The Union Water Ministry on Thursday said that India and Bangladesh have finalized the text of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on interim water sharing of the Kushiyara river.
The text was finalized during the 38th meeting of the Ministerial level Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) of India and Bangladesh held in Delhi on Thursday, the ministry said.
Both sides were led by Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and his Bangladeshi counterpart Zaheed Farooque.
In a statement, the ministry said, “Discussions … took place on several bilateral issues of mutual interest, including water-sharing of common rivers, sharing of flood data, addressing river pollution, sedimentation management, joint development of river banks. Involves studying conservation work, etc.”
The ministry said that the two sides “finalized the text of the Memorandum of Understanding on Interim Water Sharing of the Kushiyara River (and) the design and location of the water intake point on the Feni river to meet the drinking water needs of Sabroom town in Tripura.” Welcome to the final. October 2019 India-Bangladesh MoU”.
According to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the JRC meeting assumes significance because it was held after a “long hiatus” of 12 years, although technical negotiations have continued tentatively under the JRC’s framework.
The ministry said that India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, of which seven have been identified first to develop the framework for water-sharing agreements on a priority basis. During Thursday’s meeting, the neighbours agreed to include eight more rivers for data exchange, it said.
“The JRC meeting, held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere, discussed the entire gamut of issues relating to common rivers between the two countries, especially the Ganga, Teesta, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai,” the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said in a statement. , Gumti, Dharla, Dudhkumar and Kushiyara. Besides, the exchange of data and information related to floods, river bank conservation works, general basin management and the Indian river linking project was also discussed in detail.
