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Teesta Agreement

Teesta is a perennial river fed by rain and snow, characterized by the extreme variability of its rivers throughout the year. More than 90% of their flow takes place during the rainy season from June to September, while the rest is 10% during the remaining eight months. As the lower shore, Bangladesh depends entirely on India, the upper bank, to maintain minimal flows into the Teesta River. India has unilaterally built a number of dams in the north that have reduced the river`s rivers to 14 m3/s in times of drought, which has severely affected the livelihoods of thousands of Bangladeshi farmers, fishermen and boaters. Conversely, India`s teesta dams release excess water during the monsoon season, causing severe flooding and again disrupting thousands of livelihoods in Bangladesh. The intensity of the damage is particularly acute in Bangladesh, as the size of the population and economy that depend on Teesta in Bangladesh exceeds its upstream counterpart in India. Bangladesh demands a fair share of Teesta`s waters during the lean season and guaranteed minimum flows throughout the year, formalized in a treaty signed and ratified by the governments of both countries. Negotiations on the Teesta River have been ongoing for decades and a draft agreement has been prepared, but the Teesta agreement between New Delhi and Dhaka failed in 2011 and no concrete progress has been made since then. After a half-hearted agreement in 1983, when an almost equal distribution of water was proposed, countries ran into a roadblock.

The temporary agreement could not be implemented. Talks resumed after the Awami League returned to power in 2008 and former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s visit to Dhaka in 2011. Officials were ordered to conclude the „[interim] agreements“ on a „fair and equitable“ basis, as stated in the joint statement. In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s visit to Dhaka gave rise to more exuberant lines: „Consultations have been initiated with the participation of all stakeholders. [to conclude the agreement as soon as possible. As both countries prepare for new parliamentary elections, Teesta remains an unfinished project and one of the main players – West Bengal Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee – has yet to back the deal. Their objection is related to „global warming“. After the division, Sikkim remained a protectorate of India until it merged with India as a state in 1975. In the 1950s and 1960s, Indian and Pakistani officials began discussions about thawing and sharing teesta.

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