Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given the go-ahead to build the Ganges Barrage Project at Pangsha under Rajbari district involving India.
Hasina has ordered to examine the prospect of involving the neighbouring country with the project to retain water of the trans-boundary river Ganges, known as the Padma in Bangladesh, during the rainy season.
The prime minister yesterday gave the instructions at a meeting with the minister, state minister and high officials of the Water Resources Ministry and its subordinate offices held at the Secretariat.
According to the instructions of the premier, the proposed barrage’s name might be changed to Padma Barrage Project of Bangladesh in the final stage as the barrage of India is known as Ganges Barrage, several high officials of the Water Resources Ministry said.
State Minister for Water Resources Nazrul Islam said: “The premier is very much interested to start the project as soon as possible to save the river water. It will be a profitable project for Bangladesh as the country will get a benefit of around Tk7,000 crore annually.
“Farmers of the southwest region as well as one-third of the country will get the benefit of it as they can cultivate crops by preserving river waters during the rainy season. The fresh water flow will reduce salinity by leaching out salt from soil and thus improve agriculture and livelihoods in the region including the Sundarban. Around 2.5 lakhs metric tonnes of fishes will also be produced there in addition,” he added.
He also said: “Despite feasibility study and structural design of the barrage were already finalised, the government wants to involve India with the project taken under the trans-boundary river. It will help the government to implement the project and ensure sustainability of the project. So, we will try to incorporate the country.”
Nazrul also said the project will not only ensure the rebirth of the rivers, it will also bring profit for the country. The waterways of the country will be navigable round the year for the project. Total expenditure of around Tk31,414 crore for implementing the project will be withdrawn within five years.
According to the water resources ministry, the Water Development Board conducted a pre-feasibility study for the barrage in 2002. Later, the BNP government shelved the board’s proposal to go for a feasibility study. The Fakhruddin-led caretaker administration also did nothing in this regard.
The board finally got the go-ahead in 2009. It had completed the study by December, 2012.
It would take seven years to build the 2,100-metre barrage expensing around Tk31,414 crore. It would also have two small hydropower plants of 76 megawatt and 36MW.
Discussions on the barrage construction began in the 1960s when India moved with their Farakka barrage plan.
Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton, a consultancy firm from New York, proposed the Pakistan government in 1963 to construct a counter barrage to hold water in the monsoon and supply it to the Gorai and other rivers in the lean period.
As the operation of Farakka barrage started in 1975 and India started to hold back the Ganges water after the end of every monsoon, the flow of the river suddenly declined.
The average discharge, which was 64,340 cusec came down to around 23,000 cusecs at the Hardinge bridge point in Bangladesh.
This sudden fall in water caused massive siltation at the mouth of the Gorai, one of the distributaries of the Ganges, and the Padma near Kushtia.
Some distributaries of the Gorai including the Kumar, the Kalindi and the Dakua also took a terrible shape over the years. Salinity started to intrude into the south-western region.
After signing the Ganges treaty with India in 1996, Bangladesh started receiving water during the extreme dry season, from January to May, but the damage was already extensive. The Gorai could not be revived.