JD(U) opposes renewal of Ganga treaty with Bangladesh, cites Bihar's interests
The 1996 India-Bangladesh Ganga Water Sharing Treaty, which governs lean-season water release at the Farakka Barrage, is due to expire on 12 December 2026 after completing its 30-year term
Discussions on renewal have surfaced concerns over Bihar's water security, with calls for the sharing formula to be reassessed given changed hydrological and demographic conditions since 1996
A demand has emerged for a fresh, scientific assessment of Ganga basin water requirements up to 2050 across all riparian states before any renewal is finalised, rather than a straightforward extension of the existing formula
Public consultation activities along the river have been proposed to gather local input ahead of the renewal decision
The 1996 Ganga (Farakka) Water Sharing Treaty
The treaty was signed in New Delhi on 12 December 1996 between India and Bangladesh, governing the sharing of Ganga waters measured at the Farakka Barrage during the lean season (1 January to 31 May), when flows are lowest and demand for irrigation and navigation is highest.
Key Details
- Validity: 30 years from signing, i.e., due to expire on 12 December 1996 + 30 = 12 December 2026
- Water sharing formula: based on historical average flows for 1949–1988, using a 10-day sharing schedule; at flows of roughly 70,000–75,000 cusecs, sharing is 50:50 between India and Bangladesh
- If flow at Farakka drops below 50,000 cusecs in any 10-day period, immediate bilateral consultations are triggered, and India commits to releasing a guaranteed share to Bangladesh
- The Farakka Barrage itself was commissioned in 1975 to flush silt from the Hooghly River and preserve the Kolkata Port's navigability — the original trigger for decades of water-sharing disputes between the two countries
Because the treaty carries a fixed 30-year term with no automatic renewal clause, its December 2026 expiry requires an affirmative bilateral decision — either renewing the existing formula, renegotiating a new one, or facing a lapse in the treaty framework governing lean-season Ganga flows.
India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission (JRC)
The JRC is the standing bilateral institutional mechanism for managing transboundary rivers between India and Bangladesh, distinct from any single treaty like the Farakka accord. It provides the ongoing negotiating and monitoring architecture within which agreements such as the 1996 treaty are implemented and eventually renegotiated.
Key Details
- Established via a joint declaration of the two countries' heads of government in March 1972, with its governing statute signed in Dhaka in November 1972
- Composition: a Chairman plus members (including engineers) from each side; the chairmanship rotates annually between the two countries
- Functions: negotiating shared-river arrangements, monitoring implementation of agreements such as the Ganga Water Treaty, and resolving disputes through subsidiary bodies (Standing Committee, Local Level Committees)
- India shares 54 rivers with Bangladesh, of which the Ganga and Teesta are the most politically significant due to lean-season scarcity
Any renewal or renegotiation of the Ganga Water Treaty is expected to proceed through the JRC framework, which has also handled the long-pending (and still unresolved) Teesta river-sharing negotiations.
Centre-State Consultation in Treaty-Making: Article 253 and Federalism
Water is a State subject under Entry 17 of the State List (Seventh Schedule), but international rivers and treaties fall under the Union's treaty-making power. Article 253 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to make laws for the whole or any part of India to implement any treaty, agreement, or convention with another country — even on subjects otherwise in the State List — without requiring formal state consent.
Key Details
- Article 253 has been upheld by the Supreme Court (e.g., in Kesoram Industries Ltd. v. State of West Bengal, 2004) as giving Parliament wide power to legislate for treaty implementation regardless of the Seventh Schedule division of subjects
- Despite this constitutional power, cooperation of the concerned riparian state is practically indispensable for river-sharing treaties, since state governments often control the ground-level water release and irrigation infrastructure — illustrated by the stalled India-Bangladesh Teesta interim agreement (finalised at the technical level in 2011 but not signed due to a riparian state's objections)
- This tension — Union treaty power under Article 253 versus practical dependence on state cooperation — is a recurring theme in India's river-diplomacy with neighbours
Concerns being raised over a state's water security ahead of the Ganga treaty's renewal echo the Teesta precedent, illustrating how a constitutionally valid Union treaty-making power can still be constrained in practice by state-level cooperation on shared river resources.
International River Water Law Framework
Beyond bilateral treaties, international water law has evolved general principles for shared/transboundary rivers, most notably "equitable and reasonable utilisation" and the obligation to avoid causing "significant harm" to co-riparian states.
Key Details
- The Helsinki Rules (1966), formulated by the International Law Association, were among the first codifications of equitable-utilisation principles for international drainage basins
- The UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (1997) codified these principles into a binding treaty framework, though India has not ratified it
- India's bilateral river treaties (Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, 1960; Ganga Treaty with Bangladesh, 1996; Mahakali Treaty with Nepal, 1996) each independently negotiate sharing formulas rather than relying on a single multilateral framework
The Ganga treaty renewal debate sits within this broader pattern of India managing transboundary rivers through bespoke bilateral treaties rather than a unified international water law regime — a structure that gives flexibility but also means each renewal is a fresh negotiation rather than an automatic rollover.
- 1996 Ganga Water Treaty signed: 12 December 1996; validity: 30 years; expiry: 12 December 2026
- Lean-season sharing period covered by the treaty: 1 January to 31 May
- Sharing formula reference flow band: ~70,000–75,000 cusecs at Farakka, shared 50:50; below 50,000 cusecs triggers mandatory bilateral consultation
- Farakka Barrage commissioned: 1975
- India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission established: 1972 (statute signed November 1972)
- Rivers shared between India and Bangladesh: 54
- Other major Indian bilateral river treaties: Indus Waters Treaty (Pakistan, 1960), Mahakali Treaty (Nepal, 1996)