Impact of Witdrawl of River Water by India

8/3/2019 Impact of Witdrawl of River Water by India

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Bangladesh is getting drier every year due to India's unilateral withdrawal of water from the

common river Ganges flowing upstream from India. The quantity of water down the Farakka

point has been critically declining due to taking out of the Ganges water by upper riparian India

through various canals by violating the water sharing agreement.

Over and above, there are other unresolved issues and irritants between India and Bangladesh,

one of which is the long outstanding border issue. Bangladesh had long ago handed over its

Berubari enclave to India but has been waiting for more than 34 years to get the Mujib-Indira

Border Accord ratified by Indian parliament for the handover of Tin-Bigha corridor to

Bangladesh.

But the irritant which remains singularly thorny since long between Dhaka and Delhi is the water

sharing issue of the common rivers flowing from India to Bangladesh. The flow of the once-

mighty river Ganges (Padma) has decreased alarmingly due to withdrawal of water at Farakka

point in India, leading to drying up of at least 15 of its tributaries. It is now a mere memory that

the fishermen living along the river Padma used to catch hilsa fish near Rajshahi city but in last

couple of decades waters has dried up giving rise to sandy islands on the dried bed of the Padma.

GORAI River in dry season GORAI River in Rainy season

Unilateral withdrawal of the Ganges water during the dry months resulted in serious adverse

effects in the south-western and western districts of Bangladesh, covering almost 20 per cent of

country's area. It has adversely affected the environment, agriculture, industries, fisheries,

navigation the river regime and salinity culminating in the surface and ground water.


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Impact of the withdrawal of water:The impact of the withdrawal of water is very

dangerous for our live. Water is a very important natural thing that we are depending on water in

every sector in our life. Food crop production, fisheries, irrigation, water table, soil quality and

food security. The impact of withdraw of water is given below:

Crop Production:For the crop production water is the main resource. If the water is

unavailable, then the production of crop is destroying.

A dry crop field

Irrigation: Irrigation is the main matter for crop production. If the irrigation is does not exists

properly then the crop is not survive. Crop is related to our live hood. Farmers are collect water

in two ways. 1. Rain water and 2. River water. In dry season river water is the biggest resource

of water.

Arsenic Problem:Now a days arsenic problem is very much dangerous for us.People are notget water from river in dry season. For this reason they are collected water from underground

water for irrigation of their crop. For this reason the arsenic is come through the underground

water and mixed with the cultivated land as well as with the crop.


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Arsenic is mixed with crops through underground water

Water Table: The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far

from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface

materials that are saturated with groundwater in given vicinity. However, saturated conditions

may extend above the water table as surface tension holds water in some pores below

atmospheric pressure. Individual points on the water table are typically measured as the elevation

that the water rises to in a well screened in the shallow groundwater.

Aquifer drawdown or over drafting and the pumping of fossil water increases the total amount of

water in the hydrosphere that is subject to transpiration and evaporation thereby

causing accretion in water vapour and cloud cover which are the primary absorbers

of infrared radiation in the earth's atmosphere. Adding water to the system has a forcing effect on

the whole earth system, an accurate estimate of which hydro geological fact is yet to be

quantified.


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Water table

Navigability: experts in BIWTA and EDB state that massive sedimentation has reduced

navigability of Bangladeshs classified waterways to less than 1000 km from 6000 km in the 05-

06 lean periods i.e. navigability of waterways drops to 176th. Only two major waterways, Dhaka-

Mongla and Dhaka- Chittagong. Having total length of about 600 km are full navigable. The

remaining waterways particularly in northern region, have reached a serious pint. The trend of

sedimentation shows the situation going out of control and all major waterways will lose

navigability with the start of lean period every year. We had lots of river. We used these rivers to

transport our different types of goods like diesel, jute, fertilizer, rice and many other things. But

now the number of river is decreasing and the a lot number of shoal here and there in the river.

For this reason the navigability is decrease. And the cost of the products are increase.

A shoal near the Jamuna River

Fisheries:in recent years the fisheries sector has been playing an increasingly important role in

the economic uplift efforts of Bangladesh. It is a labor- intensive and quick- yielding sector

which augments growth and alleviated poverty. Around 1.3 million people are directly employed

in the fisheries sector alone.


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Bangladesh had nearly 1000 rivers and tributaries before the Farakka barrage and now the figure

has come down to 100. So it is very alarming for our fisheries sector.

Soil quality:Soil quality is the capacity of a specific kind of soil to function, within natural ormanaged ecosystem boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance

water and air quality, and support human health and habitation. Soil quality is very important for

production of crop. So if we draw underground water than for our irrigation, then the quality of

soil is damaged.

The typical urban household uses water for drinking and sanitation. But rural areas use water for

a wide range of purposes. Even in irrigated areas water is used not only for the main field crops

but also for domestic use, home gardens, trees and other permanent vegetation, and livestock

(Bakker et al. 1999). Other productive uses include fishing, harvesting of aquatic plants and

animals, and a variety of other enterprises such as brick making. In addition, irrigation systems

can have a positive or negative effect on the environment. Thus, the withdrawal of water affects

the rural household, rural economy, and environment in a number of ways. In this way many

people are unemployed and the food security is also damaged.

Unilateral withdrawal of the Ganges water during the dry months resulted in serious adverse

effects in the south western and western districts of Bangladesh, covering almost 20 per cent of

country's area. The effects of this have been severe for Bangladesh where the salinity front have

moved some 280 kilometers upstream northward from the coast in the south and the salinity

level in surface water has increased almost six times. It was also evident that the Sundarbans, one


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of the world's largest mangrove forests, is being degraded due to increased salinity in the

estuarine rivers.

Agriculture is the main mode of livelihood in Bangladesh where over 65 per cent of the

population is dependent on farming. That is why the people's livelihood is inextricably linked to

water. Bangladesh's water, both above and below the ground, provides a multitude of services to

its population: water to drink, water for agricultural production, fishery and river transport.

Water is Bangladesh's lifeline that is now under stress putting the nation in a bad situation.


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References:

1.http://www.google.com/search?

hl=en&biw=1360&bih=640&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=dry+river+of+bangladesh

+picture&btnG=Search

2. www.facebook.com

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_table#Effects_on_Climate

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_quality

5. http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=121930

Impact of Witdrawl of River Water by India

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