Farakka Barrage
Farakka Barrage is a diversion structure across the Ganga in West Bengal, built between 1961 and completed in 1975, designed to divert Ganga water into the Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system via a 38-km feeder canal, flushing silt to keep the Kolkata (Haldia) port navigable.
- Commissioned 21 April 1975; roughly 2.24 km long with 109 gates.
- Diverts up to 40,000 cusecs into the Hooghly to maintain navigability of Kolkata Port, the trigger for the original India-Bangladesh water dispute since the 1970s.
- Bangladesh's original objection (pre-1996) was that reduced downstream flow harmed its agriculture and ecology during the dry season, which the 1977 and 1996 agreements sought to address.
● Tracked since February 15, 2026 · last seen September 03, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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