Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission (JRC)

The Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission, or JRC, is a permanent body set up by India and Bangladesh in 1972 to work together on the rivers they share. The two countries share 54 rivers. The JRC is the main official table where both sides sit down to talk about sharing river water, flood warnings, river bank erosion and joint studies. At the top, it is led by the water resources ministers of the two countries.

Why does it exist?

A river does not stop at a border. If a country upstream builds a dam or takes out water, the country downstream feels it. If floods come down a river, the downstream country needs warning in time. Without a regular forum, every such problem would become a quarrel between two governments. The JRC gives both sides a fixed place, fixed people and a fixed process to solve these problems by talking.

Think of two families who share one water tank on a common roof. Instead of fighting every summer, they agree to meet regularly, measure the water together and decide how much each family gets. The JRC plays this role for India and Bangladesh.

Where did it come from?

Bangladesh became independent in 1971 with India's support. In March 1972, the Prime Ministers of the two countries signed the Indo-Bangladesh Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace (signed on 19 March 1972) and, through a joint declaration, agreed to set up a joint body on rivers. The Statute of the JRC was signed on 24 November 1972, making it a permanent commission. Since then it has been the backbone of all water talks between the two countries.

How does it work?

The JRC works at more than one level, like a ladder:

• Ministerial level: The water resources ministers of both countries lead the full commission meetings. India's side comes under the Ministry of Jal Shakti (water resources). These meetings give political approval to big decisions.
• Technical and official level: Secretaries, engineers and expert committees meet more often. They collect data, study rivers and prepare draft agreements for the ministers.
• Secretariats: Each country has a JRC office (in New Delhi and Dhaka) that keeps records and arranges meetings.

A draft agreement usually moves up the ladder: experts prepare it, officials polish it, ministers approve it, and finally the two governments sign it.

What does it actually do?

• Water sharing: It prepares frameworks for sharing water of common rivers in the dry season.
• Flood data: India shares water level and flood data of major rivers like the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Teesta and Barak with Bangladesh during the monsoon. This helps Bangladesh warn people early.
• River management: It discusses river bank protection, silt (sediment) management, pollution and joint studies.
• Settling problems: Under the Ganges Water Treaty, 1996, difficulties that the treaty's Joint Committee cannot solve are sent to the JRC.

What has the JRC achieved?

• 1983 Teesta ad hoc arrangement: At its 25th meeting (July 1983, Dhaka), the JRC agreed on a temporary sharing of the Teesta in the dry season: 39% for India, 36% for Bangladesh, 25% left unallocated. It was never turned into a lasting treaty.
• Ganges Water Treaty, 1996: The most important water-sharing deal between the two countries came out of years of talks in this framework.
• 37th meeting (March 2010, New Delhi): Discussed Teesta sharing and the sharing of other rivers such as Feni, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar.
• 38th meeting (25 August 2022, New Delhi): The first ministerial meeting in about 12 years. The two sides finalised the text of an MoU on interim sharing of the Kushiyara river and welcomed the design and location of a water intake point on the Feni river to supply drinking water to Sabroom town in Tripura. They also agreed to widen flood-data sharing to eight more rivers.
• Kushiyara MoU (September 2022): Signed later that year. It lets both countries draw water from the Kushiyara (a river of the Barak system that flows from Assam into Bangladesh's Sylhet region) for irrigation. Each country can take up to 153 cusecs in the dry season (1 November to 31 May). A joint team of both countries watches how much each side takes.

India's position and the wider picture

India sees the JRC as the right forum for all river matters with Bangladesh, including the renewal of the Ganges Water Treaty. This matters because the treaty was signed on 12 December 1996 for 30 years, so its term ends on 12 December 2026. It can be renewed only if both countries agree. As of November 2026, no renewal has been announced. India's Ministry of External Affairs says the question will be handled through the JRC and the other existing channels between the two countries.

India also has other water bodies with neighbours, for example the Permanent Indus Commission with Pakistan. In India, a river treaty is signed by the Union government, which has the power over foreign affairs and treaties (Entry 14 of the Union List covers treaties, and Article 253 lets Parliament make laws to carry them out). But because rivers like the Teesta and Ganga flow through states such as West Bengal, the Union government usually consults the state before signing.

Commonly confused concepts

• JRC vs the Joint Committee of the Ganges Treaty: The JRC (1972) is the overall body for all 54 shared rivers. The Joint Committee is a smaller body created by the 1996 treaty only to measure and watch the Ganga flow at Farakka. If the Joint Committee cannot solve a problem, it goes up to the JRC.
• JRC vs Permanent Indus Commission: The Permanent Indus Commission is created by the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960 between India and Pakistan. Each country has one commissioner. The JRC is created by a separate statute (1972) between India and Bangladesh and is led by ministers.
• Treaty vs MoU: The Ganges Water Treaty is legally binding. The Kushiyara agreement is an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), which records an understanding but is usually less formal than a treaty.
• JRC vs Teesta treaty: The JRC is the forum. The Teesta treaty is a proposed agreement that has not been signed yet.

Issues, criticism and the way forward

• Long gaps between meetings: Ministerial meetings have been rare. After the 37th meeting in 2010, the next one came only in 2022. Critics say this slows down decisions.
• Only one major treaty: Out of 54 shared rivers, only the Ganga has a full water-sharing treaty. The Teesta deal and frameworks for six other rivers are still pending.
• Flood data gaps: Bangladesh has asked for more detailed and more frequent flood data from more points upstream.
• No dispute settlement: There is no neutral expert or court in the system. If the two sides disagree, the matter has to be solved by talks between governments.
• Way forward: Experts suggest regular yearly ministerial meetings, basin-wide planning for whole river systems (including Nepal and Bhutan for the Ganga and Brahmaputra), real-time data sharing and joint studies on the effect of climate change on river flows.

Concepts to Know

• Cusec: Short for "cubic feet per second". It measures how much water flows past a point every second. 1 cusec is about 28.3 litres per second.
• Barrage: A low wall built across a river with many gates. It does not store much water like a big dam. It mainly raises the water level so that water can be turned into a canal.
• Lean season: The dry months (here, January to May) when rivers carry the least water. Sharing becomes hardest at this time.
• Statute: A written set of rules that creates a body and says what it will do and how.
• Upstream and downstream: The country where the river flows first is upstream. The country it flows into later is downstream. The downstream country depends on what the upstream country does.
• Basin: The whole area drained by a river and all its smaller rivers.