Indian govt positive on Teesta water sharing with Bangladesh, minister says

Indian government has a positive stance on Teesta river water sharing with Bangladesh and it will take the right decision on it considering all aspects, said Water Resources and River Development Minister of the country Uma Bharti.

"We don't want any politics on Teesta water issue. All aspects of it are being examined carefully," Bharti said before attending a meeting of her party, BJP, in Howrah near Kolkata last evening.

Asked about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's stance on the Teesta agreement, Bharti said, "She (Mamata) is hardly happy on any issue."

"Several questions have been raised on the issue both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Things will be resolved through discussion with the state government," our New Delhi correspondent quoted Bharti as saying.

The Teesta issue had come up for discussion between Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in the presence of Mamata in New Delhi on April 8 during Hasina’s recent visit to India.

However, the West Bengal chief minister reiterated her opposition to the proposed treaty.

But Modi assured Hasina that his government can and will find a solution to the issue.

The Modi government has decided to send this month a team of hydrologists to West Bengal’s next door neighbour Sikkim state, where Teesta originates, to survey eight dams built upstream of Teesta to ascertain availability of water during the lean season.

The team is being sent in the wake of Mamata’s complaint that West Bengal part of Teesta is not getting adequate water due to withdrawal of water in Sikkim and so there is not much water in the river to be shared with downstream Bangladesh.

Source: thedailystar