India and Bangladesh share 54 transboundary rivers and earlier these rivers greatly supported the livelihoods of millions of riverine communities in both countries and facilitated the locals in numerous ways. However, over the years the condition of these rivers worsened, adversely affecting the economic condition of lakhs of people.
Though the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) have been jointly trying to boost trade and transportation using National Waterway-1 (Ganga river) and National Waterway-II (Brahmaputra river), the condition of the riverine communities has not improved.
India’s Jaipur-based think-tank and NGO — CUTS International — under a regional programme “Transboundary Rivers of South Asia (TROSA)” studied the rivers’ condition, the dwindling economy of the riverine communities and the forest and environmental situation along the rivers. Senior Programme Officer of CUTS International, Sumanta Biswas said that increasing urbanization, deforestation, intensive agricultural processes besides the effect of climate change have adversely impacted the normal course of many rivers leading to unpredictable floods, siltation, declining navigability and increasing erosion and pollution.
“Several dams were constructed for different purposes including power projects and irrigation and these have also stifled the downstream flow of waters. Due to heavy siltation during floods, the rivers have become shallow and wide causing erosion of their banks every year,” Biswas told IANS. He said: “Due to scarcity of fish in these rivers, the fisherfolk are compelled to work elsewhere as labourers. For many decades, the riverine communities shared close cultural ties and similar lifestyles and depend on the rivers for agriculture, fisheries and navigation.”
Biswas said that the communities living upstream and downstream of the rivers have their diverse perceptions and interests to utilize the rivers and these dissimilar objectives often affect them and the rivers. “Mutual misperceptions among the upstream and downstream communities need to be defused through consultative dialogue,” he observed and suggested that to save and secure the river centric livelihoods the rivers should be protected…