Teesta: Mamata’s perplexing stand

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has a mind of her own.

But her recent stand on Teesta water-sharing with Bangladesh left many baffled.

They wondered if she is trying to create hurdles in India’s friendship with Bangladesh, and complicate water-sharing issues for perceived gains in domestic politics.

The current controversy is regarding sharing of water in the lean season between January and March. The river overflows during the rest of the period.

Banerjee is the sole hurdle to the treaty for the past six years. In 2011, she stopped the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from signing the preliminary agreement while her party was still a UPA partner.

She formed a one-man commission under river expert Kalyan Rudra to asses the availability of water.

The commission reportedly submitted its report in December 2012. But Banerjee didn’t publish it and Rudra stopped talking on anything remotely connected to Teesta.

“If it is Teesta, I will not talk. I am not involved in hydro-diplomacy,” he told BusinessLine .

In comparison, the Bangladeshi side is more open.

In an article published in 2011, Tauhidul Anwar Khan a former Bangladeshi member in the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission, wrote, India and Bangladesh put up barrages to withdraw 15,000 cusec (cubic feet per second) and 10,000 cusec water respectively, when the river has barely 4,000-5,000 cusec.

Clearly, pact or no pact, Teesta has little relevance in lean-season agriculture, either in India or Bangladesh.

Unlike the Ganga water-sharing in 1996 or even the recent exchange of enclaves, there is little opposition against the Teesta water-sharing deal even in North Bengal (where the river flows).

Mohammed Salim, CPI(M) Politburo Member and MP from a North Bengal Lok Sabha Constituency, said even Trinamool Congress MPs haven’t raised questions on the viability of the Teesta pact in the Parliament in the past five years.

Salim is in favour of the pact and accuses Banerjee for playing into the hands of elements who don’t want relations to normalise between India and Bangladesh.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, MP from North Bengal and State Congress chief, too criticised Mamata’s stance.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi making it clear that he wants the pact signed before Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeks re-election next year, the State BJP is in no position to make a noise.

It leaves one wondering if Banerjee is provoking Modi — who has so far tried to take the State on board as per convention — to sign the pact and make the most out of a resulting Centre-State dispute controversy?

In 2015, when Banerjee accompanied Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the signing of the Land Boundary Agreement, she told Shiekh Hasina to keep her faith on her.

But last week, she changed the stance completely. She proposed linking of three more North Bengal rivers with Teesta to create enough water to share.

According to Sheikh Rokon, a Dhaka-based researcher, the proposal is technically unviable as the rivers mentioned flow in different gradients to Teesta.

Also while Teesta originates in India, the other rivers originate in Bhutan. This is not in India’s interest as the issue will cross the boundaries of bi-lateral negotiation.

The most difficult part is, there are a total of 57 rivers flowing from India to Bangladesh and, Dhaka wants to establish its share on each of them. Naturally, Hasina rejected the proposal.

Bangladesh knows that Teesta doesn’t have water in the lean season. But establishing its right will help Hasina win brownie points at home because the issue has been hanging fire at the Joint Rivers Commission since 1972.

The two countries also entered an ad hoc agreement in July 1983 which was operational till December 1987. As per the agreement, India was eligible to draw 39 per cent, Bangladesh 36 per cent, and 25 per cent would be left to the river.

There is no way India can change the tone of the dialogue now. Banerjee’s stance can harm India’s interests as Bangladesh may either approach an international court or demand share of the hydro-electricity generated in Sikkim as well.