New Delhi: India and Bangladesh on Thursday agreed in principle on river water sharing of common rivers, sharing of flood data, addressing river pollution, conducting joint studies on sedimentation management, river bank protection works, during the 38th ministerial level Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) meeting held in New Delhi.
"The discussions during the bilateral meeting were held on a number of ongoing bilateral issues of mutual interest," an official privy to the meeting told ETV Bharat. The Bangladesh delegation was led by State Minister for Water Resources Zaheed Farooque. Deputy Minister for Water Resources AKM Enamul Hoque Shameem was also a part of the Bangladesh delegation.
The Indian delegation was led by Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. The meeting assumes significance as it was held after a long gap of 12 years, though the technical interactions under the framework of JRC have continued in the intervening period. Thursday's meeting was preceded by Water Resources Secretary-level interaction that took place on Tuesday.
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The Joint Rivers Commission of India and Bangladesh was constituted in 1972 as a bilateral mechanism to address issues of mutual interest on common border and transboundary rivers. "Both sides finalized the text of MoU on Interim Water Sharing of Kushiyara river. Both sides also welcomed finalization of the design and location of water intake point on the Feni river to meet the drinking water needs of Sabroom town in Tripura as per the October 2019 India-Bangladesh MoU on this subject," the official said.
It is worth mentioning that one of the important areas of cooperation, where India has been assisting Bangladesh, is sharing of real time flood data. India has recently extended the period of flood data sharing beyond October 15 to help Bangladesh address unforeseen flood events. India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, of which seven rivers have been identified earlier for developing the framework of water sharing agreements on priority.
"During today's meeting, it has been agreed to widen this area of ongoing cooperation by including eight more rivers for data exchange. The matter will be further discussed at the technical level committee of JRC," the official said.
