Concern over sharing of Teesta river water with Bangladesh

Prasanta Kumar Majumdar raised the matter by walking into the well of the House saying that the proposal to share Teesta waters by a 50:50 ratio through an agreement, likely to be signed during the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh, would affect about one crore people of five districts in the region.

Apparently on the same issue, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has cancelled her visit to Bangladesh as part of the Prime Minister's delegation.

Majumdar, who represents Balurghat constituency, said the government should keep in mind that water supply for irrigation purposes in this area should not be affected.

The lone RSP member said though he was not against river water sharing and fully supported strengthening of relations with Bangladesh, the livelihood of people of these districts would be hit as most of them were dependent on agriculture.

The districts likely to be affected were Coochbehar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North and South Dinajpur, he said, adding that the people of the region were also dependent on tea gardens, most of which had closed down.

Majumdar also said that the Teesta Barrage project, an important source of hydro-electric power in eastern India apart from supplying water for irrigation, would be affected by the sharing of water at 50:50 ratio.