussions akin to those linked with Farakka.
US-based Bangladeshi geologist Ahad Chowdhury cautioned in an article featured in the Daily Star that the project could “potentially accelerate sediment starvation” and jeopardize the survival of Bangladesh’s deltaic ecosystem.
“As a geologist who has observed the catastrophic land loss of the Mississippi Delta, I recognize this pattern and the urgency of pursuing an alternative path,” he stated.
Former UN Development Policy Research chief Nazrul Islam also forewarned that the barrage might cause significant sedimentation upstream and elevate flood and erosion risks along a 145-km stretch of the Padma River.
The situation surrounding India’s Farakka Barrage illustrates this fact,” he noted in an article published in the Bengali Daily Prothom Alo.
Islam further cautioned that heightened water availability in Bangladesh’s southwestern region during the dry season could diminish flows in rivers in the central region and the northeastern Meghna basin.
He urged the government to refrain from advancing the project “without thorough feasibility studies.”
